Christians and congregations everywhere are becoming aware not only of the beauty and wonder of the natural world around us, but are  also seeking and finding ways to be more faithful to the call to be responsible stewards.

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One attribute that distinguishes human beings from other creatures is our enormous creativity.  We have the ability to construct cities, build cathedrals, write operas, heal the sick, educate children, instantly communicate with people on other continents, create lakes, heat and cool our living spaces, develop agricultural methods to feed billions of people.   These almost god-like abilities led the ancient Hebrew storytellers to describe us as “a little lower than the angels.”  

But there is a darker side. 

We also have incredible abilities to destroy.  We blast the tops off mountains to extract coal; we draw so much water from some great rivers that they dry up; we poison the waters of our streams and bays; we introduce plants and animals from elsewhere that upset the ecological balance of our woods and our waters; we plunder the seas so that some species of fish that once were abundant are now scarce.  Species of living things are becoming extinct at an accelerating rate: E. O. Wilson of Harvard estimates that we may lose 25 percent of living species by 2050.  In the 20th century we learned how to kill vast numbers of people and risked destroying mankind itself through nuclear war.  In this century we risk killing vast numbers of people and causing great suffering by exhausting our natural resources and pursuing policies that exacerbate global warming.

Presbyterians take this seriously. Loving your neighbor involves protecting your neighbor’s natural resources.   Violence against nature is violence against one’s neighbor. Repeatedly the General Assembly has declared that we have a Christian duty to care responsibly for God’s creation. In 1990, the 202nd General Assembly of the PC(USA) asserted:

The church has powerful reason for engagement in restoring God's creation:

• God's work in creation is too wonderful, too ancient, too beautiful, too good to be desecrated
• Restoring creation is God's own work in our time, in which God comes both to judge and to restore.
• The Creator-Redeemer calls faithful people to become engaged with God in keeping and healing the creation, human and non-human.
• Human life and well-being depend upon the flourishing of other life and the integrity of the life-supporting processes that God has ordained.
• The love of neighbor, particularly "the least" of Christ's brothers and sisters, requires action to stop the poisoning, the erosion, the wastefulness that are causing suffering and death.
• The future of our children and their children and all who come after is at stake.
• In this critical time of transition to a new era, God's new doing may be discerned as a call to earth-keeping, to justice and to community.

PRESBYTERY TASK GROUP IS FORMED

The Baltimore Presbytery has a long history of concern for the earth and for ecojustice. To encourage, assist and support congregations in their care of creation ministries, the Presbytery has established a Care of Creation Task Group under the umbrella of the Committee on Peace and Justice.  The task group is eager to assist congregations in advancing their ministries of earth care.

SURVEY OF CONGREGATIONS

One of the task group’s first actions in 2007 was to survey congregations to learn what programs for creation-care exist within the presbytery and to ascertain what type of assistance would be most helpful.   Click here to read a report of the survey.

EARTH DAY SUNDAY

For many congregations Earth Day Sunday is an annual opportunity to give thanks for the beauty and wonder of God’s creation and to re-dedicate ourselves to caring for the earth and for our neighbors.   In 2008, Earth Day Sunday falls on April 20.  We have compiled some suggestions and resources for congregations.

PRESBYTERIANS FOR RESTORING CREATION

The Task Group encourages Presbyterians to affiliate with Presbyterians for Restoring Creation  (www.prcweb.org), a national organization that helps presbyteries and congregations  understand and respond to the call for environmental stewardship and ecojustice.