Not just any weeds, mind you, but a wild edible garden that the students visited on a “sustainability tour” around Bluffton, Ohio. 

“These weeds are what will save the world …They have all the nutritional value you need,” senior Luke Hertzler said, recounting the words of their tour guide. 

He organized the 91����Ƶ contingent, which joined with students and alumni from other Anabaptist-affiliated colleges and universities for the Sustainability Alumni Network’s fall retreat. The attendees visited local farm-to-table businesses, went on an educational meadow walk, and discussed how to include environmental sustainability into their life’s vocation.

Hertzler felt “thankfulness that we were all able to gather together from our various communities, and share together, and commune together and converse together.” He especially valued the ideas generated for including sustainability principles in his future career in ministry.

The Sustainability Alumni Network hosts a retreat each semester at rotating locations – it was in Harrisonburg last spring. 91����Ƶ alum Harrison Horst ‘18 co-founded the group with Goshen College graduate Cecilia Lapp Stoltzfus in 2017.

“We had collaborated before on fossil fuel divestment [at our respective institutions] and were hopeful that establishing some sort of network could lead to further conversations, future collaborations, and real advocacy work,” Horst said. 

Currently, the network includes graduates of 91����Ƶ, Goshen College, Bluffton University, Fresno Pacific University, Hesston College, and Canadian Mennonite University. Their goal is to support one another and current students in building community around climate advocacy and environmental sustainability.

“One of my initial hopes was that SAN could provide resources to sustainability club leadership at our alma maters, thereby creating a channel for institutional wisdom,” Horst said. “Cecilia and I both felt like the connections and skills we developed during our time in college should be put to use rather than simply left behind.”

Besides the biannual meetups, SAN also puts out a quarterly newsletter and holds monthly video conferences, which Horst joins from his current post as a teaching intern at China West Normal University in Nanchong, China. 

Recently, the network established the SAN Investing Collective LLC, “which will allow us to pool our money and collectively invest in sustainability projects of our choice,” Horst said. Their first project in the works is a solar panel installation planned for the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Indiana.

Matt Frei, chief Washington, D.C., correspondent for the BBC, interviewed President Loren Swartzendruber on creation care from an Anabaptist perspective for a BBC production about Christian response to global warming; the program will be aired internationally later this month.

It’s a hot topic generating heated debate.

91����Ƶ President Loren Swartzendruber added to the conversation with a message on global warming and the care of God’s creation, Friday morning, Apr. 13.

, which followed the regular chapel service in Lehman Auditorium, were recorded by Matt Frei, chief Washington, D.C., correspondent for the London-based British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

The event opened with the singing of an a cappella hymn, “God of the Fertile Fields” (Brethren-Mennonite Hymnal #360).

Swartzendruber believes the BBC contacted him because he was among 86 Christian leaders who signed a statement concerning this issue.

“Some Christian leaders have made public statements suggesting global warming is not a reality or is a hoax/conspiracy and the BBC wants to compare responses of various Christian leaders/groups,” the president said.

‘a Theological Issue’

“I believe this is a scientific and theological/moral issue,” the president said. “We are called to be good stewards of God’s creation, and we are invited to make every effort to reduce the impact of our lifestyle choices on this phenomenon for the sake of the entire world and our future children/grandchildren.

“The projections from many leading scientists are currently quite dire, particularly for the poorest populations in the world,” Swartzendruber said.

“A report from the (IPCC) says, with at least 90 percent certainty, that global warning is man-made and will ‘continue for centuries’ – unless we take actions to slow or reverse the trend.”

“What have we lost if we make changes now for a cleaner environment, even if we should ultimately learn that the projections have been made in error?” the president stated. “If we ignore some very obvious signs, however, or avoid the tough issues, and we are wrong in that direction, millions of us and our descendants will suffer awful consequences.

Excerpts from Swartzendruber’s address and an interview will be broadcast as part of a BBC news report on global warming later this month on the BBC television and radio network to an audience estimated in the millions.

The complete text of the president’s message is available at .

You may also read more about .

President Swartzendruber is available for further interviews on this topic. Contact 91����Ƶ marketing and communications:

Andrea Wenger, director
Phone: 540-432-4348
Cell: 540-560-2237

Jim Bishop, public information officer
Phone: 540-432-4211