United Methodist Church Resolution 80990:
Amend and Re-adopt Resolution #11: God's Creation and the
Church
As disciples of Christ, we are called to be good stewards of God's
creation. Accordingly, we call upon The United Methodist Church to
adopt fresh ways to respond to the perils that now threaten the
integrity of God's creation and the future of God's children.
Specifically, The United Methodist Church:
- designates one Sunday each year, preferably the Sunday closest to
Earth Day, as a Festival of God's Creation, celebrating God's gracious
work in creating the earth and all living things, incorporating it into
the church's liturgical calendar, and developing appropriate ways for
congregations to celebrate it;
- endorses The Clergy Letter Project and its reconciliatory
programs between religion and science, and urges United Methodist clergy
participation;
- endorses the work of the National Religious Partnership for the
Environment, and the World Council of Churches Climate Change Program
and urges conferences and congregations to support their activities and
programs;
- supports the annual observance of the United Nations' World
Environment Day and encourages conferences and churches to participate
in programs such as Environmental Sabbath;
- recommends that annual conferences establish annual awards to honor
prophetic defenders of God's creation from within their own
constituencies;
- affirms the importance of nurturing, community-building approaches
such as the Global Action Plan's Household Eco-Team Program designed to
foster resource efficient lifestyle practices;
- encourages a simplified and environmentally sound lifestyle
throughout the church and requests that Church agencies, conferences,
and congregations be stewards of God's creation by reducing levels of
consumption and participating in programs that reuse and recycle goods;
and
- encourages United Methodist institutions to perform energy audits,
improve energy efficiency, and pursue use of alternative clean energy
sources such as wind and solar power where available.
Adopted 2008