An Issue Whose Time Has Come – Again

Those of us who came of age in the 1970s remember the decade for more than flare-leg pants in garish colors, paisley ascots and men’s laughably long hair styles. It was also a time when the environment was high on the list of stewardship priorities – as witnessed by that decade's groundbreaking federal legislation for clean air, clean water and environmental protection that arose from a Republican White House and received wide bipartisan support in Congress. 

We don’t hear as much news about the environment as we used to, but that’s not because the earth is out of danger. As world fossil-fuel use continues to rise and as more nations embrace industrialism, the planet is pushed farther and farther past its capacity to restore and renew.

Other more pressing concerns may have pushed the environment off the front burner, but that only partly explains the relative silence. More troubling, the environmental movement has suffered from a campaign of disinformation by industry opponents, politicians and partisans who belittle and dismiss legitimate concerns. Disturbingly, many of the harshest critics are from religious circles.

But now a growing number of Christians is working to restore the environment as a priority issue for people of faith. After all, if the earth is no longer able to sustain life, then all other religious concerns become moot. (Why is this such a hard sell for many Christians?)

For April the Stewardship of Life Institute website will put a focus on environmental issues and our Christian response to them. This week you’ll find a program of environmental awareness for confirmands, as well as a number of items in Gleanings related to the church and the environment.

--Rob Blezard, Webmaster and Editor (webmaster@stewardshipoflife.org)

New This Week! April 5 - 11:

Deathbed Reflections for Every Day
"Maybe that is what daily dying and rising with Christ is all about.  We need to look over our lives and see what it is that we are glad we are spending our time doing and what it is we could just as soon not do to spend more time on the things we really feel called to do." In Dana Reardon's weekly reflection.

 Confirmation Emphasis: Environmental Stewardship
Here's a six-part program for confirmands to explore a complex issue that affects us all. "Given today’s serious environmental challenges, both locally and globally, it is appropriate to make stewardship of the environment a much higher priority than in the past. This is an excellent opportunity to talk with youth about situations that impact their lives on a daily basis." By Mark D. Gibbs in the Lutheran Laity Movement Archives.

ELCA Presiding Bishop's Easter Message 2004
"Even now Christ unsettles us with the call to the way of the cross, leading us not out of the world but straight to the heart of its brokenness and suffering," writes Bishop Mark S. Hanson. "The light in which we see Christ's presence is that of Easter's dawn -- full of promise, charged with life, blazing with the very love of God who makes all things new. We are gifted with a world rich with significance and with lives that are holy callings."

Common Excuses for Not Giving to the Lord's Work
"We all like the idea of generosity. But when it comes down to writing the check, there just seem to be so many extenuating circumstances. We have insufficient savings. We do not agree with the church’s spending priorities. The tithe does not apply to us today. Are there any good answers to these common excuses? Here are our answers to them." From Generous Giving.