Affirm Environmental Responsibility
and
Establish an Environmental Stewardship Team
Resolved,
the House of Bishops concurring, That the 70th General
Convention of the Episcopal Church, affirming our responsibility
for the earth in trust for this and future generations:
- Declares that Christian Stewardship
of God's created environment, in harmony with our respect for
human dignity, requires response from the Church of the highest
urgency;
- Calls on all citizens of the world,
and Episcopalians in particular, to live their lives as good
stewards with responsible concern for the sustainability of
the environment and with appreciation for the global interdependence
of human life and the natural worlds; and
- Urges all Episcopalians to reflect
on their personal and corporate habits in the use of God's creation;
to share with one another ideas for new responses; and to act
as individuals, congregations, dioceses, and provinces of the
Episcopal Church in ways that protect and heal all interdependent
parts of creation. Such action should include prayerful theological
discernment and factual knowledge. It should also consider global
and local links and the balance of environmental integrity with
economic sufficiency for human living;
and
be it further
Resolved,
That the Episcopal Church, acknowledging the sovereignty of God
and God's call to us in the servanthood of Christ, continue to
engage environmental issues, passionately caring for the earth
and striving to live into the promises and mandates which are
ours as stewards of creation; and be it further
Resolved,
That this Convention calls upon the Presiding Bishop and the President
of the House of Deputies to appoint an interdisciplinary, multicultural
Environmental Stewardship Team, 14 members, representing each
Province and a broad spectrum of Church membership, whose gifts
and expertise are suitable to the task. The mission of the Environmental
Stewardship Team is to educate, motivate and facilitate congregations,
dioceses and provinces toward local and regional plans, advocacy
and action. The Team will work with other environmental groups
of common interest; and be it further
Resolved,
That the 70th General Convention includes in the Program
Budget an appropriation of $100,000 per year during the 1992-1994
triennium to carry out the work of the Team; and be it further
Resolved,
That the Environmental Stewardship Team report regularly to Executive
Council during the triennium and to the 71st General Convention;
and be it further
Resolved,
That the 70th General Convention requests the Presiding Bishop
to communicate immediately and directly to all Episcopalians,
the scope and urgency of this resolution.
Author: The Standing Commission on Stewardship
and Development
Source: Archives of the Episcopal
Church
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