Involving people of faith in the sustainability movement
Today, members of the Greensboro Environmental Stewardship Group, an alliance of members from several local churches, met to help plan a faith and environment forum taking place at the Center for the Environment in Salisbury this spring (I was there representing the environmental stewardship committee at Presbyterian Church of the Covenant). 
Director John Wear was at the meeting at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church brainstorming ideas, and said many people of faith have approached him about holding a conference.
"I'm seeing tremendous enthusiasm on this particular topic," Wear said.
A few of the goals of the conference, according to the center's winter newsletter are to:
- Convene faith and environmental leaders for the exploration of environmental issues and the scriptural mandate to care for God's creation;
- To bring diverse people together to examine the relationship between faith/spirituality and the environment and to promote dialogue and strategies to address the environmental challenges we face;
- To inspire participants to assume leadership roles in their communities or churches/temples in developing innovative solutions to environmental challenges.
Workshop ideas were myriad and included: determining your carbon footprint, buying local food, recycling, water/air quality, relocalization and public policy. What would you suggest?
The Greensboro ESG group has been meeting since last year, originating out of a conference sponsored by Holy Trinity. The group is still establishing its goals but has been involved in some local initiatives, including an effort to get free rainwater harvesting barrels to members of the Glenwood neighborhood and the study of Greensboro "geologian" Thomas Berry's The Great Work. 
You can still catch the six-week study groups taking place from April to May at the following locations:
- First Friends Meeting: Contact Valerie Vickers (natureteach@ bellsouth.net), Paul Mitchell (pdmitchell@bellsouth.net) or Emilie Sandin (emilieandtom@yahoo.com) for details.
- St. Paul the Apostle Church: Contact Jacqueline Messick (jmessick2@triad.rr.com) for details.
- The Servant Leadership School of Greensboro: To register, visit www.servantleadergreensboro.com or call 275-0447.
Additional groups interested in having a study leader for their group or sending a study leader to be trained may contact F. Nelson Stover at stovern@bellsouth.net or Steve McCollum at smccollum@triad.rr.com.
The next ESG meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. March 30 at Holy Trinity. You can also join the Yahoo! group listserv at "Environmental Stewardship GSO."
Comments (2)
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I have attended a few of these meetings as well. What I would love to see, and what I really feel is lacking, is the involvement of the minority community (whether it be churches or not). I am all for determining one's carbon footprint, studying great environmental literature, and harvesting rainwater -- this is all great, and will lead to a greater depth of understanding and analysis. However, I believe for any kind of meaningful social change to take place we are going to have to bring a wider public to the movement.
Minorities (and poor whites), historically, bear a disproportionately heavy burden with this issue. They tend to occupy the neighborhoods with the lowest tax bases and the heaviest industry, and are directly effected by the negative outcomes that accompany that. I believe that the movement has to do a better job clarifying the links between socio-economic position and environmental pressures. The greater the awareness, the larger the movement, the wiser the voice.
Posted on February 11, 2008 4:57 PM
jt, I agree with you. I recently read an article in Co-op America about how a minority neighborhood was receiving the bulk of toxic waste dumping sites and residents were getting diagnosed with cancer left and right. One of the challenges we face is the worship of the "bottom line" and obsession with financial cost-benefit analyses, which enable governments and businesses to disregard the poor because of their lack of financial power. One of my favorite writers is agrarian Wendell Berry. In one of his books, he makes a reference to the biblical parable of the shepherd leaving 99 sheep to go after the one lost. His point is that if you are willing to go after what some may consider the insignificant, you are more likely to maintain the whole. How do we get that type of dialogue going on here?
Posted on February 11, 2008 7:28 PM