Evangelical Covenant Church adds voice on care of environment: An urgency for change

Members of the Evangelical Covenant Church have added their voices to those of other evangelicals who have addressed the issue of environmental protection.

A “resolution on creation-care” was passed during the annual meeting in Portland, Oregon, last month of the small, Chicago-based evangelical denomination.

“There is an urgency for improvement and change in how we practice creation-care for the air we breathe, the oceans we fish, the land we cultivate, and the water we drink,” reads the statement, “so that we and the generations to come might live in sustainable and productive relationships with all of creation and fulfill our call to be good stewards.”

Adam Rohler, a pastor-delegate from a New York City congregation, proposed the statement on behalf of a small group called the Young Pietists, which he said promotes a “holistic biblical commitment to justice.”

Rohler hopes that the statement will serve as a way to communicate with people outside the denomination who are concerned about environmental issues. “I now have a document that says not only do I think that faith and scripture have something to say but also there may be a denomination [that] may be willing to think it through with you,” Rohler said.

The statement notes that church president Glenn Palmberg coauthored an article earlier this year that called for “a financial commitment from the wealthiest nations to combat global warming.”

The resolution urges Evangelical Covenant members to practice recycling, carpooling and “advocacy for God’s creation” in churches, workplaces and governments.

In other resolutions approved, delegates called on denominational agencies to divest from companies doing business in Sudan and urged church members to share resources that aid in the “prevention, healing, and deliverance from pornography.” –Religion News Service