Where heaven and Earth collide

By Erika Engelhaupt, For the Daily Camera
November 19, 2005

Christians from across the political spectrum are coming together in Boulder and elsewhere to spread the word that the environment is a gift from God that the faithful must protect. Some in this movement call it "creation care," while others refer to "Earth stewardship," but all agree that God calls on Christians to tend his garden.

At a recent conference in Denver, about 70 Christians from Colorado and across the nation gathered to learn how to turn faith into works and protect the environment. Meanwhile, faith communities in Boulder are gearing up their environmental efforts as the National Association of Evangelicals prepares to release a statement on climate change despite pockets of resistance from conservative evangelical groups such as Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family.

Boulder's Christian community is active in creation care, with churches of many denominations forming groups dedicated to environmental education and action.

Jewish groups and ecumenical congregations such as the Unitarian Universalists have been active in environmental action for years. But lately more conservative evangelical Christian groups are looking to God for lessons on nature, too.

The Rev. Gene Binder is lead pastor for Cornerstone Church in Boulder. He said the church now defines itself as Baptist and describes its theology as conservative evangelical Christian.

Binder said that he sometimes feels pressure to align with Republican politics. He said that because evangelicals have come to affiliate with the political right, they often take a side on political issues that Binder finds inconsistent with scripture.

"God is clear on how we should care for the environment," Binder said.

Boulder's Protestant churches with moderate theologies, often called mainline churches, tend to be progressive on the environment, according to The Rev. Pete Terpenning of Boulder's Community United Church of Christ and a member of the church's Earth Action Team.

The Earth Action Team grew out of the actions of individual church members and organized into a recognized church group a year ago.

Its 10 core members have helped the church become more ecologically sustainable by switching to energy-efficient light bulbs, recycled paper and corn-based disposable cups for church picnics and mixers. Eventually, they hope to get the church completely off the electrical grid, using solar or other technologies to produce renewable energy.

The team also writes regular letters to congressmen about local environmental issues such as drilling on the Roan Plateau, which church members can choose to sign on an individual basis.

Another Boulder church spent a year writing its "Whole Earth Covenant," the congregation's covenant with God promising to care for the environment. The Rev. Martie McMane of First Congregational Church of the United Church of Christ described the effect she hopes her congregation will have.

"Our church is small and can only do so much for the environment. But think of it like ripples going out; if each person does something, it carries forth."

Jack Twombly, 84, a retired University of Colorado electrical engineering professor, said he has made creation care his "unpaid job" in retirement. Twombly is the official eco-justice advocate for a region of the Presbyterian Church covering 44 churches in Colorado and Nebraska.

Soft-spoken in a brown flannel shirt, Twombly looks like a grandfather just in from the wood shop.

"When a man asked me what my agenda was," he said, "my honest and simple answer was: my grandchildren." Twombly said he's afraid that if more environmental action doesn't happen soon, the world his 14 grandchildren will inherit will be "pretty alarming."

Now, Twombly spends at least an hour or two each day studying environmental issues and creation care, and he organizes efforts to educate church members through newsletters, Sunday school lessons and church displays.

His home church, First Presbyterian of Boulder, now hosts an annual "Bike to Church Day," model after the better-known "Walk and Bike to Work Day." More than 200 parishioners forsake cars in favor of bicycles and a free church breakfast.

Still, creation care in Boulder churches is part of a much larger movement with its own history and leaders.

A National Movement

In the 1960s, some Christians began to reject what they saw as an artificial choice created by the political debate around environmental issues — be religious or be green.

Since then, the movement has grown. In October, the National Association of Evangelicals released a statement calling evangelicals to shape public policy in ways consistent with their beliefs.

The document read in part, "Because clean air, pure water, and adequate resources are crucial to public health and civic order, government has an obligation to protect its citizens from the effects of environmental degradation."

The organization is now circulating among its leaders a draft of a formal statement in support of policy action on climate change.

Other evangelical groups are more wary about embracing environmental causes.

In March, the Focus on the Family issued a statement on global warming emphasizing that "any issue that seems to put plants and animals above humans is one that we cannot support."

The statement from Focus on the Family outraged many in environmental and creation care groups. It was widely quoted on the Internet as an example of how evangelical Christians thwart environmental policy. The organization declined to comment for this story.

Still, Terpenning of Community United Church of Christ said he was encouraged that an environmental movement is growing among conservative churches.

"We could work with them; giving up on the right is not helpful," Terpenning said.