Preface
The Parish as a Green Zone
by David Rhoads

Where do we begin the process of developing new attitudes and behavior toward the environment and our relation to it individually and as a community of faith? It may be helpful to identify specifically the congregation, school, place of business or the home as a place to care for the earth and to name that model or plan for fostering that climate. Some have described such places as Creation Awareness Centers or as Healing Places. The model referred to in this essay identifies such a faith community (such as a  congregation or theological school) as a Green Zone. Such a name is intended to make the concerns and commitment of faith community and its' leaders publicly recognizable to the wider community. Such a model, it is hoped, will foster creativity in thinking about how to deal with the human impact on the environment. It is also intended to encourage comprehensive thinking about the environment in relation to every area of community life, so that these faith communities and individuals in them can work toward a holistic approach to living in harmony and justice with the environment. The purpose of this essay is to motivate such creative and integrated thinking and action.

What is a Green Zone? Very simply, a Green Zone is a geographical area in which lifestyle and activities promote a healthy environment and where the people are committed to the healing of creation. Activities in a Green Zone have a fourfold emphasis:

1) Transformation through worship and education.

2) Make the geographical area of the parish into a "zone" which is safe for the environment.

Do a comprehensive "environmental inventory" for a) everything which comes into the building, b) the use of everything in the building, and c) everything which goes out of the building.

a) Everything which comes in:

"Our noble oblig-ation as humans is to learn to inter-face with nature in ways that enhance nature, rather than to make deserts out of forests."

-- C. Dean Freudenberger

 

b) The use of everything:

c) Everything which goes out:

3) Promote a personal lifestyle among members which fosters a healthy environment.

4) Political Advocacy.

Be visionary. The key to a Green Zone is to think comprehensively and creatively. View every external and internal obstacle as an opportunity to learn how we can move toward a new world. Think what your faith community might be like fifty years from now, a place which is an ideal place to care for the earth. Out of such a vision of possibilities, begin step by step to fulfill the hopes that will make your space a place where all God's creation is loved and celebrated. Insofar as we are able to do that, the kingdom is now.

David Rhoads, M.Div., Ph.D., is Professor of New Testament at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. He is the faculty advisor for the LSTC Green Zone and initiated the production of this manual.

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