The Founding of the Partnership: 1990-1993

1970's - 1990's: Accelerating Environmental Activity in the Faith Community

The American religious community has traditionally addressed issues more recently designated "environmental." For example: public health, sustainable agriculture, water pollution, urban land use and overseas relief. Through the '70s and '80s, a secular "environmental movement" grew exponentially. By the mid-late '80s, this was leading to an increasing number of ad hoc meetings between such environmentalists, scientists, activists, public officials and individuals, if not denominations, in the faith community.

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.