Resolved, That Executive Council endorse and commend to the Church the Episcopal Creation Covenant and its three major commitments: Loving Formation, Liberating Advocacy and Life-giving Conservation, as follows:
Episcopal Creation Covenant
In Jesus, God so loved the whole world. We follow Jesus, so we love the world God loves. Concerned for the global climate emergency, drawing on diverse approaches for our diverse contexts, we commit to form and restore loving, liberating, life-giving relationships with all of Creation.
LOVING FORMATION: For God’s sake, we will grow our love for the Earth and all of life through preaching, teaching, storytelling, and prayer.
As a whole church, we can ...
- Leverage the Care of Creation Grants program to support and connect Creation ministries (A008)
- Use Story Sharing strategies, worship resources, and the Asset Map to offer stories of our love for Creation, our concern for the climate emergency, and our grief for climate-related suffering (A008)
- Equip preachers to preach regularly about Creation, spiritual resilience, moral courage, and action (A008)
- Communicate broadly and openly about the ecological crisis and our call to care for Creation, especially connecting across political/ideological divides (A008)
- Craft and communicate a theology of Creation and deepen knowledge of biblical insights into Creation (A008)
- Connect with and support youth movements, in partnership with Youth and Young Adult Ministries
- Illuminate connections between the ecological crisis and the Doctrine of Discovery/Manifest Destiny, in partnership with Indigenous Ministries
- Host pilgrimages in wild or degraded natural places, and encourage hands-on engagement with nature, including gardens, farms, and tree-planting (A010)
- Participate in the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (September 1) and encourage the use of Episcopal liturgical resources for the Season of Creation on the Sundays leading to St. Francis of Assisi Day (October 4)
LIBERATING ADVOCACY: For God’s sake, standing alongside marginalized, vulnerable peoples, we will advocate and act to repair Creation and seek the liberation and flourishing of all people.
As a whole church, we can …
- Stand in solidarity with historically marginalized and vulnerable communities, focusing on 2 or 3 specific groups/eco-justice sites as a whole church, especially …
- Communities of color and targets of environmental racism (A011)
- Indigenous communities like Standing Rock, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Bears Ears, Navajo, Gwich’in/groups related to Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (C064 and B025)
- Province IX, including Honduras, Ecuador, Dominican Republic and Colombia
- Pacific Islanders/partners in the Anglican Communion (C063)
- Women (B027)
- Engage in federal, state and local advocacy, especially around policies outlined by General Convention and with the guidance of the Office of Government Relations and the Episcopal Public Policy Network:
- Leverage investments to support clean, renewable energy and energy access (A020 and C021)
- Encourage adoption of the Paris Accord at state and local levels (A018 and A010)
- Advocate for ocean health and protection (C063) and water as a human right (B025)
- Affect policy through diverse means such as advocacy, voting, community organizing, and trained civil disobedience
- Respond to proposed rule changes by U.S. government departments and agencies
- Support a just transition and global climate resilience
- Partner with groups like Episcopal Relief and Development, ecoAmerica, Green Faith, Interfaith Power and Light, the Anglican Communion Environmental Network, and many others
- Support Sustainable Development Goals, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and Conference of Parties (A018)
LIFE-GIVING CONSERVATION: For God’s sake, we will adopt practical ways of reducing our climate impact and living more humbly and gently on Earth as individuals, households, congregations, institutions, and dioceses.
As a whole church, we can …
- Practice joyful, counter-cultural simplicity and gratitude, and move from individualized, wasteful practices to a way of life that celebrates our interdependence and harmony with God’s Creation
- Practice Sabbath and living lightly, unselfishly and intentionally, especially during Lent
- Speak the truth about sin, evil, falling short, forgiveness, and amendment of life
- Adopt specific conservation strategies in our daily lives as individuals and as a church
- Encourage use of the Carbon Tracker in households and throughout dioceses (www.SustainIslandHome.org) (C008)
- Reduce energy consumption and waste in church gatherings, including phasing out use of bottled water in church-related facilities (B025)
- Promote conscious food decisions and local, sustainable agriculture
- Support use of the carbon tax and carbon offsets (C020 and A014)
- Work toward regenerative agriculture, biodiversity conservation and habitat restoration, especially on church-owned lands (D053)
and be it further
Resolved, That the Task Force on Creation Care and Environmental Racism and the Presiding Bishop’s Staff recommend a strategy for the implementation of the three major commitments within the Creation Covenant, reporting to the Joint Standing Committee on Mission Within the Church at least one month prior to its February, 2020, meeting; and be it further
Resolved, That the Task Force and Staff research and develop a Future Church-wide Ambition to safeguard creation and steward finances by transitioning to clean, renewable energy, reporting to Mission Within the Church at least one month prior to its February, 2020, meeting.
