Resolution on Energy Stewardship
WHEREAS, we are called to cherish and tend God’s creation as a part of our loving and serving God and neighbor, and
WHEREAS, we in the industrialized world are consuming energy and Earth’s resources in a way that is both unsustainable in the future and unfair to those in the developing world; and we hear scientific reports of environmental degradation, global climate change, record rates of species extinction, and a depletion of non-renewable resources that should give us pause, and
2010 Memorial Resolution Northeastern Minnesota Women of the ELCA: Women of Faith and Climate Change
Whereas, we, as Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (Women of the ELCA), have been made more and more aware about issues of climate change and its effects on human beings; and
Whereas, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that between 250 million and 1 billion additional people will be displaced by climate change alone between now and 2050 (World Watch Report, "Global Climate Change: The Threat to Human Health", 2009); and
Whereas, environmental-related illnesses kill the equivalent of a jumbo jet full of children every 30 minutes (Gro Bruntland, World Watch Report, "Global Climate Change: The Threat to Human Health", 2009); and
Whereas, we are aware that 70% of the world’s poor are women, the ones who will be most affected by climate change and its resulting water shortages and famines; and
Whereas our Creator God calls us, as individuals, communities, and congregations, to care for the natural world, (Genesis 1-2, Revelation 22, and many others) and
Whereas we, as individuals, communities, and congregations are facing serious challenges due to environmental changes, and
Resolution 09-8 - Creation Care in Congregations (passed 2009 Synod Assembly)
WHEREAS, our God calls us, both as individuals and as members of communities, to care for the natural world (Genesis 1-2, Revelation 22, and many others), and
WHEREAS, our world is facing significant impact from the effect of carbon emissions, petrol chemical use, shrinking ice caps, rising ocean levels, and wasteful practices, and
Resolution on the Care of Creation (submitted by Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Duluth) as amended by the 2008 NE MN Synod Assembly
WHEREAS, the care of creation is deeply rooted in the biblical witness, as are themes of the celebration, stewardship, and redemption of all God has made, and
WHEREAS, social statements of the ELCA (e.g., Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope and Justice, 1993), Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson (message to the ELCA, April 22, 2007), and Bishop Peter Strommen (“Global Warming Solutions,” public remarks October 28, 2007), express concern for the environment and urge the church’s advocacy and action on behalf of all living things, and
WHEREAS, the ELCA adopted the “Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope, and Justice” social statement at the Churchwide Assembly in 1993 to address the church’s understanding of God’s call to use to care for the earth; and,
WHEREAS, the ELCA has created materials to guide congregations, schools, and other groups in conducting environmental audits; and,
WHEREAS, the knowledge and understanding of the impact of our individual and congregational uses of natural resources in documented (for example, The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment); and,
WHEREAS, scripture shows God’s love for creation and mandates humans to serve and keep the earth; and,
WHEREAS, a Green Team can be a catalyst for transformation in a congregation; and,
WHEREAS the ELCA adopted a social statement in 1993, “Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope, and Justice,” lifting up Christian concern for the environment that is “shaped by the Word of God spoken in creation, the Love of God hanging on a cross, the Breath of God daily renewing the face of the earth;” and
WHEREAS James Hansen, chief environmental scientist for NASA says that “We have at most ten years…to alter fundamentally the trajectory of global greenhouse emissions,” that allowing such emissions to grow at the current reate will result in “a far more desolate world” “for all foreseeable generations,” and that “our children, grandchildren, and many more generations will bear the consequences of choices that we make in the next few years;” and
WHEREAS the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that unless urgent steps are taken to slow carbon emissions the earth’s average temperature will rise between 2.5-10.4 degrees Fahrenheit during this century; and
WHEREAS the biblical tradition stresses the connection in covenant between the community of faith, the created order, and the Creator, so much so that Paul explains that “For all creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God” (Romans 8:19), andWHEREAS God calls us to Care for Creation with Vision, Hope, and Justice (1993 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America social statement) in ways that protect the fruitfulness and viability of the earth and the sustainability of human communities, and
WHEREAS James Hansen, chief environmental scientist for NASA, says that “We have at most ten years…to alter fundamentally the trajectory of global greenhouse emissions,” that allowing such emissions to grow at the current rate will result in a “far more desolate world”…”for all foreseeable generations,” and that “our children, grandchildren, and many more generations will bear the consequences of choices that we make in the next few years,” and
WHEREAS probable consequences of climate change include drastic changes in global weather patterns with unpredictable impacts on both water supply and food production across the earth, and the intensification of social dislocation of peoples and political strife between nations in an intensified struggle for control of scarce resources; and
WHEREAS we read in Genesis 1:31 that “God saw everything that God had made, and indeed, it was very good;”and we read further in Colossians 1;19-20 that through Christ, “God was pleased to reconcile to God’s very self all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of Christ’s cross;” and further in 2 Peter 3:13 that God will one day consummate all things in “new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home;" and
WHEREAS, the Social Statement of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on “Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope, and Justice” acknowledges that “today living creatures, and the air, soil, and water that support them, face unprecedented threats, mostly from human activity” (paragraph II.B), and urges “each congregation should see itself as a center for exploring scriptural and theological foundations for caring for creation" (paragraph V.B.1) and further,
- as a ‘Committed Community ..incorporate the principles of sufficiency and sustainability and...take other measures that work to limit consumption and reduce wastes” (paragraph V.C);
- as a “Community of Moral Deliberation” enter into discussion of a wide rage of environmental issues (Paragraph V. D); and
- as “an Advocate” engage in advocacy on behalf of creation “in partnership, ecumenically and with others who share our concern for the environment” (paragraph V.E); and
WHEREAS, the Minneapolis Area Synod and its member congregations are responsible for the implementation of this Social Statement in our area; therefore be it
