Environmental Justice

Congregations can take action to become good stewards of God's creation!

Your congregation - both as an institution and in the lives of its members - can become a good steward of God's creation.

Talking is not enough! Justice demands that we fulfill our stewardship responsibility by living our institutional lives and our personal lives in ways that create a sustainable world for the sake of people all over the world today, for future generations, and for all of God's non-human creations.

The National Council of Churches has issued an
Open Letter to Church and Society: God's Earth is Sacred. Please take time to read this important statement!

Here are some ways we can work for environmental justice:

Energy stewardship is of primary importance because of the threat of continued global warming as well as power plant pollution that contributes to asthma, heart disease, and other illnesses.

Join New York Interfaith Power and Light, a newly-formed interfaith effort working for just and faithful stewardship of God's gift of energy to create a sustainable world and to prevent further global warming.

Get a low-cost/no-cost energy audit from NYSERDA.

Use the 1-2-3 Response to Global Warming Toolkit for Congregations.

Take action NOW: Urge your Representative and Senators to support a just and sustainable energy policy.

Take action on the General Board of Church and Society's UM Power website.

Know what your denomination says, such as the United Methodist Church's Energy Policy Statement in our Social Principles.

Responsible food choices - second only to energy in importance!

	Justice Coffee is a particularly easy, important, and appropriate way for congregations to make a big difference for Central American family farms, for our own migratory birds, and for the earth.
	Take action in your own congregation with the Food for Thought (...and Action!) program

Stewardship of public and private lands - especially your own congregation's land.

Pesticides - Make your grounds a chemical-free zone. Protect our children, adults, and wildlife.

Lifestyle and responsible consumption - important spiritually as well. Do we too highly value material things and consume more than our fair share of the earth's resources?

Other ways to take action

And advocacy to heal and defend God's creation goes along with all of these. Make sure our public policy representatives know that we care about good stewardship of God's creation.

Just getting started in your own congregation?

The Ecological Disconnect (or) What Keeps Us From Responding by Karla Hignite describes the four barriers you may face as you work with your congregation to become good stewards of God's creation. It also describes what is needed to have a faithful earthkeeping program, including "...at least one individual who is totally passionate and who is willing to put in serious time." YOU can be that person!

What's New!

* New information about the impact of every purchase of 100 pounds of coffee
* Updated Environmental Justice articles from Connections, and archives for past years
* The Food for Thought (...and Action!) Toolkit for Congregations - Dec 2003

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