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Education and the Environment in the Mainline Protestant Denominations
Religious education of both laypeople and clergy
has been a major focus of environmental engagement
by the churches. Building a more just and sustainable
society requires changes in the behavior of institutions
and individuals. Education plays a key role in
bringing about both kinds of change.
Religious education implants values that drive
and direct environmental transformation. It raises
awareness of the moral and religious reasons that
change is needed. It provides a meaningful context
in which to present scientific information about
environmental issues and to offer resources for
individual action and advocacy. It enables people
of faith to deliberate about the means and ends
of bringing our lives into closer harmony with
God’s will for the whole creation.
Congregations and Church
Camps A variety of channels are being
used for religious environmental education in
congregations and other settings:
- Sunday and weekday classes for children and
adult church members;
- Church camps and Vacation Bible Schools;
- Activities for youth and adults that combine
learning and service; and
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- Bulletin boards, church inserts, sermons,
and individual study.
Developing and distributing educational resources
for these settings is one of the main activities of
religious environmental
organizations, and these resources are often
based on or related to denominational
statements on creation care.
Leadership Training
Equipping clergy and lay leaders for environmental
ministries is the purpose of special conferences
and training events sponsored by denominational
and ecumenical organizations such as those offered
by the NCCC’s Eco-Justice
Programs.
Church Colleges and Theological
Schools
Church-related colleges and theological schools
are seeking both to be agents of institutional
change and to reform themselves as institutions.
Courses and programs that integrate faith and
ethics with environmental studies help cultivate
pastors, church leaders, and citizens who understand
the power of religiously grounded environmental
values. When students, faculty, administrators
and staff work together to incorporate eco-justice
concerns into every part of institutional life,
these institutions can serve as “laboratories”
for change. Their example, as well as their curricula,
spreads the message of eco-justice among the churches
and in the world.
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