Honoring "The Blue Green Hills of Earth": Earth Day 2006 (ritual, moral)

[Green Gaia]

Honoring "The Blue Green Hills of Earth": Earth Day 2006

As Unitarian Universalists prepare to observe Earth Day on April 22, and many UU congregations mark Earth Day Sunday on April 23, 2006, we recognize that we are called by our Principles to live in right relationship with the web of life. Across the country, Unitarian Universalists have joined with other people of faith to make personal, congregational, and denominational commitments to support our fragile planet.

Reflecting on the need to honor our planet on Earth Day and in our daily lives, the Rev. William G. Sinkford, UUA President said, "This earth is a creation which we have been given. Our Unitarian Universalist theology helps us know that our role is not to exercise dominion or control over the earth but to stand as stewards of the finely balanced system which sustains all life. We call this the interdependent web of existence. We watch with anguish as this delicate web is damaged and life itself threatened by changes to our environment caused by our presence."

Sinkford continued, "In addition to being a scientific problem, global warming is arguably one of the greatest moral and spiritual crises facing Earth's people today. On this Earth Day, I call on all Unitarian Universalists to participate in efforts in local congregations, our communities, and through international organizations, that will support the ongoing care of, and reverence for, our environment and this small blue planet that is our home."

UU congregations in the United States, and international partners as well, have been engaged in projects that help build reverence for the earth and educate individuals on what they can do to care for our planet. The UU Church in Peterborough, NH, and the UU Society of Laconia, NH, have both partnered with Sustainable Harvest International – Restoring Forests and Nourishing Communities, to provide moral and financial support for the ecologically significant work that Central American families are doing.

From the UU Church of Akron, Ohio's Green Faire to Unity Temple UU Congregation's(Oak Park, IL) switch to geothermal technology to heat and cool their building, to the First Unitarian Church of Albuquerque, New Mexico's presentation of a play entitled "Mother Earth vs. World's People: Perhaps the Most Important Trial in the History of Civilization," nearly two hundred UU congregations across the United States have reported on Earth Day observances they have planned and on community action that will continue long after April 22.

There is also action to report in the international Unitarian world. As part of the UU Partner Church Council Community Capacity Building program, local facilitators entered the village of Arkos in Transylvania to assess issues facing the village, as well as working to identify resources, prioritize needs, and develop action plans. According to Catherine Cordes, the UUA's interim director of international programs, the young adults (aged 18-25) in the village decided that their biggest priority was to improve the environment and clean up their village, including the badly polluted streams that were clogged with trash. The First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston, TX, which is partnered with the Arkos congregation, provided T-shirts for villagers to wear while doing the work, and the youth organized volunteers to clean up the streams and dispose of the trash, later constructing twenty trash receptacles which are now positioned through the village.

This year, acknowledging that our environmental stewardship must extend beyond our individual and congregational actions to our denominational gatherings, the UUA is "Greening" its 2006 General Assembly through a variety of means including asking conference hotels to be more environmentally sensitive, and arranging with the conference convention center (America's Center in St. Louis) to be more environmentally sensitive to how we can all tred more lightly on the earth.

Additionally, the General Assembly will collect an optional $6 carbon offset as part of the conference registration process. Voluntary donations will be collected and forwarded to Carbonfund.org, a non-profit organization that educates the public about the issue of climate change and works with businesses and civic groups on CO2 reduction programs.

We also know that responsible investment can make a difference. The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), of which the UUA is a member, has joined Co-op America's Climate Action Campaign to encourage the three top mutual fund companies – Fidelity, Vanguard, and American Funds – to vote in favor of climate change resolutions. Learn more about how you and your congregation can join this effort.

The UUA Committee for Socially Responsible Investing (CSRI) represents the UUA in the ICCR coalition. See more information about CSRI and congregational resources.

Earth Day lasts for one day, but the need for all citizens of the Earth to live each day in reverence for our planet is more acute than ever before. As you go forward this spring, we encourage you to think about the ways in which you can minister to, and for, the Earth.

[Green Gaia]

Ways to observe Earth Day:

• Join the Earth Day Network on Friday, April 21 from 1:00-3:00 PM EDT when it hosts an interactive live chat with world-renowned climate change experts. UU minister Alida DeCoster (of the UUA Washington Office for Advocacy Internship Program) will represent the UUA on the religious response panel.
• Write to your elected representatives to demand action on the Gulf Coast. A UUA partner organization, Faithful America, is urging individuals to write to their elected representatives to clean up the Gulf Coast area saying, "Vast areas of the city of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are awash with unsafe levels of lead, arsenic, and other cancer-causing contaminants. Residents have been encouraged to return, yet the EPA continues to shirk its moral and legal obligation to clean-up these areas. Your representative can demand that the government do its job and tackle this problem immediately."
• Join the Virtual March against Global Warming, supported by the UUA and President William G. Sinkford . Visit Stop Global Warming's website for more information and tips.
• One way that individuals and congregations can protect the environment is to engage in sustainable community investing . Learn more and find out how you can participate!

Resources to support stewardship of the earth all year long:

• The UUA's draft Statement of Conscience, 2004-2006, is entitled Threat of Global Warming. This year, General Assembly delegates will be voting on adopting the Statement of Conscience. Review the full text for resolutions and action steps you and your congregation or community can implement!
  
• Visit the UUA's resource, Honoring Our Home, Planet Earth, which provides tools for children, youth, families, and religious educators who wish to study environmental justice and stewardship of our planet.
  
• The Unitarian Universalist Ministry for the Earth (formerly the Seventh Principle Project) has provided extensive worship resources in support of stewardship of the earth and its resources.
  
• An Earth Day Worship Planning Resource is available from the National Council of Churches. "Through the Eye of a Hurricane: Rebuilding Just Communities," describes the devastation of the Gulf Coast Region, particularly issues of environmental justice and racism, toxic contamination, and consumer lifestyles. Includes background information, sermon notes, bulletin insert, and study questions to plan an Earth Day (or any day) worship service dedicated to a faithful call to justice on the Gulf Coast. For further information email info@nccecojustice.org.
  
• Interfaith Power and Light is a nationwide network of coalitions of religions working together to promote renewable energy in various states.
  
• If your congregation is considering a building renovation or construction program, find out more about the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification elements which could result in reduction of energy consumption and a 'greener' building while saving your congregation money! The UUA is examining how these guidelines can be incorporated into our support of congregational growth and fundraising. For further information, contact the UUA Office of Congregational Fundraising Services.