Moving into the 1990's, senior religious leaders began to call for a distinctively religious "environmental" vision — what many call care for God's creation — arising from deep within the teachings of the major faith groups.
On January 1, 1990, in his "World Day of Peace" Message, Pope John Paul II wrote:
Even men and women without any particular religious conviction, but with an acute sense of their responsibilities for the common good, recognize their obligation to contribute to the restoration of a healthy environment.
All the more should men and women who believe in God the Creator, and who are thus convinced that there is a well-defined unity and order in the world, feel called to address the problem... As a result, they are conscious of a vast field of ecumenical and interreligious cooperation opening up before them.
In 1991, the U.S. Catholic bishops prepared the statement "Renewing the Earth: An Invitation to Reflection and Action on Environment in Light of Catholic Social Teaching," urging efforts "to explore, deepen, and advance the insights of our Catholic tradition and its relation to the environment and other religious perspectives on these matters."
From other Christian denominations and Jewish groups came comparable calls to action. Denominational bodies began to see the need to put forward their own authoritative teachings and programs. Discussions to establish a more explicit and formal Jewish environmental program began in March 1990 at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Denominational staff reporting to their mainline Protestant, Orthodox, and historic black church communions met regularly under the umbrella of the National Council of Churches of Christ.
1990: Common Concerns
Working within established organizational structures, many also stressed the importance of interreligious inquiry. As the 1990's began, senior religious leaders undertook consultations and presented public reflections to begin the process of incorporating a wide range of views into a singular commitment on behalf of creation, and a process of deliberation took place among and between diverse denominational organizations that would go on to establish the mission and governance of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment.
At the same time, representatives of the religious and scientific communities began to recognize a common interest:
Many of us have had profound experiences of awe and reverence before the universe. We recognize that what is regarded as sacred is most likely to be treated with respect. Efforts to safeguard planetary environment need to be infused with a vision of the sacred and as a universal moral priority.
So wrote 32 Nobel laureates and other eminent scientists in 1990 in a widely circulated "Open Letter to the American Religious Community." They were expressing deep doubts about the sufficiency of humankind's response to Earth's environmental crisis. Conversations with religious leaders further refined the need for more fundamental analysis and response. Scientific data, laws, and economic incentives were necessary but not sufficient.
In March 1990, meanwhile, senior religious leaders, responding to the "Open Letter," affirmed the need for "theologically-grounded, scientifically-informed religious initiative." They called for a formal consultation in 1991 to lay the groundwork for such action. "A Joint Appeal in Religion and Science" was established as a short-term vehicle to facilitate this process. Included in the call were:
- His Eminence Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, Archbishop of Chicago
- Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, Chancellor, Jewish Theological Seminary
- John Hurft Adams, Senior Bishop, African Methodist Episcopal Church
- The Rev. Daniel E. Weiss, General Secretary, American Baptist Churches, U.S.A.
- The Most Rev. Edmond Browning, Presiding Bishop, Episcopal Church U.S.A.
- His Beatitude Metropolitan Theodosius, Primate, Orthodox Church in America
1991: Toward Initiative and Collaboration
Responding directly to this call, and building upon independent denominational initiatives, 25 senior religious leaders met on June 2nd-3rd, 1991 to consider theological perspectives and scientific briefings and to discuss further steps by and between diverse faith groups. "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," they wrote. "Response to this issue can and must cross traditional religious and political lines. It has the potential to unify and renew religious life."
As concrete next steps, the group pledged to undertake separate consultations over the next two years in the Jewish, evangelical Christian, and historic Black church communities; to survey the landscape of environmental work in local faith communities; to convene a 1992 meeting to bring word of these emerging activities to a wider audience of religious leaders; and to establish "a continuing mechanism to coordinate ongoing activities among us, working intimately with existing program and staff in the religious world." Signatories included:
- Rabbi Marc Angel, President, Rabbinical Council of America
- 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, Director, Office of International Justice & Peace, United States Catholic Conference
- Bishop William B. Friend, Chairman, Committee for Science & Human Values, National Council of Catholic Bishops
- His Eminence Archbishop Iakovos, Primate, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, North and South America
- Dr. David McKenna, President, Asbury Theological Seminary
- The Very Reverend James Parks Morton, Dean, Cathedral of St. John the Divine
- Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, General Secretary, National Baptist Convention
- Dr. Robert Seiple, President, World Vision, U.S.A.
The June consultation resonated beyond its circle of participants. For example, eleven chief executive officers of major national environmental groups (the National Audubon Society, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Cub, the Environmental Defense Fund, World Resources Institute, et al.) sent a letter to participants affirming the importance of the religious community's contribution, "particularly in our efforts to support struggles for environmental justice by poor, minority and indigenous peoples." And the consultation's resolve helped encourage what was to be a year-long series of actions by major faith groups and denominations, broadening significantly the base of commitment to religious environmental activity.
In July 1991, the Episcopal Church agreed upon and funded its first program on environment and sustainable development. Bishops of the U.S. Catholic Conference approved their first pastoral statement on the environment in November 1991. Also that autumn, the National Council of Churches of Christ established an office on environmental and economic justice, and the United Church of Christ hosted an environmental summit for people of color.
1992: Denominational Initiative and Interreligious Consultation
As directed by the June '91 meeting, this process continued over the next two years with three meetings of individual faith communities and a consultation of senior leaders from among them.
1. Consultation on Environment and Jewish Life
On March 11th-12th, 1992, over one hundred Jewish leaders met in Washington, heard scholarly perspectives from Jewish tradition and scientific briefings; discussed possible initiatives by national organizations, synagogues, seminaries and community relations councils; and resolved to establish a formal organization to develop such initiatives, working in close collaboration with other faith groups. They wrote,
"We, American Jews of every denomination, from diverse organizations and differing political perspectives, are united in deep concern that the quality of human life and the earth we inhabit are in danger, afflicted by rapidly increasing ecological threats. As heirs to a tradition of stewardship that goes back to Genesis, we cannot accept the escalating destruction of our environment. Our agenda is already overflowing. But the ecological crisis hovers over all Jewish concerns."
2. World Vision
From April 30th-May 2nd, 1992 the respected Christian relief and development agency, World Vision, convened its Washington Forum to discuss the environment and its impact on the poor. Representatives of a number of prominent evangelical organizations attended. Shortly thereafter, World Vision's president, Robert Seiple, together with Dr. Ronald Sider, president of Evangelicals for Social Action, expressed their eagerness to establish an Evangelical Environmental Network, built on sound biblical foundations, working in collaboration with other faith communities.
3. Historic Black Church Denominations
In late May, a decision to establish a "Black Church Environmental Justice Network" was made by senior, elected leaders of major African-American denominations, including the National Baptist Convention, the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, the AME Zion Church, the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, and the Progressive National Baptist Convention. Plans were set in motion for a December Black Church Environmental Justice Summit meeting, which assembled 150 clergy and lay leaders from these distinguished bodies.
Participants called for the collaboration of other faith communities in a long-term initiative to preach the word of God's care for God's creation and to address the interrelationship of pollution, poison, poverty and racism.
4. Interreligious Consultation
To introduce these and other such denominational initiatives into what Pope John Paul II had called the "vast field of ecumenical and interreligious cooperation," 70 senior religious leaders met in Washington, D.C. on May 11th-12th, 1992, with selected representatives of the scientific, environmental and government communities. As they had throughout the past two years, participants heard both theological perspectives and scientific reports. Individual faith groups reported on the progress of their respective communities.
In characterizing the frank and productive conversation between religion and science, participants wrote:
"Differences of perspective remain among us. We do not have to agree on how the natural world was made to be willing to work together to preserve it. On that paramount objective we affirm a deep sense of common cause."
Establishment of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment
On the evening of May 12th, 1992, senior representatives of faith groups who had been participants in deliberations over the past two years met to discuss further initiatives and an appropriate vehicle with which to move forward. The group offered the following resolutions:
- Major faith groups and organizations will accelerate programs of theologically sound, biblically grounded initiative as an expression of faithful stewardship of God's creation.
- Efforts will be undertaken within denominationally-based or affiliated bodies and not in formal partnership with the scientific community. The Joint Appeal will be dissolved, although conversations with scientists would continue informally.
- These initiatives will be undertaken in an interreligious affiliation but with each participating body responsible for its own programs and staffing. A National Religious Partnership for the Environment will be established with four founding, independent governing bodies.
- A board of trustees will be chosen to exemplify breadth of interreligious engagement. An executive committee will be drawn from senior staff of the member groups to oversee execution of program and governance. A secretariat, reporting to the executive committee, will provide support to and among the four partners.
- Over the next year, participating faith groups and organizations will develop three-year plans to be enacted individually and through the rubric of the Partnership.
Bishop Browning, Rabbi Schindler, Dr. Hestenes, and Bishop Malone were chosen to serve as an interim steering committee during this period of program planning.
Signatories of these resolutions included:
- Bishop James W. Malone, Chair, Domestic Policy Committee, United States Catholic Conference, and Bishop of Youngstown
- Mr. John Carr, Secretary, Department of Social Development and World Peace, United States Catholic Conference
- Dr. Ronald Sider, Professor of Theology & Society, Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Director, Evangelicals for Social Action
- Dr. Roberta Hestenes, President, Eastern College and Chair, World Vision International
- Dr. Ismar Schorsch, Chancellor, Jewish Theological Seminary of America
- Rabbi David Saperstein, Director and Counsel, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
- Rabbi Alexander Schindler, President, Union of American Hebrew Congregations
- The Most Reverend Edmond L. Browning, Presiding Bishop, Episcopal Church of America
- The Reverend Dr. Herbert W. Chilstrom, Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
- Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, General Secretary, National Baptist Convention
- Reverend Tyrone S. Pitts, Secretary General, Progressive National Baptist Convention
- Reverend Dr. Milton Efthimou , Ecumenical Officer, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North & South America
- The Very Reverend James Parks Morton, Dean, Cathedral of St. John the Divine
In October 1993, the National Religious Partnership for the Environment formally began its activities as an association of:
- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops,
- The National Council of Churches of Christ (with the active participation of its mainline protestant, Orthodox and historic African-American communions),
- The Coalition on Environment and Jewish Life (spanning all four branches and rabbinical associations); and
- The Evangelical Environmental Network (an affiliation of Christian agencies, congregations and educational institutions).
The Partnership placed staff in the national offices of these faith groups, appointed a secretariat to coordinate its program, established an Office of Science Counsel, and declared its mission:
We Seek to weave the mission of care for God's creation across all areas of organized religion, and to do so in such a way as to contribute scope of vision, moral perspective, breadth of constituency, and endurance of struggle for all efforts to protect the natural world and human well-being within it.
Its by-laws set forth its foundation and protocol for action: "The Partnership builds upon the religious beliefs and moral values of each of the bodies which make it up and which will independently undertake its own initiatives in its own community."
- Read about the Partnership's accomplishments since 1993.
- View a timeline of events.
