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Religion and Ecological Responsibility

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Dissident Heart

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geo: There's probably some irony in putting a link to a consumable good at the end of this post, and one that attempts to brand a simple philosophical concept with Christian ideology. Whatever.

I don't see it as "branding", but as an example of how one religion, Christianity, understands and pursues lifestyles of compassion and simplicity...thus the title of the book, Simpler Living, Compassionate Life. I don't think an "ideological free" approach to anything is possible. Nor do I see simplicity as a simple philosophical concept...it certainly involves ideology and philosophy and, well, everything that goes in to a particular way of living: relationships, technologies, habits, attitudes, etc.

And, anyone involved in environmentalist activism has to face the irony of working to change the "system" while being wired to the mainframe and dependent upon the whole shabang of contemporary global capitalism and its many tributaries. This is another element that religious environmentalism brings to the discussion: there are many ways to express the "good life" and pursue what is beautful and true and the purpose of human destiny...we are not limited to one global economic model that must determine our politics, culture, agriculture or kinship relationships.
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Dissident Heart

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DWill: The change required is a drastic one, though, and I'm not confident that any of the established denominations would really want to take their congregations in this direction.

I think most institutions and organizations are subject to the same criticism...at least as far as being resistant to drastic change. Legal, academic, banking, political, industrial, military and religious structures all must face drastic changes...and I think they are all exhibiting varieties of denial, avoidance, minimization and outright lies in response to our very real ecolocial threats.

The good news is there are many (perhaps not enough) who are working to change. Here are some ways that different religous congregations work to go green...Greening Congregations in the Seattle and Puget Sound region:

Sacred Earth Ministry Team, Bethany United Church of Christ, Seattle (WA) Part of Bethany UCC's mission statement reads, "We are called to honor creation and build relationships with the created world that are life-giving and justice-producing. We are called to share our vision with other so we can make a reality this vision of justice and peace for the whole web of life." One example of the efforts to fulfill this mission, the Sacred Earth Ministry Team has led the revitalization of Bethany Garden. Once a City of Seattle Pea Patch, the organic garden was underutilized and not well maintained. Now the site features a children's garden, Food Bank garden, and members of the Bethany and Beacon Hill community nurture garden plots there.

Earth Corps Group, East Shore Unitarian Church, Bellevue (WA)
East Shore strives to live by the Unitarian Universalist principle: "to affirm and promote ... respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part." In keeping with this principle, this past April a group from the church helped to organize, then marched and demonstrated in, the "Earthwalk" event in Seattle. Also in April, the church held their annual Earth Day service with a special presentation on the Earth Charter and conducted another service in August with testimonials from dedicated activists in the church on what they do and why they do it. On an on-going basis, they serve shade-grown/organic coffee at all services and functions and sell energy-efficient, Compact Florescent light bulbs one Sunday per month. The church is also currently helping to plan a lecture and weekend workshop with Joanna Macy for March 2003.

Greening Congregations Task Force, Fairwood Community United Methodist Church, Renton (WA)
The work of Fairwood's Greening Congregations Task Force spreads into almost every nook and cranny of the churches life: from hikes, to worship services, to a bike-and-walk to church Sunday, to doing an energy-efficiency survey with every member in the congregation, to rolling up their sleeves to help restore local watersheds.

Fauntleroy United Church of Christ, Seattle (WA)
Fauntleroy's dedication to creation care has encompassed making earth-friendly choices on the road, at the table, and in the home. Some of their crowing achievements include a Care More, Car Less Sunday where more than 100 people carpooled, walked, used the bus or biked to church; supporting sustainable agriculture by purchasing food from a local, organic farmer; a Food and Faith Sunday, including switching to Fair Trade, shade-grown, organic coffee; participating in the April 2007 Step It Up March for climate change solutions, cosponsored by Earth Ministry; and promoting less toxic home and yard maintenance. To top it off, Fauntleroy is exploring faith and environment classes as part of the church's adult education program.
First Congregational United Church of Christ, Everett (WA)
First Congregational now has a creation-care covenant that the entire congregation has signed and "owns." Their "Creation Keepers" group has helped to design an Earth Day worship service, done tree plantings, supported the Heifer Project, and promoted shade grown coffee.

Georgetown Gospel Chapel, Seattle (WA)
The Chapel sits as an oasis in the industrial core of Seattle with its vegetable and flower gardens that nourish both human and other-creature neighbors. Among the many ways in which the Chapel works to (quote) "replenish the earth" is through their concrete actions to confront global warming
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Aaaaagh! Please stop with the mission statements!!!
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geo: Aaaaagh! Please stop with the mission statements!!!

These aren't only mission statements. They include examples, activities, events involved in the greening of congregations in the Seattle, Puget Sound region. And they show, in relation to DWill's concern, that there are religious communities taking concrete steps to embrace an environmentalist ethic.

Below are some very interesting resources that different congregations are using to help gude their greening process:
Environmental Guide for Congregations,Their Buildings, and Grounds http://www.webofcreation.org/Environmental%20Guide.pdf This guide is directed to congregations that already have property and buildings. There are other excellent guides for congregations engaged in building programs. This guide is meant to give you all the concrete and specific suggestions necessary to lessen significantly the ecological imprint made by the building and grounds presently under your care. Everything about the buildings/grounds and all the practices of those who use them have an impact on the environment. The purpose of this guide is to make you aware of these impacts and to offer choices that will render our property and practices friendly to Earth.
Bottom Line Ministries that Matter http://www.nccecojustice.org/bottomline.htm
Whether large or small, urban, rural, or suburban, most congregations use energy for lighting, heating, or cooling in order to conduct the variety of program ministries and worship events that are an integral part of church mission. Almost every congregation across the country is powered and heated at least in part by coal, oil, or natural gas. The fossil fuels used by congregations have been rising in price and impacting church budgets. Their use also adversely effects human and environmental health. This report addresses:

- The costs and savings by state for congregations that invest in clean -energy and energy efficiency
- Ways that judicatories can pool resources to invest in clean energy and encourage energy efficiency
- The Christian call and moral obligation to protect God's creation and address global warming and pollution through proper energy stewardship
- Resources needed to take the next steps toward saving money to spend on church mission while caring for creation
Training Manual For The Green Congregation Program http://www.webofcreation.org/FinishedCompleteGC.pdf These materials are designed to train a small group of lay people and clergy to bring care for creation into the full life and mission of your congregation. You may use this manual in different ways, doing some or all of the processes and projects suggested here. For the program to work well, you may want to follow the steps suggested and the principles
recommended. In brief, the following steps represent the procedures to become a Green Congregation.

1. Gather a small group of people (2 to 8 ) to serve as a Green Team.
2. Become familiar with the Green Congregation program.
3. Inform/involve the pastor(s)/staff as to your interest and commitment.
4. Approach the church governing board for authorization to proceed.
5. Develop an Action Plan for the congregation in several areas
a. Worship
b. Education
c. Building and Grounds
d. Discipleship at Home and Work
e. Public Ministry
6. Work with the appropriate committees/ individuals to carry out the Action Plan.
7. Promote with members your identity as a congregation that cares for creation.
8. Meet regularly (monthly) to follow the Action Plan and to develop new projects.
9. Consider a congregation project to benefit the community/ city of location
10. Find structural ways to assure the long term life and activities of the Green Team
11. At some point, apply to be certified as a Green Congregation and request that the
governing board adopt the Green Congregation Mission Statement.
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Frank 013
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Things are moving fast on this thread...

Anyway I was at grenade launcher, chemical weapon and baton training all day today so I haven't had a chance to post.
George
Agreed. And another important distinction, at least for me, is in realizing that the activities of church members generally have nothing to do with the policies and practices of the institution.


I agree to this as well and is why I think that most of those people are reachable through reason and evidence even when some church leaders and institutions may not be.

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DWill

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Dissident Heart wrote: The good news is there are many (perhaps not enough) who are working to change. Here are some ways that different religous congregations work to go green...Greening Congregations in the Seattle and Puget Sound region
The change needed is drastic, yet it is true that if we are not to have change forced on us, the change must usually occur incrementally. So the evidence presented here of churches taking small steps has to be credited, it seems to me. Whether in the end such measures can ever be sufficient we don't know. As vehicles to mobilize people into action, churches might be doing the best job out there. I say this simply because of not having examples at hand of similar efforts by non-religious organizations. If anyone has such evidence, he or she should give it.
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DWill,

I did a quick search as you suggested and found that many secular institutes are in fact working on the cleanup, furthermore because they are directed by the DOE (Department of Ecology) they seem to be making very good progress on their particular projects.

I spent a total of 5 minutes looking for this, so I am positive that there is much more available.

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/ecyhome.html

http://www.hanford.gov/phmc/progress/ju ... lsep02.pdf

http://www.skykomishcleanup.com/default.aspx

http://www.osti.gov/bridge/index.jsp

http://www.portridgefield.org/pwtCleanUp/index.htm

Enjoy!

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Campuses across the USA are sinking money into green buildings and other green practices. The school my daughter goes to (George School, Quaker High School in Newtown, PA) is building a green library/study center, they have a garden that contributes food to the dinning hall, a portion of the food for the dinning hall comes from contracts with local farms and some are organic, and all waste food is collected in special receptacles to be composted for the garden.
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Frank 013
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At the risk of beating the horse to death like DH, I have a few more to add... there are indeed many, many, many secular organizations, schools and communities working to clean up the environment.

http://www.ecoact.org/Programs/

http://www.arcecology.org/

http://www.komw.net/artman/publish/article_4459.shtml

http://www.lowry.org/ecology/index.htm

Again enjoy!

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Hi Frank,
It was the aspect of mobilizing people, and changing hearts and minds, that I was trying to get a fix on. Of course, there are numerous public and private sector projects focused on the environment, a small sample of which you've provided. And some of them may do the mobilizing I mentioned. I just wonder whether the churches might potentially have an advantage in their positioning. I am not trying to be argumentative here, but to look at the matter dispassionately.
DWill
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