Untitled Document


"STATEMENT BY RELIGIOUS LEADERS AT THE SUMMIT ON ENVIRONMENT" In June 1991, the following statement was issued by the heads of many religious denominations and faithgroups reflecting the growing consensus about the importance of environmental issues in North American religious life. They call upon people of faith to offer their wisdom, courage, creativity, and hope to efforts to preserve and safeguard the Earth. On a spring evening and the following day in New York City, we representatives of the religious community in the United States of America gathered to deliberate and plan action in response to the crisis of the Earth's environment. Deep impulses brought us together. Almost daily, we note mounting evidence of environmental destruction and ever-increasing peril to life, whole species, whole ecosystems. Many people, and particularly the young, want to know where we stand and what we intend to do. And, finally, it is what God made and beheld as good that is under assault. The future of this gift so freely given is in our hands, and we must maintain it as we have received it. This is an inescapably religious challenge. We feel a profound and urgent call to respond with all we have, all we are and all we believe. We chose to meet, these two days, in the company of people from diverse traditions and disciplines. No one perspective alone is equal to the crisis we face-spiritual and moral, economic and cultural, institutional and personal. For our part, we were grateful to strengthen a collaboration with distinguished scientists and to take stock of their testimony on problems besetting planetary ecology. As people of faith, we were also moved by the support for our work from distinguished public policy leaders. What we heard left us more troubled than ever. Global warming, generated mainly by the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, is widely predicted to increase temperatures worldwide, changing climate patterns, increasing drought in many areas, threatening agriculture, wildlife, the integrity of natural ecosystems and creating millions of environmental refugees. Depletion of the ozone shield, caused by human-made chemical agents such as chlorofluorocarbons, lets in deadly ultraviolet radiation from the Sun, with predicted consequences that include skin cancer, cataracts, damage to the human immune system, and destruction of the primary photosynthetic producers at the base of the food chain on which other life depends. Our expanding technological civilization is destroying an acre and a half of forest every second. The accelerating loss of species of plants, animals and microorganisms which threatens the irreversible loss of up to a fifth of a total number within the next 30 years, is not only morally reprehensible but is increasingly limiting the prospects for sustainable productivity. No effort, however heroic, to deal with these global conditions and the interrelated issues of social justice can succeed unless we address the increasing population of the Earth-especially the billion poorest people who have every right to expect a decent standard of living. So too, we must find ways to reduce the disproportionate consumption of natural resources by affluent industrial societies like ours. Much would tempt us to deny or push aside this global environmental crisis and refuse even to consider the fundamental changes of human behavior required to address it. But we religious leaders accept a prophetic responsibility to make known the full dimensions of this challenge, and what is required to address it, to the many millions we reach, teach and counsel. We intend to be informed participants in discussions of these issues and to contribute our views on the moral and ethical imperative for developing national and international policy responses. But we declare here and now that steps must be taken toward: accelerated phase-out of ozone-depleting chemicals; much more efficient use of fossil fuels and the development of a non-fossil fuel economy; preservation of tropical forests and other measures to protect continued biological diversity; and concerted efforts to slow the dramatic and dangerous growth in world population through empowering both women and men, encouraging economic self-sufficiency, and making family education programs available to all who may consider them on a strictly voluntary basis. We believe a consensus now exists, at the highest level of leadership across a significant spectrum of religious traditions, that the cause of environmental integrity and justice must occupy a position of utmost priority for people of faith. Response to this issue can and must cross traditional religious and political lines. It has the potential to unify and renew religious life. We pledge to take the initiative in interpreting and communicating theological foundations for the stewardship of Creation in which we find the principles for environmental actions. Here our seminaries have a critical role to play. So too, there is a call for moral transformation, as we recognize that the roots of environmental destruction lie in human pride, greed and selfishness, as well as the appeal of the short-term over the long-term. We reaffirm here, in the strongest possible terms, the indivisibility of social justice and ecological integrity. An equitable international economic order is essential for preserving the global environment. Economic equity, racial justice, gender equality and environmental well-being are interconnected and all are essential to peace. To help ensure these, we pledge to mobilize public opinion and to appeal to elected officials and leaders in the private sector. In our congregations and corporate life, we will encourage and seek to exemplify habits of sound and sustainable householding-in land use, investment decisions, energy conservation, purchasing of products and waste disposal. Commitments to these areas of action we pledged to one another solemnly and in a spirit of mutual accountability. We dare not let our resolve falter. We will continue to work together, add to our numbers, and deepen our collaboration with the worlds of science and government. We also agreed this day to the following initiatives: 1. We will widely distribute this declaration with the religious community and beyond. We have established a continuing mechanism to coordinate ongoing activities among us, working intimately with existing program and staff resources in the religious world. We will reach out to other leaders across the broadest possible spectrum of religious life. We will help organize other such gatherings as ours within individual faith groups, in interfaith and interdisciplinary formats, and at international, national, and regional levels. 2. We religious leaders and members of the scientific community will call together a Washington, D.C., convocation and meet with members of the Executive and Congressional branches to express our support for bold steps on behalf of environmental integrity and justice. There too we will consider ways to facilitate legislative testimony by religious leaders and response to local environmental action alerts. 3. We will witness firsthand and call public attention to the effect of environmental degradation on vulnerable peoples and ecosystems. 4. We will call a meeting of seminary deans and faculty to review and initiate curriculum development and promote bibliographies emphasizing stewardship of Creation. We will seek ways to establish internships for seminarians in organizations working on the environment and for young scientists in the study of social ethics. 5. We will prepare educational materials for congregations, provide technical support for religious publishers already producing such materials, and share sermonical and liturgical materials about ecology. 6. We will establish an instrument to help place stories on environment in faith group and denominational newsletters and help assure coverage of the religious community's environmental activities in the secular press. 7. We will urge compliance with the Valdez Principles and preach and promote corporate responsibility. 8. We will encourage establishment of one model environmentally sound and sustainable facility within each faith group and denomination. We will provide materials for environmental audits and facilitate bulk purchasing of environmentally sound products. It has taken the religious community, as others, much time and reflection to start to comprehend the full scale and nature of this crisis and even to glimpse what it will require of us. We must pray ceaselessly for wisdom, courage, and creativity. Most importantly, we are people of faith and hope. These qualities are what we may most uniquely have to offer to this effort. We pledge to the children of the world and, in the words of the Iroquois, "to the seventh generation," that we will take full measure of what this moment in history requires of us. In this challenge may lie the opportunity for people of faith to affirm and enact, at a scale such as never before, what it truly means to be religious. And so we have begun, believing there can be no turning back. Bishop Vinton R. Anderson President, World Council of America Rabbi Marc. D. Angel President, Rabbinical Council of America The Most Reverend Edmond L. Browning Persiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church Reverend Joan Brown Campbell General Secretary, National Council of Churches of Christ The Reverend Herbert W. Chilstrom Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Father Drew Christiansen, S.J. Director, Office of International Justice and Peace United States Catholic Conference Ms. Beverly Davison President, American Baptist Churches Reverend Dr. Milton B, Efthimiou Director of Church and Society Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America Bishop William B. Friend Chairman of the Committee for Science and Human Values National Conference of Catholic Bishops Dr. Alfred Gottschalk President, Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion Dr. Arthur Green President, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College His Eminence Archbishop Iakovos Primate, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America The Very Reverend Leonid Kishkovsky President, National Council of Churches of Christ Chief Oren Lyons Chief of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation Dr David McKenna President, Asbury Theological Seminary The Very Reverend James Parks Morton Dean, Catherdral of St. John the Divine Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson General Secretary, National Baptist Convention Dr. Patricia J. Rumer General Director, Church Women United Dr. James Scales President Emeritus, Wake Forest University Dr. Ismar Schorsch Chancellor, Jewish Theological Seminary Dr. Robert Schuller Pastor, The Crystal Cathedral Dr. Robert Seiple President World Vision U.S.A. Bishop Melvin Talbert Secretary of the Council of Bishops United Methodist Church Dr. Foy Valentine Former Executive Director Christian Life Commisssion Southern Baptist Convention

"STATEMENT BY RELIGIOUS LEADERS AT THE SUMMIT ON ENVIRONMENT"

In June 1991, the following statement was issued by the heads of many religious denominations and faithgroups reflecting the growing consensus about the importance of environmental issues in North American religious life. They call upon people of faith to offer their wisdom, courage, creativity, and hope to efforts to preserve and safeguard the Earth.

On a spring evening and the following day in New York City, we representatives of the religious community in the United States of America gathered to deliberate and plan action in response to the crisis of the Earth's environment.

Deep impulses brought us together. Almost daily, we note mounting evidence of environmental destruction and ever-increasing peril to life, whole species, whole ecosystems. Many people, and particularly the young, want to know where we stand and what we intend to do. And, finally, it is what God made and beheld as good that is under assault. The future of this gift so freely given is in our hands, and we must maintain it as we have received it. This is an inescapably religious challenge. We feel a profound and urgent call to respond with all we have, all we are and all we believe.

We chose to meet, these two days, in the company of people from diverse traditions and disciplines. No one perspective alone is equal to the crisis we face-spiritual and moral, economic and cultural, institutional and personal. For our part, we were grateful to strengthen a collaboration with distinguished scientists and to take stock of their testimony on problems besetting planetary ecology. As people of faith, we were also moved by the support for our work from distinguished public policy leaders.

What we heard left us more troubled than ever. Global warming, generated mainly by the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, is widely predicted to increase temperatures worldwide, changing climate patterns, increasing drought in many areas, threatening agriculture, wildlife, the integrity of natural ecosystems and creating millions of environmental refugees. Depletion of the ozone shield, caused by human-made chemical agents such as chlorofluorocarbons, lets in deadly ultraviolet radiation from the Sun, with predicted consequences that include skin cancer, cataracts, damage to the human immune system, and destruction of the primary photosynthetic producers at the base of the food chain on which other life depends. Our expanding technological civilization is destroying an acre and a half of forest every second. The accelerating loss of species of plants, animals and microorganisms which threatens the irreversible loss of up to a fifth of a total number within the next 30 years, is not only morally reprehensible but is increasingly limiting the prospects for sustainable productivity. No effort, however heroic, to deal with these global conditions and the interrelated issues of social justice can succeed unless we address the increasing population of the Earth-especially the billion poorest people who have every right to expect a decent standard of living. So too, we must find ways to reduce the disproportionate consumption of natural resources by affluent industrial societies like ours.

Much would tempt us to deny or push aside this global environmental crisis and refuse even to consider the fundamental changes of human behavior required to address it. But we religious leaders accept a prophetic responsibility to make known the full dimensions of this challenge, and what is required to address it, to the many millions we reach, teach and counsel.

We intend to be informed participants in discussions of these issues and to contribute our views on the moral and ethical imperative for developing national and international policy responses. But we declare here and now that steps must be taken toward: accelerated phase-out of ozone-depleting chemicals; much more efficient use of fossil fuels and the development of a non-fossil fuel economy; preservation of tropical forests and other measures to protect continued biological diversity; and concerted efforts to slow the dramatic and dangerous growth in world population through empowering both women and men, encouraging economic self-sufficiency, and making family education programs available to all who may consider them on a strictly voluntary basis.

We believe a consensus now exists, at the highest level of leadership across a significant spectrum of religious traditions, that the cause of environmental integrity and justice must occupy a position of utmost priority for people of faith. Response to this issue can and must cross traditional religious and political lines. It has the potential to unify and renew religious life.

We pledge to take the initiative in interpreting and communicating theological foundations for the stewardship of Creation in which we find the principles for environmental actions. Here our seminaries have a critical role to play. So too, there is a call for moral transformation, as we recognize that the roots of environmental destruction lie in human pride, greed and selfishness, as well as the appeal of the short-term over the long-term.

We reaffirm here, in the strongest possible terms, the indivisibility of social justice and ecological integrity. An equitable international economic order is essential for preserving the global environment. Economic equity, racial justice, gender equality and environmental well-being are interconnected and all are essential to peace. To help ensure these, we pledge to mobilize public opinion and to appeal to elected officials and leaders in the private sector. In our congregations and corporate life, we will encourage and seek to exemplify habits of sound and sustainable householding-in land use, investment decisions, energy conservation, purchasing of products and waste disposal.

Commitments to these areas of action we pledged to one another solemnly and in a spirit of mutual accountability. We dare not let our resolve falter. We will continue to work together, add to our numbers, and deepen our collaboration with the worlds of science and government. We also agreed this day to the following initiatives:

1. We will widely distribute this declaration with the religious community and beyond. We have established a continuing mechanism to coordinate ongoing activities among us, working intimately with existing program and staff resources in the religious world. We will reach out to other leaders across the broadest possible spectrum of religious life. We will help organize other such gatherings as ours within individual faith groups, in interfaith and interdisciplinary formats, and at international, national, and regional levels.

2. We religious leaders and members of the scientific community will call together a Washington, D.C., convocation and meet with members of the Executive and Congressional branches to express our support for bold steps on behalf of environmental integrity and justice. There too we will consider ways to facilitate legislative testimony by religious leaders and response to local environmental action alerts.

3. We will witness firsthand and call public attention to the effect of environmental degradation on vulnerable peoples and ecosystems.

4. We will call a meeting of seminary deans and faculty to review and initiate curriculum development and promote bibliographies emphasizing stewardship of Creation. We will seek ways to establish internships for seminarians in organizations working on the environment and for young scientists in the study of social ethics.

5. We will prepare educational materials for congregations, provide technical support for religious publishers already producing such materials, and share sermonical and liturgical materials about ecology.

6. We will establish an instrument to help place stories on environment in faith group and denominational newsletters and help assure coverage of the religious community's environmental activities in the secular press.

7. We will urge compliance with the Valdez Principles and preach and promote corporate responsibility.

8. We will encourage establishment of one model environmentally sound and sustainable facility within each faith group and denomination. We will provide materials for environmental audits and facilitate bulk purchasing of environmentally sound products.

It has taken the religious community, as others, much time and reflection to start to comprehend the full scale and nature of this crisis and even to glimpse what it will require of us. We must pray ceaselessly for wisdom, courage, and creativity. Most importantly, we are people of faith and hope. These qualities are what we may most uniquely have to offer to this effort. We pledge to the children of the world and, in the words of the Iroquois, "to the seventh generation," that we will take full measure of what this moment in history requires of us. In this challenge may lie the opportunity for people of faith to affirm and enact, at a scale such as never before, what it truly means to be religious. And so we have begun, believing there can be no turning back.


Bishop Vinton R. Anderson
President, World Council of America

Rabbi Marc. D. Angel
President, Rabbinical Council of America

The Most Reverend Edmond L. Browning
Persiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church

Reverend Joan Brown Campbell
General Secretary, National Council of Churches of Christ

The Reverend Herbert W. Chilstrom
Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Father Drew Christiansen, S.J.
Director, Office of International Justice and Peace
United States Catholic Conference

Ms. Beverly Davison
President, American Baptist Churches

Reverend Dr. Milton B, Efthimiou
Director of Church and Society
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America

Bishop William B. Friend
Chairman of the Committee for Science and Human Values
National Conference of Catholic Bishops

Dr. Alfred Gottschalk
President, Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion

Dr. Arthur Green
President, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College

His Eminence Archbishop Iakovos
Primate, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America

The Very Reverend Leonid Kishkovsky
President, National Council of Churches of Christ

Chief Oren Lyons
Chief of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation

Dr David McKenna
President, Asbury Theological Seminary

The Very Reverend James Parks Morton
Dean, Catherdral of St. John the Divine

Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson
General Secretary, National Baptist Convention

Dr. Patricia J. Rumer
General Director, Church Women United

Dr. James Scales
President Emeritus, Wake Forest University

Dr. Ismar Schorsch
Chancellor, Jewish Theological Seminary

Dr. Robert Schuller
Pastor, The Crystal Cathedral

Dr. Robert Seiple
President World Vision U.S.A.

Bishop Melvin Talbert
Secretary of the Council of Bishops United Methodist Church

Dr. Foy Valentine
Former Executive Director
Christian Life Commisssion
Southern Baptist Convention