And though animals were here on earth before humans, present at Jesus’ birth, and expected in heaven, it often seems that the only time they appear in our Sunday conversations is during announcements about the upcoming church barbeque. I’ve sung the Doxology in sanctuaries across the United States (and in a few other countries), and never once have we talked about what it means for animals (including the ones we eat) to “praise Him all creatures here below.” In my lifetime, the earth has lost more than half of its wildlife, while the number of animals we confine and kill in animal factories has climbed steadily higher. Rev. Dr. Tony Campolo once said to me that every time a species goes extinct, their worship is silenced and we are complicit in that blasphemy. The church in the U.S., as a whole, has failed to develop a reputation of caring deeply, teaching consistently, and acting faithfully to prevent climate change, species loss, food injustice, or animal cruelty.*

READ: Creation Groans: Why Red Letter Christians Should Care About Animals

Churches have a lot on their plates. In addition to caring well for one another, we hope churches are engaged in their communities and the world. Some congregations may object to spending time in pursuit of creation care when there are so many life-and-death issues facing the people in their communities. But there’s no need to separate creation care from people care or from our spiritual lives. The United Methodist Church says that, “Climate change has repercussions for many of the issues we face today, from the wellbeing of our children, to global poverty, to economic growth. Caring for God’s creation is one of the greatest humanitarian and moral challenges of our time…”  And the National Association of Evangelicals claims that, “We worship God by caring for creation.”

But where to start? What can one congregation do to correct hundreds of years of bad theology and destructive practices, not just about creation care generally, but about animals specifically?

I co-direct a project called CreatureKind. We are working to help engage churches with new ways of thinking about animals and Christian faith. Our particular focus is on farmed animals, but there are lots of ways that Christian communities can begin to pay attention to and talk about what they — as members of the body of Christ — believe about God’s creatures and how they might move toward living out those beliefs more fully. In a nutshell, we believe that how we see ourselves influences how we see and act towards other creatures. So being “creaturekind” isn’t just a theological reality, but one that can influence our day-to-day choices. (You can read more about why we are called CreatureKind and what that means here.)

Below are six ways we at CreatureKind suggest that church communities can be more attentive to the reality of our shared life as beloved creatures of God.

1. Deliver a Sermon: We don’t have to limit our creation care discussions to Earth Day or the Feast of St. Francis. The scriptures contain lots of texts for churches to examine together. For a few examples from varied contexts, check out the sample sermons from CreatureKind staff and friends.
    
2. Include and Advertise Veg Options at Church Meals: When you’re planning church meals, be sure to include a veggie option and make sure people know it will be available! On spaghetti and meatballs night, have a pan of sauce without meatballs. (Bonus points if you include a vegetarian meatball, made from scratch or not.) At the fall kick-off-barbeque, have veggie burgers and veggie dogs available to grill. Leave meat-and-dairy add-ins on the side of pastas, salads, and other dishes. And if your congregation is all-potluck, all-the-time, ask a few folks to bring a veggie dish to be sure there’s something for everyone! Reducing meat consumption is good for humans, animals, and the planet.
    
3. Run the CreatureKind Church Course: Will my dog go to heaven? Why did God make animals? What does Christianity have to do with animals? The free CreatureKind six-week small group course is a dialogue-based way for congregations to consider together what they believe about animals and how to put those beliefs into practice.
    
4. Read a Book about Animals or Creation Care as a Congregation: There are an increasing number of great books to help Christians think well about our relationship with God’s creation and then put that thinking into action in ways that are appropriate for their particular context. Here are a few potential options!
    
5. Partner with a Local Shelter: For some people, their pets are an important part of their well-being. Elderly folks may take great solace in a beloved dog or cat when their family members seem to visit less often. Children may learn to care for others by caring for a pet. Your local shelter may welcome the opportunity to talk to your congregation about pet care or adoption. And your community may embrace opportunities to add pet food and supplies to your food pantry.
    
6. Volunteer at a Local Shelter or Sanctuary: Muck stalls of horses rescued from abuse, walk dogs waiting for their forever family, read to cats, mend fences to keep rescued pigs from wandering too far. Spending time with animals and with the people who care for them can be a wonderful way for your church to show your community that Christianity is Good News for the whole creation.
    

If your church has done these or other activities to include animals in our efforts to care for creation and live our shared faith, let us know in the comments! We can all learn from each other’s experience.

*Here’s a shout out to some of the people I know who are working to change this, including Creation Justice Ministries, Green Seminary Initiative, Seminary Stewardship Alliance, Young Evangelicals for Climate Action, Green Chalice Ministries, Blessed Earth, GreenFaith, the HSUS Faith Outreach Campaign, and many more individuals doing the hard work of advocacy in their communities without the benefit of organizational backing.

Digging beneath the surface in the course of my seminary studies revealed God’s deep and profound love of all creation, a loud and clear call on humans to shepherd the earth well, and a promise that relationships now broken will one day be restored. The Bible, I have learned, makes a compelling case for creation care to include all creatures. (And, yes, for many of us to leave them off of our plates.)

But why should Red Letter Christians in particular care about animals?

God Loves the Whole World
For God so loved the world. Not just the human parts and not just the trees or the water, but the whole world. God provides for animals (Psalm 104). God sees mother animals in labor and watches their babies grow. God frees animals to enjoy the home God has created for them (Job 39).

Sometimes our attention is drawn to the plight of endangered species, but even though God loves the whole world, too many of us (including me for the majority of my life!) ignore the billions of animals raised and killed for food each year, 99 percent of whom live and die in conditions that fail to meet even a minimum Christian standard of compassion, care, or welfare.

The first chapter of Genesis tells us that God has given custody of animals to humans as part of our charge to ensure that we are caring for the world in such a way to provide for the flourishing of all its inhabitants. But many of us have grossly distorted this charge, ignoring the intent behind the responsibility of dominion. Instead of living in harmony, as fellow creatures of God, we treat animals like unfeeling machines. We put profits before principle, and the results are devastating to the whole of God’s creation — from the smallest creature to the widest ocean.

 Humans are Made in the Image of God
“The very nature of God, therefore, is to seek out the deepest possible communion and friendship with every last creature on this earth.” Catherine LaCugna

If we are made in the image of God, who was incarnated into human form and suffered death on a cross for us, doesn’t that mean we’re made in the image of a God who cares deeply, feels deeply, loves deeply, and sacrifices deeply?

One gift of humans being made in the image of God is this: We don’t have to reject our humanity to show compassion to animals. Rather, by showing compassion, we are being the best version of humans that we can be.

Jesus suggests this image to us when he points out that God sees every sparrow, and when he compares God’s love for us to the love of a mother hen for her chicks. We now know that animals and humans alike possess the ability to feel pain, to use tools and language, to develop social systems and structures, to seek and grant justice, to empathize, play, love, and mourn. Animals are included in God’s love; they ought to be included in ours, as well. And not just the cute ones we’ve been culturally conditioned to care for. Our love must include the animals we’ve been taught to view as food, clothing, entertainment, test subjects, and more.

Human Suffering, Animal Suffering, and the Groaning of Creation
“…the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God…We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now…” Romans 8:19, 22

We don’t have to look far to hear the groans of creation waiting for the children of God to hear. Watch video footage of a dairy cow being dragged off a truck at the slaughterhouse because her body is too broken to move of its own accord. Her body will be pushed to the ground before it’s hoisted again and her throat is slit. Or watch this investigation, this one, or this one. Listen to angora rabbits as their wool is yanked out of their skin. Watch the sad eyes of beagles being poisoned to death in laboratories, desperate for a kind touch. The screams are audible. The pain is palpable. The suffering is undeniable.

Animals aren’t the only part of creation that suffers when we abuse them.

The system of factory farming is a leading cause of environmental degradation, from air and water pollution to topsoil erosion to greenhouse gas emissions to the rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs. Raising animals for food is resource intensive: producing a little bit of meat or dairy requires an enormous amount of land, water, and grain.

The system of factory farming hurts humans. Workers at some chicken slaughterhouses wear diapers, because they aren’t allowed bathroom breaks. Farm workers are knowingly exposed to conditions that sicken them, weaken their immune systems, and can kill them. The men and women who work in slaughterhouses endure the reality that their livelihood depends on killing. What do you think it does to a person to stand in the middle of blood and gore and screams for hours upon hours, day after day?

A former kill floor manager once said: “The worst thing, worse than the physical danger, is the emotional toll…Pigs down on the kill floor have come up and nuzzled me like a puppy. Two minutes later I had to kill them — beat them to death with a pipe. I can’t care.” This learned callousness doesn’t stay on farms and in slaughterhouses. It comes home with the workers, and manifests itself in violent behaviors toward other humans. A study of nearly 600 rural counties found that slaughterhouse employment increases total arrest rates, including arrests for violent crimes, rape, and other sex offenses in comparison with other industries.

Thy Kingdom Come…
Thankfully, a world of suffering and cruelty is not the Creator’s last word.

We Jesus followers know that the wolf and the lamb will eat together. A child will lead the calf and the lion and the fatling together.

We who pray the Lord’s prayer believe that a day will come when, “…they will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9).

We look at the broken world around us and we know that even though we are “prophets of a future not our own,” we are a part of the reconciliation through Christ of the whole world to the Creator. “Everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”

The project I co-lead, CreatureKind, has developed a six-week small group course to help compassionate and curious Christians explore how we can be instruments of the promised reconciliation to the whole of God’s creation. For some, like me, that might mean a switch to a plant-based diet. For others, it will mean cutting back on their meat and dairy consumption and buying from farmers who they know treat animals as fellow creatures of God.

We don’t know where God will lead, but we know we must seek God’s kingdom “on earth, as it is in heaven.” We can begin now to shape our lives around that coming reality. To make choices that heal, instead of hurt; that foster flourishing instead of fear. And the church can lead the way, one glass of soy milk at a time.