Guest column: Evangelical clergy say addressing climate change is pro-life

Guest column: Evangelical clergy say addressing climate change is pro-life

Guest column: Evangelical clergy say addressing climate change is pro-life

Posted: October 13, 2014 - 11:18am

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For us, being pro-life includes not only defending our unborn children but also the biblical mandate to care for all life.

While the threats may be different, the injunction to protect life is the same.

We are called to protect this seamless garment of life.

Toxins and other pollutants foul our water, air and soil, impacting the purity of life God intends.

FLORIDA IS GROUND ZERO

Children are especially vulnerable to many of these pollutants because their small bodies are still developing.

A few years ago, pro-life evangelicals spoke out on the impact of mercury on the unborn.

One in six children in the U.S. was born with too high levels of mercury in their blood.

Because of the efforts of pro-life evangelicals, the United States is taking a leadership role in reducing the impact of mercury on the unborn.

Another important issue is water.

As a recent USA Today op-ed put it, if you care about life, pay attention to what’s happening with water.

We believe climate change to be a profound pro-life issue.

And Florida is ground zero when it comes to climate change.

Cities across the state are already spending millions in taxpayer dollars to install new sea level pumps, bolster sea walls and protect from salt water intrusion.

While it is good to respond to current challenges, it is even more cost effective to spend funds ahead of time to prepare for present changes in the climate, including extreme weather events.

Let’s upgrade Florida’s water pumps and building codes today before we have to clean up a bigger mess tomorrow.

WE MUST BE GOOD STEWARDS

Given the dollars already being spent and the scale of the cost, if you care about taxpayer money and limited government, you should care about climate change.

We are also concerned about worsening air pollution under climate change.

Duval County alone has almost 18,000 cases of pediatric asthma.

That number would be dramatically lower if we were better stewards of God’s world.

When we see the present impacts, our pro-life ethic kicks in.

Let’s empower individuals to take the lead when it comes to entrepreneurial business solutions that create a cleaner environment.

We need to see climate not as an issue about politics or partisanship but as a moral concern.

God has given us all the tools to be good stewards of God’s creation.

TIME FOR A REAL PLAN

It’s time for Florida to come together to come up with a plan to address climate change.

The church in Florida is already starting to take the lead.

As the church starts to take on climate change more directly, it’s also time for clean businesses to take the lead.

The cost of solar has plummeted, yet Florida is still well behind where it could be when it comes to clean energy.

We need to do what we can to transition away from expensive fossil fuels and toward cheaper and healthier technologies.

These actions should include putting together a plan to play Florida’s part in achieving the Clean Power Plan.

And finding conservative solutions to addressing carbon pollution.

Our poor stewardship of God’s world is a reflection of how seriously we take God’s teaching.

That’s why creation-care remains integral to being pro-life.

■ The Rev. Joel Hunter is senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed, Longwood, FL.

■ The Rev. Mitch Hescox is CEO of the Evangelical Environmental Network.

■ Alexei Laushkin is vice president of the Evangelical Environmental Network.

Evangelical Clergy Say Addressing Climate Change Is Pro-Life

While the threats may be different, the injunction to protect life is the same.

We are called to protect this seamless garment of life.

Toxins and other pollutants foul our water, air and soil, impacting the purity of life God intends.

FLORIDA IS GROUND ZERO

Children are especially vulnerable to many of these pollutants because their small bodies are still developing.

A few years ago, pro-life evangelicals spoke out on the impact of mercury on the unborn.

One in six children in the U.S. was born with too high levels of mercury in their blood.

Because of the efforts of pro-life evangelicals, the United States is taking a leadership role in reducing the impact of mercury on the unborn.

Another important issue is water.

As a recent USA Today op-ed put it, if you care about life, pay attention to what’s happening with water.

We believe climate change to be a profound pro-life issue.

And Florida is ground zero when it comes to climate change.

Cities across the state are already spending millions in taxpayer dollars to install new sea level pumps, bolster sea walls and protect from salt water intrusion.

While it is good to respond to current challenges, it is even more cost effective to spend funds ahead of time to prepare for present changes in the climate, including extreme weather events.

Let’s upgrade Florida’s water pumps and building codes today before we have to clean up a bigger mess tomorrow.

WE MUST BE GOOD STEWARDS

Given the dollars already being spent and the scale of the cost, if you care about taxpayer money and limited government, you should care about climate change.

We are also concerned about worsening air pollution under climate change.

Duval County alone has almost 18,000 cases of pediatric asthma.

That number would be dramatically lower if we were better stewards of God’s world.

When we see the present impacts, our pro-life ethic kicks in.

Let’s empower individuals to take the lead when it comes to entrepreneurial business solutions that create a cleaner environment.

We need to see climate not as an issue about politics or partisanship but as a moral concern.

God has given us all the tools to be good stewards of God’s creation.

TIME FOR A REAL PLAN

It’s time for Florida to come together to come up with a plan to address climate change.

The church in Florida is already starting to take the lead.

As the church starts to take on climate change more directly, it’s also time for clean businesses to take the lead.

The cost of solar has plummeted, yet Florida is still well behind where it could be when it comes to clean energy.

We need to do what we can to transition away from expensive fossil fuels and toward cheaper and healthier technologies.

These actions should include putting together a plan to play Florida’s part in achieving the Clean Power Plan.

And finding conservative solutions to addressing carbon pollution.

Our poor stewardship of God’s world is a reflection of how seriously we take God’s teaching.

That’s why creation-care remains integral to being pro-life.

■ The Rev. Joel Hunter is senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed, Longwood, FL.

■ The Rev. Mitch Hescox is CEO of the Evangelical Environmental Network.

■ Alexei Laushkin is vice president of the Evangelical Environmental Network.

'We Have Something In Common' -- Obama's Spiritual Adviser On Iran Trip

'We Have Something In Common' -- Obama's Spiritual Adviser On Iran Trip

Joel Hunter, a spiritual adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama, recently spent about a week discussing religious tolerance with officials in Iran, a country often singled out by rights groups for its intolerance toward its religious minorities.

Hunter, a senior pastor of Northland Church in Florida who led a delegation of U.S. religious leaders to the Islamic republic, says he was invited by Iranian religious leaders and scholars to attend a conference.

The conference titled "World Free of Violence and Extremism from the Perspective of Abrahamic Religions" was held in Tehran on May 25.

Hunter, who describes himself as someone who helps Obama get closer to God, says he will brief the U.S. President on his trip, which included a visit to the holy city of Qom.

Hunter's visit to Iran is likely to be castigated by hard-liners in the country as well as critics in the United States who oppose engagement efforts with an Islamic establishment that has been accused of serious human rights abuses.

A conservative Iranian website questioned the trip on June 2 and asked authorities whether it had been coordinated with the country's security and intelligence bodies.

"Is this trip part of the project to make 'America look good' by the pro-Western faction to send positive impulses to U.S. officials?" Jahannews.com asked.

Despite the criticism, Hunter says the trip was worth it.

"That's part of how we make progress, is that those of us who know we're going to be blamed by some of the hard-liners, for even having these conversations," he said. "We believe it's worth the risk because we're not going to make progress as countries or even as religious communities for not talking to one another."

Path To Peace

Hunter said he met with Iran's parliament speaker, advisers to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, officials of Iran's academy of science, Christian and Jewish leaders, and Grand Ayatollahs in Qom.

He added that religious extremism and violence as well as a faith-based path to peace were among the main topics he discussed with Iranian officials.

Asked whether he raised the issue of Iranian state pressure on religious minorities, including Christian converts, Hunter said those subjects were discussed in "sidebar conversations".

In his latest report, Ahmed Shaheed, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran, noted that religious minorities in the Islamic republic, including Baha'is and Christians, face violations entrenched in law and practice. Sufis are reportedly also coming under increasing pressure by the Iranian establishment and hard-line clerics who describe the Sufi interpretation of Islam as deviant.

"We didn't go over there to confront people on certain issues," said Hunter. "But...we have built enough of a relationship to address those specific conversations and we talked through those together, and what steps we could do to build a better environment."

Pastor Hunter also said that he was aware that his trip could be used for propaganda purposes by Iranian officials who often claim that all the country's citizens enjoy the same rights.

"Everybody will use our trip for propaganda purposes," he said. "It's the nature of the beast, that's what politics is."

Decreasing Tensions

Hunter said he believes religious leaders can play a role in decreasing tensions between the United States and Iran.

Washington broke its diplomatic ties with Iran following the 1979 revolution and the hostage-taking of U.S. diplomats in Tehran. In the past 35 years, the two countries have been at odds over a number of issues, including Iran's support for terrorism and its controversial nuclear program.

In recent weeks, Iran and the United States, as well as other world powers, have been engaged in talks aimed at finding a lasting solution to the crisis over Iran's sensitive nuclear work.

According to Hunter, certain areas, including religious violence and persecution, can only be solved through dialogue among religious leaders.

"We believe that we have something in common and out of the commonality of our religious communities, we can build the kind of relationship and trust that politics simply can't," he said. "Only through religious leadership or the exchange of religious leaders, we believe peace is going to be successfully built between our two countries."

In an email to RFE/RL, a State Department official said that the United States is aware of independent initiatives by various U.S. religious figures to foster interfaith dialogue with Iranian religious scholars.

"We commend such efforts to promote interfaith tolerance and religious freedom, a foreign policy priority for the Department," the official said.

The official added that Washington was also aware that a small delegation of U.S. Catholics visited Iran in March, entirely independent of the U.S. government.

SOURCE: http://www.payvand.com/news/14/jun/1045.html

Christians and Climate Change

Dr. Joel C. Hunter talks about the visible impacts of climate change with Dr. Scott C. Hagen, director of CHAMPS Lab and professor at the University of Central Florida, and Rev. Mitch Hescox, president of The Evangelical Environmental Network.

Evangelicals in Florida turn to climate change and call on Gov. Scott to act

Evangelicals in Florida turn to climate change and call on Gov. Scott to act

Evangelicals in Florida turn to climate change and call on Gov. Scott to act

Evangelical leaders in Florida have taken on climate change as a cause and are trying to increase pressure on Gov. Rick Scott to take action, while criticizing Sen. Marco Rubio’s stance on the issue.

“He’s smarter than that,” Joel Hunter, pastor of Northland church in Longwood, said in an interview.

This evening, Hunter will moderate a discussion at his church on why Christians should care about climate change. Among the panelists is the Rev. Mich Hescox, president of the Evangelical Environmental Network, who wrote a letter to Rubio about his widely publicized comments doubting man’s contribution to climate change.

Hescox is also gathering signatures for a petition aimed at Scott.

“As Christians, we believe that God's grace empowers us to honestly confront the challenges we face and change for the better,” it reads. “We are failing to keep our air and water clean for our children, contributing to a changing climate that most hurts the world's poor, and putting Floridians at risk as temperatures and sea levels continue to rise. To meet these challenges, we need leaders who understand our duty to God’s creation and future generations. That's why we are calling on Gov. Rick Scott to create a plan to reduce carbon pollution and confront the impacts of a changing climate.”

Hunter, who is a spiritual advisor to President Obama, says he’s taken to urging congregants to do their part: Turning off lights that aren’t needed, setting air conditioning at a reasonable temperature, keeping car tires properly inflated.

He said he was neither panicked nor preoccupied with the issue. “But this is part of what I think is the moral responsibility of the church to lead in areas that can benefit and protect people.”

Asked about Rubio’s comments, he said: “There are certain aspects of this where qualified scientists could disagree, but not with the overwhelming conclusion. I don’t doubt his sincerity, but I understand his political constituency and so does he.”

Rubio lashed out at liberal critics by saying they won’t accept the settled science that life begins at conception.

“I”m pro life so everything about it, I’m in,” Hunter said. “But even if that’s true, two wrongs don’t make a right. It’s not like you can prove the validity of your stance by saying the other side has a wrong stand. That’s not logical.”

SOURCE: http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/evangelicals-in-florida-turn-to-climate-change-and-call-on-gov-scott-to-act/2180561

Joel Hunter launches multi-faith effort on climate change

Joel Hunter launches multi-faith effort on climate change

Pastor Joel Hunter announced Wednesday that he is launching an inter-faith initiative to raise awareness and action regarding climate change.

The iniative, called Blessed Tomorrow, brings together Muslim, Jewish, Catholic and Protestant faith leaders who have pledged to work with their congregations and communities in response to climate change.

“Faith leaders and their communities have been at the forefront of moving America forward throughout our nation’s history. From abolition to human rights, we have been there to answer our call to care for all of God’s creation. Blessed Tomorrow builds on that tradition by bringing together a diverse group of leaders from across the country who are committed to making an impact on one of the greatest moral imperatives of our time — climate change,” said Hunter, senior pastor of Northland, a Church Distributed in Longwood.

Blessed Tomorrow expands Hunter's advocacy among evangelicals that care of the planet is founded in the Scriptures, and not the exclusive domain of liberals and environmentalists.

Blessed Tomorrow provides simple, proven resources faith leaders can use to empower their members and communities. Congregations are urged to create a Path to Positive plan, which will guide them to be better stewards of God’s creation for the sake of future generations.

Learn more about how people of faith and congregations can create their own Path to Positive:(http://blessedtomorrow.org/path-to-positive)

SOURCE: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/blogs/religion-world/os-joel-hunter-launches-multifaith-effort-on-climate-change-20140507,0,5793860.post

Evangelicals At The Crossroads

The Jewish Week

Evangelicals At The Crossroads A younger generation is pushing a more nuanced analysis of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; should Jews be worried? 2/19/14, THE JEWISH WEEK, by Jonathan Mark, Associate Editor

Last December, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sent Christmas greetings recalling the ancient birth of a holy child, a Palestinian child: Jesus, the “Palestinian messenger” of hope. Some in the West surely thought Abbas’ words as meaningless as a popular Arab song referring to Tel Aviv as a Palestinian city, or claims that a Jewish Temple was never on the Temple Mount. But in the little town of Bethlehem, the Bethlehem Bible College, an Evangelical institution, is preparing for “Christ at the Checkpoint,” a four-day conference that begins on March 10.

The conference will address, says its website, “the injustices in the Palestinian territories.” The previous conference, in 2012, issued a “manifesto” that turned Evangelical support for Israel on its head: “Any exclusive claim to land of the Bible in the name of God is not in line with the teaching of Scripture,” it read. The statement continued, “[The] suffering of the Palestinian people can no longer be ignored,” and “Christians must understand the global context for the rise of extremist Islam.”

For those asking, “What would Jesus do?” the answer, according to the conference website, is that Jesus would be alongside the “oppressed” Palestinians at Israeli checkpoints, and that’s where Evangelical support should be, as well.

This is not just the talk in Bethlehem. A December 2011 article in Relevant, a Florida-based magazine aimed at young American Evangelicals, gave a similar twist to the Gospel: There’d be no Three Wise Men if you “place an eight-meter-high wall between the Magi and Baby Jesus. … He’d be without citizenship. …

Considered to be a security threat from birth, he’d receive his green Palestinian ID at the age of 16. ... He would be prohibited from crossing the wall into Jerusalem only 15 minutes away.”

And yet the lineup for the “Checkpoint” in March is attracting some of the most influential Evangelicals in the West: William Wilson, president of Oral Roberts University; Geoff Tunnicliffe, secretary-general of the World Evangelical Alliance; and Joseph Cumming of Yale University’s Center for Faith and Culture. What happened to all that unquestioning Evangelical Zionism we thought we knew so much about? With the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement gathering steam, it’s a question that takes on added urgency as Israel becomes increasingly isolated on the world stage.

Evangelical Zionism, the political and spiritual heart of U.S. support for Israel, may have peaked, with an internal schism threatening to erode Israel’s most important foreign alliance, observers are beginning to say. Though Christian Zionists are still the dominant majority among America’s 50 million Evangelicals, a new wave of Evangelicals, the “millennials,” more interested in “social justice” than geopolitics. And they are advocating an “even-handed” approach to the Israel-Palestinian problem, with some more sympathetic to the Palestinians.

David Brog, executive director of Christians United For Israel (CUFI), an Evangelical Zionist group known for being enthusiastically supportive of Israel, told The Jewish Week that he sensed the left’s growing strength. “The last three or four years I’ve started to get that sinking feeling, they were making inroads …. influencing Evangelicals well beyond the extreme left. ... They are finding an interested audience" among the young. The “anti-Israel" message, said Brog, “is resonating. This generation is in play.” (CUFI, chaired by Pastor John Hagee, has ruffled some feathers in parts of the Jewish community for at times staking out positions to the right of Israeli and U.S. policy regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.)

Jews, said Robert W. Nicholson, an Evangelical writer, should know that what drives traditional Christian Zionism is not messianism or conversion but Scripture, “belief in the truth of God’s eternal covenant” with Israel; that God will “bless those who bless” Israel and “curse those who curse.”

However, younger Evangelicals are reportedly less “text-oriented” than their elders, so Israel — whose Evangelical support is driven by biblical text, with past and future promises — is at a disadvantage when juxtaposed with the Palestinian claims for social justice in the here and now.

In Mosaic, the Tikvah Fund’s online journal of Jewish ideas, Nicholson warns that some at the “Checkpoint” conference may express a concern for “peace, justice, and reconciliation.” But what this actually translates to, he says, “is unceasing criticism of perceived Israeli injustice, racism and occupation, peppered with special disdain for Evangelical Zionists who allegedly exacerbate the conflict” by supporting Israel.

The 2010 inaugural “Checkpoint” conference (held every two years) featured Palestinian Rev. Naim Ateek, who once sent out the Easter message, “Jesus is on the cross again with thousands of crucified Palestinians around him. ... The Israeli government crucifixion system is operating daily. Palestine has become the place of the skull.”

Rev. Joel Hunter is among the more centrist leaders in the “Checkpoint” camp. Pastor of an Evangelical megachurch called Northland, with 20,000 congregants at several locations in and around Orlando, Fla., he serves on the board of the World Evangelical Alliance (representing 600 million) and the National Association of Evangelicals (representing 30 million). Indicative of those Evangelicals who don’t want to be considered interchangeable with Republicans, he is the author of “A New Kind of Conservative,” advocating a nonpartisan approach.

A speaker at the 2012 “Checkpoint,” Rev. Hunter told The Jewish Week, “I’m well aware and regret the insecurities that this conference has brought about, some of it justifiable because of some of the participants, and we all get that. But the point of the conference is to identify and hear from Arab Christians. While I was there [at the last conference] I spoke to many people and did not hear one word about Israel as an enemy.” (Ateek didn’t speak at the 2012 conference.)

Everyone agrees, said Rev. Hunter, about the need for “the security and ongoing prosperity of Israel, which is our very good friend and important to our scriptures. But there has been a long theological strand that has been predominant in the loudest voice of the Evangelical movement, identifying the modern-day State of Israel with the [prophecies of the] Hebrew Scriptures. … Anything that would present a more balanced, more compassionate view for all those living in the land, and telling all of their stories was seen as a threat, as a heresy. As we learn more and more about the complications of the peace process, and of the legitimate and significant sufferings of those who have been limited for the sake of security, we want to include them. It doesn’t at all diminish our loyalty to Israel, but it does help us see the other side of the story.”

However, after the 2012 conference defended by Rev. Hunter, the Evangelical magazine Charisma magazine had its doubts, and headlined: “Did Christ at the Checkpoint Conference Undermine Israel?”

The home page for next month’s “Checkpoint” features a graphic depicting Israel’s security wall as a high, dark and foreboding prison wall. Dwarfed by the wall, a Palestinian is planting an olive tree, symbol of peace.

Lee Smith, a senior editor at The Weekly Standard, feared the negativity. He warned in Tablet, “If the ‘Christ at the Checkpoint’ camp wins out, the pro-Israel Jewish community that once looked warily upon evangelical support may come to regard that movement with nostalgia.”

And “bitter regret,” adds Nicholson; regret for the way Jews have been dismissive of Evangelical Zionists. “Christian Zionism cannot be taken for granted.”

Other than Orthodox Jews, American Evangelicals are still the leading supporters of Israel. A 2013 Pew survey found that 82 percent of Evangelicals believe that Israel was given to the Jewish people by God, but 18 percent are no longer certain; 42 percent of Evangelicals now believe that Israel and a Palestinian state can coexist peacefully; a minority opinion but a substantial one.

♦

Among the advocacy groups linked to the new Evangelicals is the Telos Group, founded in 2009 by Todd Deatherage and Gregory Khalil. Deatherage, an Evangelical Republican, worked as chief of staff for Sen. Tim Hutchinson (R-Ark.) and later for the George W. Bush state department; Khalil, a Christian Palestinian, is, according to the Telos website, a “longtime Democrat and a former adviser to Palestinian leaders on peace negotiations.”

Telos, on its website, states that peace would be more likely if Evangelicals were to “pursue the common good for everyone in the Holy Land,” Palestinians as well as Israelis.

Telos’ Deatherage told The Jewish Week, “People try to put us — and the whole situation — in a box, that you can’t be pro-Israel if you’re pro-Palestinian. I do think there can be another way that could encourage a positive difference, as long as it doesn’t devolve into a zero-sum approach. I see that as a dead end — for both peoples.”

Trips to Israel, sponsored by Evangelicals on both sides of the divide, underline the different narratives that have taken hold. The Evangelical Zionists, for example, promote the idea that the Israeli Christian population is the only one in the Middle East that is growing, whereas the Christian population in the Islamic-dominated Gaza and West Bank is shrinking.

On the other end, one of the “new Evangelicals,” who asked not to be named, told The Jewish Week, “I have met with a lot of Palestinian Christians through the years and I have never met a Palestinian Christian who said, ‘My family left here because of Muslim pressure or persecution. Never once. I’ve heard many of them say, ‘We left because it’s too hard to live here. I can’t get from here to there without going through checkpoints. I don’t have educational or economic opportunities. We only have water once a week in our home. That is the reason that Palestinian Christians have stated to me why they’ve left. Christians are not fleeing Bethlehem because of Muslim persecution.”

Yes, polls show that the Evangelicals, as a whole, are still very pro-Israel, but CUFI’s Brog warns, “I’m worried that what we’re seeing could translate, in a generation, to a real shift in the community.”

SOURCE: http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/national/evangelicals-crossroads

Orlando Sentinel: Interfaith prayer service honors Joel Hunter

Interfaith prayer service honors Joel Hunter

One by one, members of different faiths and beliefs stepped forward Tuesday night to light candles in remembrance of loved ones they had lost.

In the procession of Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus and Buddhists, Northland Church Pastor Joel Hunter and his wife Becky lit a candle for their son, Isaac Hunter.

In the end, some 70 candles flickered in a small sanctuary of the St. James Catholic Cathedral in downtown Orlando during the hour-long Interfaith Prayer Service for Peace.

"Many of us faced losses this past year or unresolved losses," said Rev. Bryan Fulwider, a Congregational minister. "We are strengthened, we are healed, by standing together, walking together, being together."

Leaders of the major religions as well as representatives of the Sikh, Unitarian and Baha'i faiths, also said prayers.

The service was both an act of empathy for all who lost friends and relatives and a public show of support for Hunter, whose son died by suicide in December.

"This is a service designed to bring comfort to all that have had losses, but it's also a collective embrace of him and his family for their loss of Isaac," said Pastor James Coffin, executive director of the Interfaith Council of Central Florida.

Coffin said the idea of focusing on personal peace following a private tragedy came from Orlando Catholic Diocese Bishop John Noonan, who started the annual interfaith prayer service about three years ago.

Hunter is widely respected within the faith community for his commitment to building relationships with leaders of different religions.

One of his longest friendships is with Imam Muhammad Musri, president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida.

"He is an evangelical leader who got a lot of flak for going out and meeting with Muslims and other communities," said Musri, who sat beside Hunter.

"The least we can do is be with him and lift up his spirit."

That willingness to join in with other religions might have cost Hunter friends among evangelicals, but his commitment to interfaith cooperation is the natural extension of his Christian faith, said Fulwider, president of Building US, a nonprofit diversity consulting and training organization.

"He has become a friend to those in other faith communities because this is who Jesus calls him to be," Fulwider said.

"He is not a person who cuts off relations because you have a difference of understanding or belief or thoughts. To me that is the heart of the Christian gospel."

jkunerth@tribune.com or 407-420-5392.

SOURCE: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2014-01-14/news/os-joel-hunter-peace-prayer-20140114_1_isaac-hunter-joel-hunter-interfaith-council

Northland Film Builds Bridge Between Evangelicals and Environmentalists

SOURCE: Jeff Kunerth, Orlando Sentinel It's not easy turning an evangelical into an environmentalist.

But a new documentary from Northland, A Church Distributed aims to do just that by focusing on Scripture instead of science, faith instead of logic.

In "Our Father's World," Northland pastor Joel Hunter makes the argument to conservative Christians that saving energy, recycling waste and reducing your carbon footprint are all based on Scripture.

"The Bible provides a direct mandate to be caretakers of the garden," Hunter says in the documentary. "While creation still belongs to God, he has graciously entrusted it to our care and stewardship."

But the film also points out that evangelical Christians have abdicated the care of God's creation to the New Age and secular environmentalists. To become an evangelical environmentalist is to be associated with the tree-huggers, pagan nature worshippers and liberals.

"What has happened is the environmental movement has been generally championed by the liberal wing of the church, which appeals to logic and science," said Tony Campolo, a Pennsylvanian pastor who appears in the Northland film. "They make their case brilliantly, but they don't understand that evangelicals will not take seriously any case that is not based on the Bible."

In advocating for Bible-based environmentalism, Hunter gets pushback from both sides.

"We get shut out of the conversation with scientists because of our faith, but we also get a lot of flak from the fearful people in the religious community who think environmentalism is something pagan," Hunter said. "This is right where we want to be. If you aren't getting it from both sides, there's no need for a bridge."

Building a bridge of common ground between the faith and secular communities is starting to work, said the Rev. Andy Bell, executive director of Sunshine State Interfaith Power and Light, a St. Petersburg faith-based environmental group created in 2010.

"The secular environmentalists say, 'Welcome, we've been waiting for you guys,' '' said Bell, a United Methodist minister whose group includes Northland and 14 other Central Florida religious organizations.

It's a natural alliance because most people who care about saving the earth are spiritual, if not religious, said Frank Jackalone, senior organizing manager for the Sierra Club in St. Petersburg. The love of nature and the determination to prevent its destruction speak to the soul of mankind, he said.

"Most environmentalists see the protection of the planet as a spiritual expression no matter what their faith," Jackalone said.

What the evangelicals bring to the movement is more than just a spiritual love of nature, said Sister Patricia Siemen, a nun and environmental activist. It's a moral and ethical argument that comes with a religious conviction.

"Evangelical Christians bring a lot of passion and moral force to climate change," said Siemen, director of the Center for Earth Jurisprudence at Barry University School of Law in Orlando. "I think their leadership is very important. I hope they can go shoulder to shoulder with other environmentalists, whether spiritual or not."

In the documentary, Hunter makes the point that protecting the environment and saving Earth from destruction do not belong to one group or faith. He states that every major religion has tenets for taking care of Earth and all its living things.

"One of the things I love about living in this age is God is giving us problems so big no one faith community can really solve them," he said. "Therefore, we need to work together and we need to find common ground both with believers of other religions and with those who believe in no religion."

If faith leaders such as Hunter can marshal the legions of evangelicals to join the environmental movement, it could have a profound impact on climate change, Bell said.

"The game changer for climate change will be people of faith," he said. "The secular environmentalists were ahead of us because we dropped the ball. We let things get out of hand without raising the moral questions related to our ability to care for the Earth."

"Our Father's World" is available to view and download for free at ourfathersworldfilm.com.

jkunerth@tribune.com or 407-420-5392

What they believe

Evangelical environmentalists believe:

They will be held accountable by God if they harm or destroy the environment.

They are obligated by Scripture to be good stewards of Earth.

They are called by God to sacrifice, and conservation requires sacrifice.

They have a moral, ethical and religious responsibility to protect Earth.

Mankind does not own Earth, which belongs to God.

Sources: Our Father's World, Sentinel research

Copyright © 2013, Orlando Sentinel

Fox News Radio Interview With Alan Colmes

Check this out on Chirbit

Pastor Joel talks with Alan Colmes about the new creation care documentary, Our Father's World (www.ourfathersworldfilm.com).

Joel Hunter's 'Our Father's World' Documentary: Christians Must Stop Neglecting Environment

Our Father's World from Northland Church on Vimeo.

Dr. Joel C. Hunter, senior pastor of the 15,000-member Northland church in Florida, has released a new documentary titled "Our Father's World," where he reminds Christians that God made people stewards, not owners of the planet, and that environmental issues are Christian issues.

"Scientific evidence now is very much backing up the Scriptural mandate that we need to take care of this Earth. All of the credible scientific organizations of the world are showing the degree to which the environment is being harmed by our pollution, by the disobedience to the first commandment that He (God) gave us," Hunter says.

The 26-minute long documentary is available for viewing and download free online, and includes interviews with leading evangelical scholars, including Bill and Lynne Hybels, Tony Campolo, James Merritt and Mark Liederbach.

One of the main points made in the film is that many Christians seem turned off by the environmental movement because they believe it has been hijacked by political ideals.

"Many Christians still see environmental stewardship as a political issue, rather than seeing it as a biblical issue. Scripture clearly teaches us to be good stewards of our finances, time, talents and relationships, and the church is beginning to realize there is another form of stewardship that we have neglected to embrace," says Raymond Randall, leader of Northland's Creation Care Team.

Caring for the planet is one of the very first commandments God gave to man, Pastor Hunter reminds viewers.

"This was our first calling, recorded early on in Genesis 1 and 2, and we remain God's caretakers over all creation today," Hunter explains.

The documentary reminds viewers that the Earth, its creatures and its resources do not belong to people – they belong to God, and humans are called to be stewards of creation and to protect it, not exploit it and destroy it.

"I don't know why this issue is so complicated from a biblical standpoint. Those of us who are Christians believe that God created the Earth. We don't believe that the Bible is a book of science, it doesn't exactly tell us how He created it but certainly throughout the Bible, we read of God's relationship with creation, that he was that life force that brought it all into being in the beginning, that He said it was good," says Hybels, co-founder of Ten for Congo, an advocate group spreading awareness about the hardships people face in Congo.

"He called us to have dominion, to rule, to subdue it, to till it, to work it, and a lot of people have taken that to mean that we can dominate and rule in a harsh way."

Despite God's clear message to believers, many people today have chosen to ignore or dismiss that calling, the film says, which has led to huge environmental problems, including deforestation, the destruction of habitats and the extinction and endangerment of many species.

Bob Giguere, the Emmy and Telly award-winning director of "Our Father's World," insists that environmental issues are not a concern only for the secular world, a message that the film drives forward hard.

"I know many Christians who commonly mistake environmental responsibility as a task for the secular world," Giguere says. "Upon seeing this film, it should be obvious that the Christian walk can be a very green path."

Apathy toward the environment does not simply impact wildlife and nature; poor communities around the world are hit hard when they lose access to natural resources that they greatly depend on to survive.

"A growing number of evangelical Christians worldwide are uniting in their belief that environmentalism is not merely a moral obligation. It's a matter of justice for the poor and for the generations to come," Giguere stresses.

In "Our Father's World," Hunter calls on Christians and people of all faiths and backgrounds to unite and take meaningful steps to truly become stewards of the planet.

"God has given us problems so big, that not one faith community can solve on its own. Therefore, we need to work together, and we need to find common ground, both with believers of other religions and with those who believe in no religion," the Northland pastor urges.

"Biblical justice is social justice, and it calls for interfaith cooperation."

"Our Father's World" is "ideally suited for presentation at churches and study groups," a press release noted.

Source URL : http://www.christianpost.com/news/joel-hunters-our-fathers-world-documentary-christians-must-stop-neglecting-environment-92403/