Ecumenical & Interfaith
News Network - PCUSA

Ecology, economy, and empire

 

Churches consult on long-term response to Haiti devastation

The National Council of Churches has called its member communions to consult on April 6 on "pressing needs of Haiti and the deep sense of call to respond." The consultation will be held in the Washington D.C. church where Rosemari Sullivan is rector; she is under joint appointment by the National Council of Churches and the Episcopal Church to coordinate Haiti recovery work on behalf of the NCC.

People of faith remain on climate issues

After the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen the outcome has been pronounced disappointing and the message is, "We're not done yet." Jesse Mugambi, a Kenyan theologian and ecologist, warns that vulnerable communities have been left own their own to adapt to climate change or perish, with only God to count on, because of the conference's failure to agree to legally-binding commitments (ENI #10-0004). Now the World Council of Churches (WCC), World Vision, and Religions for Peace are among the major organizations that are partners in a continuing campaign by TckTckTck. The "hub" global alliance uses the model of offering branding and a toolset that can be used by others in their campaigns to educate and encourage supporters to demand action.

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People of faith were actively present in Copenhagen throughout. The World Council of Churches delegation got a hearing at its plenary on the last day. Desmond Tutu and activists from around the world earlier presented a global petition and pledges for climate change with over half a million signatures. On the Sunday of the conference, churches around the world rang their bells as an accompanying call for prayer and action; the archbishop of Canterbury preached at an "ecumenical celebration for creation" in Copenhagen's cathedral. At a public seminar on "creation and climate change," attended by the churches' representatives to the summit, speakers looked at theological insights in the face of the current ecological crisis. Among the contributors was Barbara Rossing (pictured), a professor at Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

Note a statement by the WCC executive committee in February 2010. See materials of the "350 movement" on climate change, an interfaith effort also related to TckTckTck. Examine multiple statements on climate change made by religious organizations that have been collected together by the National Religious Campaign for Creation Care (NRCCC). Listen to interviews and presentations posted by the WCC, as well as looking at their videos and extensive reporting. See also resources from Church World Service and other faith groups, Green Faith: Interfaith Partners for the Environment, Britain's Operation Noah, the Lutheran World Federation (for youth and others) as well as PC(USA) resources.

Social networking site helps religious leaders hold "no fly" conference

Social networking technology on the web has helped religious leaders hold a "no fly" conference a month after the Copenhagen UN climate conference to discuss the practical role that faith, and in particular sacred texts, can play following the disappointment of Copenhagen. Taking information from a poll that showed a large percentage of their adherents want religious leaders to set an example and fly less, the conference was held entirely online, at FaithClimateConnect. The brainchild of the [British] Bible Society, the summit had a variety of speakers, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim. The public was able to view and participate. Faith Climate Connect is supported by Odyssey Networks, a U.S. coalition of Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith groups dedicated to building bridges of understanding through media. Betty Elam, a one-time staff person of the Presbyterian Church, is an Odyssey board member.

Student writes prize essay on Calvin, ecology, and economy

A Yale Divinity School student from Korea, Eun Young Hwang, has won the World Alliance of Reformed Churches' (WARC) Lombard Prize for his essay examining today's environmental crisis in light of Calvin's theology. He described the self-regulated market as a "satanic mill" that transforms nature and humans into commodities, whereas Calvin, he said, proposed a different model in which individuals and creation should be treated as the "image of God."

"Change, Not Chains" pushes for responsible lending, debt cancellation

"Change, Not Chains," a campaign of the Jubilee USA organization, is urging the Obama administration to support expanded debt cancellation and to press Congress to pass the Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation. Its web site provides "everything needed to help pass the Jubilee Act of 2010" — a flyer, postcards, suggestions for organizing communities, and a resource guide for churches' Sunday use. There is a place to send a message to members of Congress. Jubilee USA's network is an ecumenical mix including the Church World Service, the National Council of Churches, and the PC(USA).

World Council of Churches looks toward North American consultation

A North American consultation on "Poverty, wealth and ecological debt" will convene on November 5-9, 2011. It comes at the end of a process that has involved various regions globally in response to an action of the WCC 8th Assembly (1998) known as AGAPE ("Alternative Globalization Addressing People and Earth"). The background paper for the WCC's study process is "Poverty, wealth and ecology: The impact of economic globalization." See also a paper that comes out of a 2004 consultation held at the Stony Point conference center, "What does God require of us? A declaration of jus Puleng LenkaBula t trade in the service of an economy of life."

U.S. religious coalition advocates concerning the national budget, jobs

The Interreligious Working Group on Domestic Human Needs (DHN), an issue-based tables under the Washington Interreligious Staff Council, has recently issued a statement calling for the U.S. federal budget to address the deep issues of poverty and sent a letter calling on Congress to create jobs legislation. Its statement lists as "shared values" the meeting of the immediate needs of the most vulnerable, economic opportunity for all, and intergenerational responsibility. Groups issuing the most recent statement include the National Council of Churches, Church Women United, and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs; the PC(USA) Washington Office has also signed on. DHN had first addressed Obama when he was still president-elect of the U.S. and issued a faith reflection on the federal budget in mid-2009, which the PC(USA) also endorsed.

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Online curriculum helps churches examine economic justice