News
Nearly 3,000 People of Faith and Over 30 Organizations Call for National Chemical Policy Reform. We are grateful to you and our interfaith and ecumenical partners across the country for endorsing the Christian Principles for a Healthy Body and Spirit and the Interfaith Statement for Chemical Policy Reform. Our principles affirm the need to protect Creation, protect the most vulnerable such as children, low income communities and communities of color, and our own bodies which are dwelling spaces for the Holy Spirit. Read the statements and list of signatories to the Interfaith and Christian Principles.
Meet the Frackers: A Technique for Natural Gas Drilling Threatens Drinking Water and the Environment. Click here to go to Sojourners and read the story by Tyler Edgar, NCC's Climate and Energy Program Manager.
Kansas Interfaith Power and Light Hires a New Coordinator. Read more here.
National Council of Churches in India calls for "Greening the Cross" on Good Friday. Click here for the story. Indian Churches also endorse a campaign to ban toxic endosulfan. Click here to read the statement.
Get Involved
Honor Thy Mother: May 5-6, 2011. Join us for NCC's national call-in days to honor moms' work for healthy families. As Mother's Day is fast approaching, take five minutes this May 5-6 to call your Senators and ask them to stop toxic chemical trespass on mothers' wombs and breastmilk, and on our whole families' bodies. Ask your Senators to make national chemical policy reform a priority this year. Click here for call-in information.
Calling all Elders to Speak Up for Children's Health: Protect today's children and future generations from toxic chemicals and chronic illness. Click here to read and sign the letter that will be hand delivered to Congress.
Are you a Leader in Your Faith Community? Click here.
Protect the Clean Air Act. Right now, elected officials are trying to undermine the Clean Air Act, and limit its ability to regulate pollution. Click here to ask your U.S. Senators to protect communities and God's Creation by protecting the Clean Air Act.
Call for Environmental and Economic Justice for the Bristol Bay in Alaska. The world's largest open-pit gold
and copper mine is being set up at the headwaters of the world's richest salmon-filled waters, despite opposition from Alaskan Natives. Click here to ask the Environmental Protection Agency to save the Bristol Bay.
Sponsor the Jerry Muys Water Fellowship. In memory of environmental lawyer and United Methodist Christian Jerry Muys. The Water Fellow will strengthen the NCC's work to protect God's gift of water. Click here to contribute to this important ministry.
Submit an Entry to Earth Ministry's St. Francis Creation Care Sermon Contest. Entries are due July 31st. Click here to learn more.
Events
GreenFaith Fellowship Program is offering an informational webinar for interested candidates on May 12 at 8:00pm Eastern time. Click here to learn more. Check out more info about the GreenFaith Fellowship here.
Join Experts to Learn about Healthy Aging on May 23rd. Healthy aging begins in the womb, but it continues into our elder years. To learn more, join us on a call with Dr. Ted Schettler and Maria Valenti of the Collaborative on Health and Environment to discuss healthy aging and what you can do to improve your health in all stages of life. Register for the teleconference and webinar here.
Envision Conference. Caring for the Community of Creation: Climate Change, Environmental Justice, and Prophetic Faith. June 16-18, 2011 in New York, NY. Click here to go to the conference website.
2011 Presbyterians for Earth Care (PEC) National Conference: “God’s Earth: Too Big to Fail? An Eco-Justice Conversation between Faith, Science and Culture,” August 31 – September 3, 2011 at Highlands Presbyterian Camp and Retreat Center near Estes Park, Colorado. Click here for more details.
Resources
New Guide on Healthy Aging for Congregations In older age, we can slow down or prevent chronic diseases linked to environmental contaminants, diet, and other factors. We can also comfort people coping with chronic diseases. Healthy Aging for an Abundant Life is an education, action, and worship guide that is great for Christian and interfaith audiences. While the guide is geared towards seniors, there is something in it for everyone. There are also tips for grandparents and parents of small children. Download it here or request a hard copy here.
New Fact Sheet on Maternal Health and Toxic Chemicals for Congregations. “For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139). Toxic chemicals can harm a child starting in the first environment - the womb. New studies have found toxic chemicals can harm not only predispose a mother’s offspring to developmental delay and harm, but also that of her grandchildren or great grandchildren. Learn more about this concern, why it is an issue of faith, and how we can respond. Download this two-page fact sheet here.
Need ideas for good Mother's Day gifts? Consider mixing up homemade non-toxic cosmetics for mom, or treating her to an at-home facial. Click here to find recipies and ideas in the NCC's Healthy Spa resource.
Interfaith Power and Light of Greater Washington Offers a Speakers Bureau. Click here to check it out, or click here to learn about Interfaith Power and light activities in your area.
Reflections on the Power of Water in the Holy Land. Click here to read a this reflection, which was featured in the April 2011 edition of Sojourners magazine.
Book: Love God, Heal Earth. Essays from 21 faith leaders on how their faith communities are tackling issues of religion and the environment. Click here to learn more.
