A covenant to abide by Eco-Justice principles in congregational life, and ideas for actions congregations can take in worship, learning/teaching, lifestyle, and community involvement to move towards fulfilling the promise.
Join the Covenant Congregation Program, which includes actions congregations can take on worship, learning/teaching, lifestyle, and community involvement.
Healing and Defending God's Creation
God created the earth and all that is in it and declared it good. God's creation is marked by wondrous complexity, interdependence and beauty. Human beings are called by God to the task of stewardship - taking care of the earth respectfully for its own sake and so that present and future generations may live on it and enjoy its fruits. The gifts of creation and the responsibility of stewardship were given to all of humanity, so that all might have enough and no one would have more than is needed and God ís justice would prevail.
In our pride and brokenness, all of humankind is in sin and separated from God. The earth has not been well cared for. The water and air and land are polluted with poisons which hurt people and all creation. Many species of animals and plants are endangered by the behavior of human beings. Some have even become extinct.
We have not shared the fruits of creation justly. Some people live in luxury, taking more than they need, while others are desperately poor, especially people of color.
God, through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, heals and reconciles humanity and all of creation to God. We are able to become new creations - the new comes and the old passes away.
God calls the church to participate in the redemption of individuals, all of humanity and creation. Therefore, ministries of environmental stewardship and environmental justice are significant in the mission of our congregations and judicatories. Therefore the governing body (session, church council, vestry, consistory etc.) of our congregation affirms the importance of healing and defending creation to our mission. We promise to become engaged in or to continue to be engaged in this ministry in the following ways:
Worship
In worship, we will celebrate God's grace and glory in creation and will declare that God calls us to participate in the redemption of the world by cherishing, protecting and restoring creation.
Learning and Teaching
We will seek opportunities for ourselves and our children to learn more about the wonders of creation, the threats posed by human beings to the survival of creation and the possibilities of our participating in God's redemption and justice.
Lifestyle
Our individual and congregation's lifestyles will respect and cherish creation. We will form habits of consuming, conserving and sharing that serve to protect and restore the environment. In particular, we will reuse and recycle as many materials as we can and seek ways of limiting our consumption of fossil fuels.
Community, National and Global Involvement
In our community, the nation and the world, our congregation will witness to and participate in God's redemption of creation by supporting public efforts and policies which support vulnerable people and protect and restore the degraded earth.
Each year we will review our previous year's work on environmental justice and consider other ways we can participate in God's redemption of creation.
Signed by the Pastor
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Signed by an officer of the congregation
_______________________ ____________ _______________________ ____________
..................................................date ................................................................date
(Please keep this in the official minutes of the governing body of your congregation)
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