Faith Groups' Climate Change Statements
Creation Corner Column for 11/18
"We're talking about about the existential environmental challenge issue of our time" (climate change). David Yarnold, Audubon CEO/President.
The National Religious Coalition on Creation Care (NRCCC.org) has issued a handbook for faith leaders and climate activists, Religion and Global Climate Change, edited by Frederick W. Krueger.
It contains
1. recommendations for action by you and your congregation;
2. scientific perspectives explaining the urgent need for action to address climate change;
3. examples of expressions by faith leaders on the need to speak out;
4. photographic images of this growing global crisis; and
5. formal declaration statements from faith organizations on climate change.
The latter include these from the ecumenical community, including
- American Baptist Churches, USA
- Church of the Brethren
- U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
- United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society
- Evangelical Climate Initiative
- Presbyterian Church (USA)
- National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Working Group
- The Episcopal Church
- Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
- The Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in America
- Southern Baptist Convention
- African American Clergy
- United Church of Christ
- The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
- World Council of Churches
Interfaith perspectives include these:
- Resolution of the Central Conference of American Rabbis
- The Rabbinical Assembly
- A Pan-Buddhist Declaration
- A Hindu Declaration
- The Indigenous Peoples' Global Summit on Climate Change
- Muslim Guide to Climate Change from the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences
You, the reader, are encouraged to acquaint yourself with the creation care concerns of your faith tradition, as well as the viewpoints of secular and governmental groups noted in this volume:
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- National Science Foundation
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Union of Concerned Scientists USA
- The Smithsonian Institution
- Center for Naval Analysis
- World Bank
- United Nations
- National Academy of Sciences
- U.S. Department of Defense and National Intelligence Council, etc.
One commentary on that IPCC report, by United Methodist layman Bill McKibben (founder of 350.org), may be seen as his "A Very Grim Forecast" in The New York Review of Books November 22, 2018 issue.
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Mike Ochs blogs at http://lutheransrestoringcreationblog.blogspot.com .
He earned a B.A. from Gettysburg College (1965), and a Master's from Lock Haven University (1989), where he studied the international Green Party movement.
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