Browsing by Author "Johnson, Bradley Michael"

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    Christian Churches and the Cape Town Water Crisis
    (2022-12-01) Johnson, Bradley Michael; Bongmba, Elias K
    Between 2015 and 2018, Cape Town, South Africa experienced a drought that decimated its water supply. In order to reduce water consumption, the city government announced the coming of a “Day Zero,” when it would be forced to shut off the taps and water would no longer be available through municipal lines. Residents had to change their everyday practices with water, both to save the limited supply left and to avoid rising water tariffs imposed by the city. This project is the result of fieldwork conducted during late 2018, following the apex of the water crisis, to investigate how several Christian communities responded to the water crisis. In a series of interviews with members and leaders of an evangelical church, an Anglican church, and a Pentecostal-Charismatic church, I sought to understand how my interlocutors adjusted their practical relationship with water in light of the shortage, and how their theologies were being changed. In response to the acute environmental disaster of the drought and the looming specter of climate change, we discussed the causes of Cape Town’s crisis, the government’s action, the best solutions, how their churches reacted, and what responsibilities Christians have for the care of the Earth. Using literature in eco-theology and theological ethics, I demonstrate how their responses reflect both the tumultuous socio-political context of post-apartheid South Africa, as well as the religious foundations and resources of their respective traditions. In the end, I argue that churches like theirs must develop more robust eco-theologies that think deeply about creation and the climate crisis, and that they must mobilize these concerns for the Earth into public spheres where necessary work can be done.