The Great Story, Religion and Ecology, Climate Change
(FUUSE Evolutionary
Christianity Workshop)
Sensational Summary Chart of Our Findings
1. In the beginning,
we were inspired by the great story sermon at FUUSE in November 2010. The
Reverend Kitsy Winthrop urged us to tell the story as a way of regaining our
edge as a religion. She also told us about Thomas Berry and Michael Dowd.
2. Some of us
remembered Michael Dowd from his visit to FUUSE some time ago and we were
intrigued by his recent book, Thank God for Evolution, and his comprehensive
curriculum on Evolutionary Christianity. However, we wanted to hear from others
before committing to Dowd’s way of linking science and religion.
3. At our second
session, we focused on the foundational work of Thomas Berry including: The
Dream of the Earth, 1988; The Universe Story (with Brian Swimme)
1992; The Sacred Universe (Edited By Mary E. Tucker) 2009; and The
Christian Future and the Fate of the Earth, (Edited by Mary E. Tucker and
John Grim) 2009.
4. Also at the second
session we discovered the UU Ministry for Earth and its Statement of
Conscience, which challenged us with the question: “As UU’s, how can our faith
inform our actions to remedy and mitigate global warming/climate change?” The statement
also pointed out that “Earth is our home. We are part of the world and its
destiny is our own.”
5. Finally at the
March 3 workshop, we will decide how to proceed with our learning. Will we continue
to educate ourselves? If so, the ‘Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology,’ inspired
by Thomas Berry and directed by Mary E. Tucker and John Grim, offers a rich
interdisciplinary set of resources. Their, “Religions of the World and Ecology Book Series,” describes
how more than a dozen religions respond to environmental, ecological and
climate change.
On the other hand, we
might decide to act now/learn later and embrace the actions suggested by the UU
Ministry for Earth plus actions on Earth Day. In terms of “learn later,” Jim Schlough suggested we form
a study group as part of the summer worship and we agreed. In terms of actions we decided to participate in NNED and the Ministry for Earth activities and be active with the Green Sanctuary on Earth Day.
Thanks to all the
participants who helped make sense of this important topic!!
Jim Webber
