Dear Friend of A Rocha USA,

As A Rocha continues to grow in the United States, we are excited to welcome another new project to the team: SoCal A Rocha.

Dr. Mark McReynolds grew up in the shadow of the San Gabriel Mountains in Southern California. His passion for creation care developed as he spent his childhood exploring his place, earned degrees in science and Christian education, and worked with camp ministries.

After nine years working abroad with youth and environmental ministries, seven years teaching environmental science at Biola University, and extensive service on the A Rocha USA board, he is ready to dig into hands-on conservation work in his native SoCal.

The LA area is surrounded by beaches, mountain ranges, and both high and low elevation deserts. The varying geography leads to a natural biodiversity that is mirrored in the cultural diversity of the region.

At the same time, Southern California has a range of ecological problems, including smog, industrial byproducts that harm both natural areas and minority neighborhoods, and a lack of Christian response.

SoCal A Rocha will help mitigate these problems by creating resources and training Christian leaders to start collaborative, community-based conservation activities to restore both people and places. They will also lead several specialized programs.

Training and partnership opportunities with local churches include Creation Care Camp, Conservation@Church (coming soon), Junior Rangers Club (an afterschool program), and leader meetings to provide community for creation care leaders in local churches. In addition, the team will lead conservation projects (both on their own and through partnerships with local groups), Church in Creation formation experiences, EcoMissions trips, and Birding with a Mission trips.

We are pleased to welcome Mark as he launches SoCal A Rocha. You can read more about his vision for the project on our blog, and you can contact him at socal@arocha.org.

Blessings,

Mark Purcell
Executive Director
A Rocha USA

Header photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash