Apocalypse Earth: What Would Jesus Say About the Approaching Environmental “End Times”?

"Does Christianity have any workable teachings for an age of global concerns? Were Jesus to return on this 40th anniversary of the moon landing to preach a “Sermon on the Moon,” “Consider the lilies” would become “consider the ecosystem,” and a “house built upon sand” would be, well, just about any house built on any shoreline in the world." (RD, 7.20.09)

Clark Strand writes a compelling article about the need for a theology explicitly centered on and guided by global environmental concerns. He provides an interesting commentary on how our worldview has drastically changed since Jesus' time and imagines that Jesus would be addressing the ecological crises that affect our individual and social well-being.

This is certainly an issue to be kept in mind by those of us who engage in theological discourse and are in positions of leadership in our congregations. We should be able to provide a Christ-centered prophetic voice about addressing issues of global environmental concern and reinterpreting Jesus' teachings for our own age.

Read Strand's essay at Religion Dispatches.

(Image from Religion Dispatches.)

New Book Out About Discipleship and Eco-justice

The environmental movement is now firmly rooted among Christians, with individuals, churches, communities, and non-profit groups embracing eco-justice as a central and significant part of discipleship. 50 Ways to Help Save the Earth: How You and Your Church Can Make a Difference (Westminster John Knox Press) is a new book out by environmental activist Rebecca Barnes-Davies that clarifies this important connection between stewardship of the earth and living out one's faith in God in Christ.

Barnes-Davies says, "Our task is to learn to reshape our lives to honor rather than destroy God's creation ... If we are to save the earth, we must save it from ourselves." This book restates and reinforces the values of conservation by reducing, reusing, recycling, gardening, and (most difficult, in my opinion) knowing when to say "enough" and be content with what one has. It's important to take action engaging in advocacy and eco-justice activity, yet it's also about "not doing" in the sense of discerning when to let go of control, doing no harm, resting, celebrating, and trusting that God is also working to care for creation via other means.

Check out a review of the book at RNS.

Unity Congregations Going Green

*The first two Unity churches to receive EarthCare Certification from the AUCI EarthCare Ministry Team were honored by Rev. James Trapp at the Unity People's Convention in June. Congratulations to Rev. Sharon Clements (right) of Unity Centre of Practical Christianity from Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, for being the first Unity church in the world to receive this certification! And congratulations to Rev. Alice Anderson (left) of Christ Church Unity in Orlando FL, for being the first Unity church in the United States to receive the certification!* (Field Xchange 7.1.09)

For for more info and/or assistance in involving your church or community in this exciting and innovative process, please contact the EarthCare Team at earthcare@unity.org.

(Above Photo from Field Xchange Newsletter 7.1.09)

Center for Progressive Christianity -- June Newsletter

This month's newletter at the Center for Progressive Christianity is concered with "Spiritual Ecology." Some highlights are a remembrance of reknown eco-theologian Thomas Berry; an article on ecology, spirituality, and the evolution of consciousness; an essay about the prospect of environmental stewardship grounded in Christianity; and a prayer for global restoration (among other articles and essays).

This month's theme is right in-line with Unity's EarthCare Team, which shares the philosophy and practice of combining spirituality and ecology to help to heal the earth and ourselves.

View the news bulletin and read the articles here.

Love Your Neighbor -- Commentary by Jim Wallis

Jim Wallis has recently written a concise but informative and provoking article on Jesus' word's "Love your neighbor as yourself" and the current ecological crisis. He essentially talks about how this exhortation to love neighbor can and should be extended to all humanity and the entire planet. This injunction serves as an important Christian grounds for practically addressing the problems we are currently facing concerning the environment and the Earth. One nice feature of his article is that it offers a good amount of statistics about future projections of humanitarian and environmental issues as well as Christian denominational sentiments about climate change.

Read the entire write-up of "Love Your Neighbor, Love the Earth" at Faith in Public Life.

Poll Says Variety of Christians Want Action on Climate Change

According to the new national survey conducted by Public Religion Research and sponsored by Faith in Public Life and Oxfam America, a majority of Americans, including majorities of Catholics and Evangelicals, believe addressing climate change now will create new jobs and help avoid more serious economic problems in the future; almost 7 out of 10 (69%) Americans and similar numbers of Catholics and Evangelicals agree that climate change is making it harder for the world's poorest people to support their families; and approximately three-quarters of the general public and comparable numbers of Catholics and Evangelicals favor helping the world's poorest people adapt to food and water shortages caused by rising global temperatures.

This tells me that a surprising variety of Christians, including evangelicals who aren't typically concerned with or involved in environmental problems, are becoming increasingly convinced that there is a real environmental crisis at hand and that practical action must be taken to begin to alleviate the problems. I'm also pleased to see that a notably high percentage of more conservative-minded Christians are acknowledging global warming and its effects on the poor around the world.

From a Unity perspective, the environmental crisis is very real, must be dealt with, and many practical steps are being made in national and local Unity organizations to help contribute to raising consciousness about the issues and promoting means of taking action in everyday life to foster a sustainable future. See Unity's EarthCare Team for more info.

Faith in Public Life has a press release.

Unity's EarthCare Team - Leading the Way

Unity Churches International Earthcare Team began in the Northwest region, where it developed through grassroots efforts of Unity communities. The team encourages practical actions by Unity ministries such as energy efficiency, community gardens, trail maintenance, tree plantings, and stream cleanups.

Every year since 2004 the International Earthcare Team convenes at a conference to inspire a "green" consciousness. And last year it produced the Declaration for EarthCare. Here's a little snippet:

There is a standard for the practice of being human. We are called to be stewards of Earth. ...We declare our covenant with God to walk upon Earth for the greatest good of all creation.

I commend the Northwest region for initiating such an endeavor that addresses a crucial issue in today's world: a sustainable future for the Earth and its inhabitants. Unity churches have an enormous amount of resources (material and spiritual) to assist in the effort toward a hospitable future.

The Unity movement is full of caring, mindful people who are God-centered, want to see the Christ revealed in not only our personal and social lives but also in the ecological being of the Earth, and realize that this entails engaging in active environmental work. This means, firstly, raising consciousness about the problems in our current situation and informing people of what they can do to help through conferences, declarations, publications, festivals, etc. Expanding people's consciousness will, in turn, lead people's words and deeds in such a sustainable direction. Then it takes concretely doing the actions to benefit the environment in our families and communities.

Here are some practical steps that the EarthCare Team has suggested for helping to lessen environmental problems:

*Put up a “green board” in your center and update it weekly with tips, information about “green” events in your community, and how-to pamphlets from national organizations. *Conduct energy audits with your local power providers who may be able to suggest ways to make your center more energy efficient. *Set up compost bins near your center's kitchen. *Place recycling bins throughout your center. *Use native plants in landscaping and mulch to reduce water usage. *Have film “showings” at your center, and feature films such as An Inconvenient Truth or Kilowatt Ours. *Switch to fluorescent and LED lighting throughout your facility. *Place your lights on motion sensors where feasible. *Adopt a small public park to care for and honor. *Give congregants saplings to plant at home or at your center.

The Northwest region's International Earthcare Team is leading the way for the rest of the Unity movement to highten our consciousness of environmental issues and take practical steps toward future sustainability in any way we're able.

See the Earthcare Team's write-up on Unity.org.