Saving the earth by Spirit and science

Religion and science have had a testy relationship ever since Galileo was convicted of heresy and put under house arrest by the Catholic Church for daring to publish his beliefs that the earth circulated around the sun. But in the last 30 years or so, a sort of détente, and even appreciation, has occurred. Scientists (some of whom secretly practice their faith, but don’t discuss it) and religious leaders (who vary all over the map in their own scientific training) have realized that these differences pale in contrast to their shared concern and values for the condition of the earth.  

Collaborations are occurring from a new sense of urgency. Threats to the environment are no longer abstractions whose effects might be felt sometime in the future. We can see the damage occurring before our eyes. When glaciers are melting, deserts are spreading, and the Arctic ice is disappearing, we as people of faith see the degradation and changes occurring around us and we wonder not only what our faith has to say but also about how we are called to act. In order to respond, we will have to connect outside of the church culture into new collaborations.  

Action is the key. A group of diverse religious constituencies including the National Association of Evangelicals, the National Council of Churches, and Presbyterians for Restoring Creation are supporting the rollout of a new movie, “The Great Warming,” which will open in movie theaters Nov. 3. Through Web, e-mail, and other channels, preachers around the country are being encouraged to preach on this topic, and church groups are being offered the opportunity to host screenings at their churches for raising both funds and consciousness. 

Almost simultaneously, former Harvard Professor and author E. O. Wilson has written a new book called Creation:  A Meeting of Science and Religion in which he calls upon the evangelical community (Wilson himself grew up in the Baptist Church) to come together around the future of the planet.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been one of the leaders in these efforts. It passed the policy statement “Restoring Creation for Ecology and Justice” at the General Assembly back in 1990, and the Office of Environmental Justice was established.  Presbyterians also passed a sustainability policy directive in 1996, and Presbyterians for Restoring Creation, a related non-profit organization, was established a year earlier in 1995, now with over 700 members, including congregations, committees, and presbyteries. Since then, a network of folks, now called Stewardship of Creation Enablers, were recruited for many Presbyteries. All in all, the Presbyterian eco-justice effort has been probably the largest of any denomination, but even as impressive as this effort has been, the movement has not reached a tipping point. Some preachers, myself included, hold “Creation Celebration” or “Earth Sabbath” Sundays, but most churchgoers in the Presbyterian Church do not hear a sermon on these topics. 

The fact is, most of us know that global warming is a problem, even a really big problem, but doing something about it doesn’t get on our to do lists. But moral imperatives have a way of changing our priorities. We have seen it with apartheid; we have seen it with a multiplicity of other issues. The scientific community has presented us with the facts, but what we really need in addition to the facts is to hear a calling to the difficult task of transformation, something that the religious community knows a lot about.

So where are we as Presbyterians today? Ironically, at almost the same time our General Assembly passed a resolution last June in Birmingham to encourage our members to live “climate neutral” lives, the Office of Environmental Justice was eliminated. While I can appreciate how many painful actions were taken in the latest set of cutbacks, killing off one of the more successful programs in the denomination related to the core issue (the earth itself) will prove to be myopic.

Nevertheless, we in the pulpits and pews can carry on. We can begin by preaching about caring for creation and taking the actions that would allow us to say that we practice what we preach. If we are driving an SUV, we can consider getting another vehicle, or figure out how to drive less. We can audit our church buildings for energy use and find out that we can probably save money and the planet at the same time if we will make some simple changes.

We will need to nurture our congregants to do the same at home, school and work as we go down this road — by offering simplicity groups that allow members to share in the journey to walking lighter on the earth and by worshiping and praying for the transformation of our lives as if the earth depended on it (it does).

Finally, we will need to communicate our faithful concern to our civil leaders, who will take action only when we demand it. As faithful Christians, our voice is heard differently than “lobbyists,” and together we do make a difference.

The science is there, and if the spirits are willing, great progress on this issue can occur within a relatively short time. The issue of global warming needs the infusion, the energy, of faith. Faith can move mountains, after all, and perhaps it can even save us from ourselves.

RENEE RICO is interim pastor of Sleepy Hollow Church in San Anselmo, Calif., and a board member of Presbyterians for Restoring Creation, a grassroots organization for caring for creation. She also worked for 14 years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.