| April
2006
Young
Adults! Come
to the Feast 2006 will take place May 24-29 in Portland,
OR. Come to the Feast is a biennial gathering of young adults and
young workers seeking to go beyond denomination lines to connect,
strengthen, and empower young adult ministries.CTTF gathers around
four major areas: mobilizing, renewing, expressivng faith, and building
community. The participants plan the event, so we need YOU to sign-up
and make your Eco-Justice concerns a focal point of the conference.
NCC Eco-Justice staff will be on hand to facilitate discussion.
Click here for more information.
The
New Community Project
Learning Tours schedule for 2006-7 has been announced. The purpose
of the trips is to increase understanding of troubled areas of our
world, to build relationships and seek solidarity with our neighbors
and with God's creation, and to encourage spiritual and personal
transformation. Many of the tours have an Eco-Justice focus, including
hurricane-ravaged areas of Louisiana, Denali/Kenai Fjords National
Parks, AK, Arctic Village, AK, and the Ecuadorian Amazon. Click
here for more information.
In A Greener Faith: Religious Environmentalism and Our Planet's
Future, Roger S. Gottlieb contends that a spiritual
perspective applied to the Earth provides the environmental movement
with a uniquely appropriate way to voice its dream of a sustainable
and just orld. The author chronicles the promises of this critically
important movement, illuminating its principal ideas, leading personalities,
and ways of connecting care for the earth with justice for human
beings. He also shows how religious environmentalism breaks the
customary boundaries of "religious issues" in political life.
The
Earth Day Network
has provided a great Earth Day Sunday action toolkit called Religious Earth Day in a Box. Their tools, focused
on climate change solutions, can enhance any Earth Day Sunday celebration.
Included in this resource is an Earth Day newsletter insert, a sample
Op-Ed to your newspaper, an organizer kit for student groups, and
much more. In addition, EDN will be hosting a live chat panel on
the Religious Response
to Climate Change on April 21.
Eco-Justice
Working Group
Church
of the Brethren
Environmental
Justice Office of Presbyterian Church (USA)
Presbyterian
Washington Office
Episcopal
Ecological Network
Greek
Orthodox Church in America
Luthern
Earthkeeping Network of the Synods
Reformed
Church in America
United
Church of Christ
United
Methodist Board of Church and Society
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New Tools to Help you Plan for Earth Day Sunday
New to NCC's Earth Day Sunday site are a checklist of things to remember for anyone wanting
to plan an Earth Day Sunday service and list of ideas to extend your Earth Day Sunday activities
beyond worship and into the everyday life of your church and the
members of your congregation. If you haven't yet, click here to download the worship resource. Coming soon:
Helpful Hints for Getting Local Media Coverage and Messages for
Your Elected Officials!
Advocacy
Days Sends Message to Legislators on Need for Climate Action
On March 13, participants in
this year's Eco-Justice track for Ecumenical Advocacy Days stormed
Capitol Hill and made more than 50 visits to House and Senate offices
asking for meaningful leadership on global warming legislation THIS
YEAR. Advocacy Days is over, but our call to be good stewards of
God's Creation by advocating for meaningful action on global warming
is just beginning. Visit the Interfaith Climate and Energy Campaign for more
information on critical role people of faith are playing on this
issue and how you can make your voice heard.
Renewing
the Ground: Faith Leaders Speak Out on Oil and Gas Drilling on Public
Lands
In March, more than 70 faith
leaders from across the nation endorsed a statement expressing concern
about the current state of oil and gas development on public lands
in the U.S. The statement, which is entitled "Renewing the Ground:
A Call for Faithful Stewardship of Energy Resources on God's Lands,"
highlights the value of the 623 million acres of land held in the
public trust and calls caring for the lands and wild places that
God has entrusted to us a "critical part of our moral and spiritual
duty to protect creation." Click here to view the full statement with signatories.
Click here to read the Denver Post guest column "A New
Steward for Addicted Nation" by NCC's General Secretary, Rev. Bob
Edgar.
Upcoming NCC Events
National Eco-Justice Conference, Regional Trainings
in Arkansas and Minnesota
The biennial NCC Conference,
Eco-Justice For All: God's People, God's Planet will be held at
Loyola University in New Orleans June 1-4, with pre-conference experiences
on May 30 and 31. New Orleans is at the epicenter of the interesection
of social justice and environmental concerns and this context will
certainly prove valuable as we consider how to heal social fabric
torn by environmental racism, how to pursue healthy communities
and sustainable lifestyles, and how to respond to increasing pollution
of God's land, air, and water. For more information and registration
materials, click here.
Also,
join us at an ecumenical regional event on climate and energy concerns
on April 8 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Workshop topics will include:
Climate Change, Green Design, Public Policy Advocacy, Green Theology,
Organizing, and Teaching. Click here for more information. A second regional training
event will take place in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St.
Paul the weekend of May 19-20. Mark your calendars and be on the
look-out for more details soon!.
The Senate Needs to Hear Your Voice on Protecting the Endangered
Species Act
"Speak out for those who cannot
speak, for all those who are destitute." (Proverbs 31:8) Our actions
have left many plant and animal species, fellow members of Creation,
destitute, struggling for survival without enough remaining habitat
to prosper and flourish. The House of Representatives has passed
and the Senate is considering revisions to the Endangered Species
Act (ESA) that will significantly lessen our ability to protect
these beloved parts of God's Creation. Sign this letter
sponsored by the Noah Alliance and join other people of faith in
asserting that all parts of Creation are precious and indispensable
in His eyes.
From the Desk
of . . .
by: Cassandra Carmichael,
NCC eco-justice program director
What a difference a week makes! Last week, in yet another round
of work travel, I showed up at the airport early in the morning
for my 9am flight to San Francisco only to be told that my reservation
was for that night not that morning. To make matters worse, on the
way back from San Francisco, I showed up at the airport only to
learn that my reservation was for the following evening. Things
just didn't seem to be "flowing" when it came to work.
My mother suggested that I fire my secretary. Knowing full well
that I didn't have a secretary and that I was actually the one who
made my own travel arrangments, she was trying to tell me that I
was burning the candle at both ends. For once I took her advice.
I slept in on a Saturday. Took a prayerful walk on Sunday. And lost
myself in a novel. My work travel this week went off much smoother
and when I returned I was welcomed by sunny skies, licks from my
dog Jax, and two other things. A package of eco-palms that I ordered
for my church's Palm Sunday services. And a call from the head of
coffee hour at church who wanted information on how to order fair
trade, shade grown organic coffee. Suddenly, I felt like things
were moving forward. Granted I had initiated the process and was
donating the eco-palms and coffee to my church. But I couldn't help
wondering if my self-care and r&r had somehow been the key to
success. Perhaps it isn't hard work and good deeds that get rewarded.
But instead, naps and walks in the woods with our dogs.
". . . if you call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of
the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, serving
your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs; then you shall
take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride upon the heights
of the earth . . ." -- Isaiah 58:13-14
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