Laura Pauls-Thomas shares about the successful Bike Bus program at East Chestnut Street Mennonite Church.
Laura Pauls-Thomas serves as communications director of Mennonite Central Committee’s East Coast region. She resides in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with her spouse, Andrew, and rescue dog, Pinto, and spends her free time advocating for safe and accessible bicycling and active transportation options in her community. Laura is a member of East Chestnut Street Mennonite Church (ECSMC), an Atlantic Coast Conference congregation, where she is a member of the Creation Care Committee.
What if I told you that your congregation can simultaneously (1) reduce your transportation emissions and (2) build a culture of joyful climate action on Sunday mornings? At East Chestnut Street Mennonite Church (ECSMC) in downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania, that’s exactly what we’re doing.
Photos provided by Laura Pauls-Thomas.
This past year, I had the distinct privilege of being part of Anabaptist Climate Collaborative’s Pastoral Care for Climate cohort, a group of U.S. and Canadian pastors and ministry leaders who met for an opening retreat in February 2023, met periodically for Zoom calls with Anabaptist climate leaders throughout the year, and concluded with a closing retreat in December.
As part of the program, we were tasked with creating and implementing a climate change-related project in our congregational or ministry setting. I’m not a pastor, but I serve as communications director of Mennonite Central Committee’s East Coast region, and I’m a member of my Atlantic Coast Conference congregation’s Creation Care Committee.
Photos provided by Laura Pauls-Thomas.
The Creation Care Committee at East Chestnut Street Mennonite Church has been active for more than 16 years in community-based climate actions, including tree and native species plantings, energy efficiency improvements to our meetinghouse, and the installation of electric vehicle charging stations.
As a result of my 2023 participation in the Pastoral Care for Climate cohort, I started a “Creation Care Commute” initiative that seeks to reduce transportation emissions and build community around climate action. Marlisa Yoder-Bontrager serves as the chair of the Creation Care Committee and, together, we encourage “East Chestnutters” of all ages to walk, bicycle or carpool together with other households on the third Sunday of each month, year-round. The initiative began in August 2023 and is going strong!
One aspect of the project that I particularly enjoy is the ECSMC Bike Bus, which rallies churchgoers of all ages to bicycle together through the city to arrive at Sunday worship together on a Creation Care Commute Sunday. To me, the Bike Bus is a beautiful visual representation of how Anabaptist climate action can and should be: joyful, intergenerational and connecting us more deeply with each other and the community around us.