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Caring for Creation:Vision, Hope, and Justice
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has put forth this social statement, which emphasizes their stance on care for creation. The statement focuses on our place in creation, the current environmental crisis, and hope through action. In addition, they emphasize becoming an advocate for change. -
The Power to Change
The 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. (PCUSA) has put forth this resolution on energy and climate change as a resource for both individuals and entire congregations. Topics at the forefront of the report include: global warming, eco-justice norms, energy guidelines, non-renewable energy sources, and alternative and renewable energy sources. The final section includes resources for education, action and advocacy. -
Report and Recommendations on Limited Water Resources and Takings
The 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. put forth this report on recommendations regarding critical water issues. The first half discusses water with regard to ethical considerations and sustainability. The second part provides an action/study guide that is designed for individual use as well as educational purposes. -
Globalization and the Environment
This study paper by Dr. Robert L. Stivers focuses on various types of attitudes and perspectives regarding human interaction with the environment. He maintains that environmental degradation has multiple causes, of which globalization might only be one factor. Dr. Stivers offers that globalization is a contributor to the extent that affluent individuals from around the world have yet to curb their spending habits and attitudes with regard its negative impact on nature. -
We Are What We Eat
The 214th General Assembly (2002) Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) approved the following report titled We Are What We Eat. This report focuses on how people can influence the agriculture revolution with regard to sustainability, stewardship compassion, and community. The final section provides suggestions for activities and studies that congregations can engage in with regard to food production/consumption. -
Hazardous Waste, Race, and the Environment
This statement was approved by the 207th General Assembly Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), 1995. The predominant theme focuses on the impact that hazardous waste has on individuals who are suffering from poverty and minority groups. The final section provides suggestions for taking action. -
Restoring Creation for Ecology and Justice
This report was adopted by the 202nd General Assembly (1990) Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Their Committee on Social Witness Policy urges the assembly to adopt specified policies within the document. The report covers of multitude of critical environmental issues, with sound policy recommendations and actions that congregations can take to support the myriad of sustainability issues. -
World Council of Churches Endorses Fossil Fuel Divestment
This message from the World Council of Churches (WCC) discuss their endorsement of fossil fuel divestment (2014 Geneva, Switzerland). WCC is one of a growing number of religious groups to support the fossil fuel divestment movement. The introduction is stated below:
"The Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC), a fellowship of over 300 churches which represent some 590 million people in 150 countries, endorsed fossil fuel divestment this week, agreeing to phase out its own holdings and encourage its members to do the same." -
Origins Publishes Full Text of Cardinal Turkson's Ohio State Speech; Highlights Link to COP-21
The Catholic News Service publication “Origins,” which is delivered to Catholic bishops, clergy, and diocesan staff across the country, recently gave front page attention to the full text of Cardinal Peter Turkson’s November 2 address at The Ohio State University (OSU). This prominent placement has provided a broad, national reading for the speech that Turkson delivered to a live audience of nearly 1,500 at Mershon Auditorium and several hundred other live stream viewers across Ohio. The remarks published in Origins also include some expanded text beyond what Cardinal Turkson was able to present in his evening program at OSU, which can inform further dialogue and response at OSU and beyond.
In these remarks, Turkson highlights the role of the encyclical, Laudato Si’, in calling attention to the great environmental challenges of our time, sparking individual and political commitment to address climate change and other challenges, and inspiring an “ecological conversion” towards an “integral ecology” that joins natural, social, and spiritual dimensions to effect positive change. Within this integral framework, Turkson highlights several issues that receive particular attention in Laudato Si’, including: the relation between the poor and the planet, the interconnection of everything, a critique of the new “technocratic paradigm,” the value of all creatures and the importance of humans to ecology, the need for “forthright and honest debates,” the serious responsibility of international and local policy, the “throwaway culture,” the need for new lifestyles, and an “invitation to search for other ways of understanding economy and progress.”
The full speech closes with a short overview of the six chapters of Laudato Si’ and looks forward to the hope that the encyclical will inspire real dialogue and meaningful political action at the COP-21 negotiations in Paris that began today. -
Seven Congregations of Dominican Women Collaborate to Offer Sept. 10 Earth Stewardship Program in Columbus
The Dominican Alliance Eco-Justice Committee is offering "Falling in Love with Earth Again" from 9:00am-3:00pm on Saturday, September 10 at the Martin de Porress Center in Columbus, OH. In the words of the organizers, the program will provide various avenues to “remind us of who we are as a part of this living Earth and renew our embodied human selves. Spend time with others pondering, celebrating, and creating your loving connection with Earth.” -
Sikh Statement on Climate Change
EcoSikh has created the groundwork for a Sikh environmental theological foundation, and the inspiration to connect Gurbani (hymns in the central text of the Sikhs) to the state of the environment today. This is the first of its kind from the Sikh community and it outlines new actions Sikhs can take to strengthen their connection to their faith through environmentalism. The following quote is an excerpt from the statement:
“You, Yourself created the Universe, and You are pleased…You, Yourself the bumblebee, flower, fruit and the tree. You, Yourself the water, desert, ocean and the pond. You, Yourself are the big fish, tortoise and the Cause of causes.” -
Engaged Organizations: Cincinnati Climate Change Task Force
In 2009, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati signed on to the St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation. Since then, they have started their own Climate Change Task Force. This task force has adopted the mission of committing themselves to work towards a sustainable world based off of the responsibility to Care for God’s Creation. They work to implement the five pillars of the pledge: praying, learning, assessing, acting, and advocating for the environment and the poor. -
Catholic Bishops Push Ohio Towards Clean Energy
The Catholic Bishops of Ohio are against an indefinite freeze of Ohio’s clean energy target standards. The Ohio Mandates Study Committee has called for this freeze due to a need for continual studying of energy standards and their impact on the state. The Bishops, however, feel that there is no need to freeze the standards, as alternative energy sources benefit the environment as well as society.
This is not the first time that the Bishops of Ohio have voiced such a stance. Back in 2014, a similar issue arose with SB 310, which proposed the original freeze of Ohio’s advanced energy portfolio standard that was established by SB221. The Bishops voiced opposition to SB 310 at that time. -
The Francis Effect
With the release of Laudato Si’ and the visitation of Pope Francis to the United States, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of both Americans and Catholic Americans who have demonstrated concern over Climate Change. Individuals of various faiths have expressed more trust the Pope due to the overwhelmingly positive reception of his message. -
Environmental Statement – American Baptist Churches
Environmental problems that exists today have stemmed from humanity’s current and past greed. Science and technology are being abused and threaten to make problems worse, even though they have the power to make things better. American Baptists advocate that we must be stewards of our home and not abuse it if we wish to continue on as a species. In order to fix what humans have caused, we are called to recognize and preserve the earth and natural resources we have. -
Environmental Statement – Mennonite Church
Like many other religions, the Mennonite Church has released a statement about the need to take care of our environment. They are encouraging this attitude of caring for our planet among their members by using biblical text. It focuses on helping people choose simpler lifestyles, and seeking justice for the environment. -
Environmental Statement – Lutheran Church
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America adopted a robust environmental social statement in 1993. Many themes are similar to those voiced by other religions in that it focuses on humanity’s responsibility to the environment and the call to act as the stewards of the earth. The statement notes that problems of environmental degradation have been caused by humanity, and it is up to us to restore nature to its former condition. All people of the earth need to take part, and this statement calls for action by everyone. -
The Supreme Court and The Clean Power Plan
The Clean Power Plan was designed to allow states the greatest flexibility in implementation, attempting benefiting the health of individuals by improving the quality of the air for everyone. The Supreme Court has ruled to stay the implementation of the Clean Power Plan (5-4 ruling). Many churches and faiths have banded together to express their dissatisfaction with this decision. A predominant tenet of most religious organizations is their concern with protecting the health and well-being of vulnerable communities and God’s Creation. -
North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC) - Brochure on Christianity and Pollinators
Various Christian groups in the United States (North American Pollinator Protection Campaign) have created this leaflet that discusses the importance of protecting endangered pollinating species in urban areas. The concluding section focuses on actions that congregations, and specifically youth groups can take to assist pollinators. -
Climate Change and the Common Good: A Statement of the Problem and the Demand for Transformative Solutions
The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences prepared the following statement on climate change. It covers a wide range of associated sustainability issues. Various suggestions for societal interventions are also included within the statement. -
Declaration of Religious Leaders, Political Leaders, Business Leaders, Scientists and Development Practitioners
Business and political leaders, and scientists from around the world have congregated at the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences to address the climate change crisis. The introduction to the declaration is stated below:
"We the undersigned have assembled at the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences to address the challenges of human-induced climate change, extreme poverty, and social marginalization, including human trafficking, in the context of sustainable development. We join together from many faiths and walks of life, reflecting humanity’s shared yearning for peace, happiness, prosperity, justice, and environmental sustainability.
We have considered the overwhelming scientific evidence regarding human-induced climate change, the loss of biodiversity, and the vulnerabilities of the poor to economic,social, and environmental shocks." -
America Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) Creation Justice Congregations Bulletin
America Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) has created a bulletin insert that discusses how congregations can earn certificates of achievement for implementing eco-justice measures. Further details are discussed below:
"Creation Justice Congregations is an environmental education, stewardship, and justice program sponsored by the Creation Justice Network of the American Baptist Churches USA. Through this program your congregation can earn certificates of achievement for implementing eco-justice measures in your building, within your congregations, and in your ministries of outreach and justice.
Creation Justice Congregations has three stages, each with a checklist of suggested education, worship, and other action items that can help bring Baptist churches into the wider movement for peace, justice, and reconciliation with all of God's creation. " -
Message by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP 24) (Poland)
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople addressed the United Nations of the Parties (COP 24) in Poland, December 3-14, 2018. He emphasized the collective responsibility among all citizens to alleviate the climate problems. One key point includes the urgency to focus on lighter carbon footprints to preserve the Earth to assist in alleviating poverty and suffering.
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Lenten Call for ‘Carbon Fast’
This circular Lenten Call for ‘Carbon Fast’, addressed to the Bishops of the Churches in South India, was provided on February 8, 2017 in Chennai, India, at the Church of South India Synod Secretariat. The circular emphasizes the desecration of the Earth as sinful. However, the call for a Carbon Fast can be considered one way to repent. -
A Bishops’ Letter about the Climate
Below is a section of the introduction from A Bishops’ Letter about the Climate, which covers a multitude of critical environmental issues, from the 2014 Bishops' conference:
"We have lived with reports and forecasts of climate change since the 1980s. Our climate is the result of the interaction of complex systems and there is often a great distance between cause and effect in terms of both space and time. There are uncertainties and a lack of clarity. However, the knowledge we possess today does not allow us to postpone until tomorrow
what needs to be done now. Our human climate impact must decrease for the sake of the earth, for the sake of the world that God so loves that God gave us Jesus Christ."