A concern for justice has long been a main entrypoint for faith communities to engage in ecological issues. A major example of religious attention to natural phenomena is in recovery and relief efforts in response to extreme weather events, which insurance companies refer to as “Acts of God.” In one sense, extreme events confront humans with the smallness of their power compared to nature (or the divine), and in another, extreme events and the damage they cause elicit responses of compassion, cooperation, and charity. Historically, faith community response to extreme events has been stronger through these ‘acts of mercy’, and less so on ‘acts of justice ‘ - actions that prevent the disaster from happening. Extreme events can also predispose a culture to more readily adopt environmental policies, such as in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, when the City of Boston, MA, passed a climate action plan with little resistance. Pope Francis’ global call for integral ecology in Laudato si highlighted climate change and water and impacts on the economically poor and disadvantaged as major issues requiring engagement of all peoples in dialogue to achieve an equitable solution. Religious environmental organization work and partnerships in education, policy advocacy and actions that foster ecosystem resilience are needed to meet the challenges.
Results/Conclusions
Diverse religious organizations are taking action at local to global scales to counteract being overwhelmed and to promote hope. Interfaith Power and Light, a national religious climate change organization with chapters in more than 40 states and 15,000 congregations is redoubling its focus on questions of environmental justice, at state and national levels. Other faith-based organizations such as Green Faith are mobilizing interfaith and environmental communities in local actions of justice as well as the national advocacy for climate action. Seminary education projects are ensuring that future clergy have the environmental science foundation to be able to convey their denomination’s theology regarding environmental care and justice. Community resilience is a matter of both planning fortitude and spiritual endurance, and these themes are being integrated across a range of examples of faith community ecology education and actions. These include ecosystem restoration and conservation easements on religious community lands, urban greenspace and local urban agriculture initiatives in food deserts. All these ‘faith-in-action efforts invite the expertise and engagement of ecologists as community partners in providing technical expertise, hands-on restoration of ecosystem services and choosing most effective environmental pathways to alleviate injustice.