The Rev. Jim Ball of the Evangelical Environmental Network speaks about global warming and poverty yesterday here. SUZANNE CARR ROSSI/THE FREE LANCE-STAR Visit the Photo Place

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Green gospel growing locally

Tree huggers, faithful meet at local conference

BY AMY FLOWERS UMBLE

Date published: 6/23/2009

By Flowers Umble BY AMY FLOWERS UMBLE

For 27 years as a Sierra Club lobbyist, Melanie Griffin got used to being called a tree hugger.

But when she converted to Christianity 15 years ago, the suburban Maryland woman found herself in unchartered territory, suddenly a hybrid.

Her Sierra Club friends worried she'd become "a right-wing nut." Her church friends thought an environmentalist couldn't really appreciate the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

But for Griffin, caring about God and the earth went hand in hand.

A growing number of Christians agree. Yesterday, about 70 gathered to talk about faith and the environment at the Riverside Center in Stafford County.

"This is really a first in Virginia," said Glenda Booth, state outreach coordinator for Audubon Society. "As far as these groups getting together, it might be a first in the nation."

Audubon, the Pew Environment Group, the National Association of Evangelicals and the Evangelical Environmental Network coordinated to create the workshop. The event featured the Rev. Jim Ball, who made headlines with his "What Would Jesus Drive?" campaign, and 1st District Rep. Rob Wittman of Westmoreland County.

A number of area pastors and church representatives showed up for the event.

The faith community was not an immediate ally in fighting global warming, Booth said. But they are a natural one.

"We realized we had this common interest, common goals, and it was a really good alliance," she said.

Many evangelicals have been slow to embrace global warming as a priority. When Stafford County resident and then-vice president of NAE, the Rev. Rich Cizik started preaching creation care, many evangelical leaders hesitated to expand their mission beyond issues such as abortion and gay marriage.

Last month, when Southern Baptist leaders agreed the environment is a concern, they wouldn't go so far as to declare global warming a man-made, real concern.

But Ball, president of the Evangelical Environmental Network, yesterday said that global warming is not only an issue but "a threat multiplier" affecting "the least of these."

Ball easily switched between religious jargon and ecospeak such as "homeostasis," "glacial melt" and "rain-fed agriculture."

An early prophet of the evangelical environmentalist movement, he pushed for the Evangelical Climate Initiative in 2006.

Local congregations are starting to embrace the green gospel. The Baptists and Presbyterians recycle church bulletins; the Methodists will hold an environmental workshop; the Unitarian Universalists are building an energy-efficient house of worship. "It's not been on the top of the agenda," said Steve Aycock, president of the Fredericksburg Area Baptist Network. "But there's a growing awareness that it is a problem." Getting the environmental message out in the faith community requires a lot of bridge building, said many of the speakers at yesterday's workshop. Scientists and religious people have a chasm to cross. But so do evangelicals and mainline Protestants, Muslims, Jews and Bahais. And, increasingly, they are. "I have not found a faith tradition yet that does not preach about stewardship for creation," said Jerry Lawson, a Spotsylvania County resident who works for the Environmental Protection Agency and speaks to congregations around the country. "As a faith community, if we can't agree on this, I don't know what we can agree on," said the Rev. Wanda Sauley Fennell with Grace Baptist Church in Richmond. At yesterday's workshop, speakers emphasized that it didn't take giant leaps to start saving the planet. The Rev. Jim Ball told the audience that the most basic step would be replacing light bulbs with incandescent bulbs. Other steps included: Praying for the planet Talking to church members and neighbors about environmentalism Contacting legislators Buying fuel-efficient cars Carpooling or using public transportation Having an energy audit of your home Encouraging your church to have an energy audit.

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Date published: 6/23/2009