Our Call and
Our Purpose:
People
of faith are called to be bold
advocates for environmental justice for all God’s people and all God’s
Creation. We are called to
protect the most vulnerable members of society and to ensure a thriving earth
for future generations of all species. The purpose of earth advocacy is to give the natural world a strong
voice in human affairs.
Education and
Advocacy:
Education
provides information, raising people’s
consciousness and stirring their conscience so that they might incorporate
creation care into their daily living. Advocacy promotes action,
including political action, which includes encouraging people to respond to
issues in the public sphere. As Advocacy dovetails with Education, our hope is
to move people from denial to awareness
to hope to action, realizing that we do not have the luxury of
time.
Our belief is that there is a
significant segment of the human population that would change their attitude and
lifestyle if they were better informed and inspired, if they were given hope and
encouragement that they could make a positive difference.
There is an expression: If we
each do a little we can all do a lot; if we all do a lot, we can do a lot more.
But there is only so much that individuals can do. Ultimately we must change
systems and infrastructures, which means changing the group practices of
businesses, schools, all levels of government, and even faith communities. And
we must change laws, which means getting political, taking a stand, and engaging
in issue advocacy. It is not enough
to change light bulbs. Our challenge is to change minds, change behavior, and
change policies.
Education
without Advocacy is insufficient to make a meaningful difference for the well-being of the earth
community. If we are to confront
“the fierce urgency of now,” we must speak, write, and act boldly without
delay.
Ways for
individuals and groups to become Earth Advocates:
- Identify opportunities to
do Earth Advocacy on local, state, and national issues.
- Be
selective in picking which of the many environmental issues to address. Be
focused on a few where the congregation can become well informed and active.
(“Lifting up too many issues as
matters of advocacy can lead to confusion and burnout,” advises Rev. Peter
Sawtell of Eco-Justice Ministries.)
- Communicate these issues to
individuals, ministers, and faith groups, encouraging them to speak out and
act in a timely manner.
- Prepare and distribute
resource materials, such as fact sheets, talking points, email templates,
email addresses, phone numbers, and links to relevant web sites.
- Network and collaborate
with secular as well as faith-based advocacy groups that are already
organized, such as the Sierra Club, 350.org, Interfaith Power & Light,
National Council of Churches, and Presbyterians for Earth Care. (Piggyback on their work. You don’t have to reinvent the
wheel!)
- Send
emails, sign petitions, and write letters—letters to the editor, letters to
legislators, and letters to leaders of your faith community (including and
sometimes especially to ordained staff).
- Prepare flyers and
bulletins and newsletter notices.
- Maintain an Environmental
Bulletin Board for the dual purposes of Education and Advocacy.
- Seek
creative ways to be a faithful, prophetic, and effective witness that provides
a voice on emerging or urgent environmental issues.
Internal
Advocacy occurs within the walls of our faith communities. Earth Advocacy
can be top down, but usually it is bottom up, fueled by grass roots efforts to
make contemporary faith relevant to contemporary issues. Its premise is that our
theology informs our actions and becomes the basis for effective political
change. It means promoting earthkeeping by reducing the environmental impact of
our houses of worship and by practicing, modeling, and teaching faithful and
responsible stewardship of God's Creation.
It means uplifting the sacredness of creation in worship. It means finding creative ways to challenge
tradition-bound thinking that obstructs creation-based perspectives, which means
educating and lobbying church leaders, including
clergy.
External
Advocacy is faith speaking to Power beyond the walls of our faith
communities. It involves partnering with faith-based as well as secular
environmental organizations. It involves joining their cause, educating
congregants about the issues, and equipping them with tools to do Earth
Advocacy. It involves joining a chorus that speaks for the earth in the public
arena, so that trickles become a stream and streams become a
torrent.
The
Law:
Most faith
communities are non-profit, tax-exempt entities with a 501(c)3
status. Legally this means they can engage in:
- Direct lobbying: Within
generous limits, individuals and organizations can express their positions on
legislation.
- Grassroots lobbying: Within
generous limits, individuals and organizations can tell the public their
positions and ask them to communicate that position to elected officials.
- Voter
education: Non-profit faith groups are permitted to educate voters about
important issues, even if it means influencing campaign issues. (However, they
cannot support or oppose candidates by name!)
- Voter
registration: Non-profit faith groups are permitted to register voters and
urge them to vote.
(Adapted
from How to set up an advocacy group
with your congregation by Rev. Linda Hanna Walling.)
The Perspective
of History:
Historically,
religion has played a central role in social and political change. Every
continent offers examples of faith-based and faith-motivated individuals,
groups, and institutions. Recent examples include the African church and its
leaders who spearheaded the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and the
liberation theologians of Latin America who engaged in social reform and
political action in response to the human needs and social injustices they
observed around them.
In the US,
since the mid 1800’s, three instances
of major social change have been fueled by religion and people of faith: the
abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, and the civil right movement.
Will
slowing, stopping, and reversing climate change be the fourth
time?
Quotations:
Advocacy may be defined as
active support of an idea or cause, especially on behalf of justice for the
poor, the marginalized, the oppressed, or the voiceless. It inevitably involves
the uncomfortable challenge of speaking truth to power. It also calls for the
ongoing work of teaching, inviting, and urging. Advocacy requires persistence,
patience, partnerships, relationships, and the agility to take advantage of
opportunities as they arise. This is hard work and often thankless and
discouraging. But advocacy has purpose far beyond one person's life, especially
as we work for justice for neighbors suffering consequences of environmental
waste, abuse, and degradation. In fact, we speak for creation itself.
~ Rev. Heather Entrekin,
professor at Central Baptist Seminary in Shawnee, KS, and former Senior Pastor
of Prairie Baptist Church in Prairie Village, KS.
"A church that
does not provoke any crises, a gospel that doesn't unsettle, a word of God that
doesn't get under anyone's skin, a word of God that doesn't touch the real sin
of the society in which it is being proclaimed--what gospel is
that?
~
Archbishop Oscar Romero.
"A time comes
when silence is betrayal."
~ Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr.
Closing
Thoughts:
Faith
communities can play the unique role of taking us beyond our enlightened
self-interest down an ethical, moral,
and spiritual path that other institutions do not. They are key in
addressing the moral imperative of the environmental crisis, leading by example, by education, and by
inspiration. They can influence people to transform their way of
thinking and believing, which
can transform their way of living and
acting.
Another
way to care about people is to care about the environment. Another way to
advocate for people is to advocate for the natural world that surrounds and
sustains us. In sub-Saharan
Africa, people are 200 times as likely as Americans to die from climate-related
disasters and 300 times more likely to be left homeless. Unchecked climate change has been compared to
a world war or a great depression. According to the UN, "There are at least
20 million environmental refugees worldwide--more than those displaced by war
and political repression." This number is projected to increase several
fold.
~
Jerry Rees
Member, Steering Committee and Advocacy Committee of Kansas
Interfaith Power & Light
Member,
Advocacy Committee of Presbyterians for Earth Care
Member, Advocacy Committee
of Sustainable Sanctuary CoalitionMember,
Earthkeepers of Heartland Presbytery
Chair,
Environmental Action Committee of Village Church
