Revd Caleb Haynes graduated from NTC Manchester in 2024 with an MA in Theology (Ecology). An ordained elder in the Church of the Nazarene, he currently serves as the director of Nazarenes for Creation Care, a grassroots organization equipping churches to engage in environmental ministry and justice.

We asked Caleb about his journey and here is what her shared with us:

“My roots are the deep “hollers” of Tennessee in a small place called Culleoka, where I learned to love wild places. About the time I was born my parents began attending a local Nazarene church where I grew to spend my youth and come to have a closer walk with Christ and eventually receive my own call to ministry.

Later in my thirties, my vocation became strongly intertwined with environmental issues as I learned more of the harm facing creation and our mandate to be good stewards. Learning of NTC’s Theology and Ecology MA track, and already knowing so many wonderful people connected there, I was sold! My time at NTC continues to inform my life and work today as my studies there offered me not just resources and tools, but a deeper foundation for this call to ministry.

Today, I serve as the director of Nazarenes for Creation Care, a grassroots organization working to equip the church toward environmental ministry and justice. I’m so encouraged to witness the way Nazarenes are making the deeper connections between God’s salvific work in the world and what it means for us to embody good news in all creation. Through our eco-church program, congregations take steps to proclaim the gospel in the broken corners of this planet and to see all of creation encounter the risen Christ! One effort I’ve personally begun is The ecoChristian Podcast, where I host explorative conversations about what it means to be Christian on planet Earth.

As climate changes and so many of our neighbors bear the heavy weight of environmental abuse, I feel a strong calling to create “on ramps” for our sisters and brothers in Christ for the holy work of “serving and keeping” this garden we call home, and I’m so thankful that NTC is a part of my story!”

If you are interested to learn more about Nazarenes for Creation Care, go here for their website, and here for their socials.

You can find an article about Eco-Churches on our region here.