"Many things have to change course, but it is we human beings above all who need to change. We lack an awareness of our common origin, of our mutual belonging, and of a future to be shared with everyone….
Yet all is not lost. Human beings, while capable of the worst, are also capable of rising above themselves, choosing again what is good, and making a new start, despite their mental and social conditioning.”
— Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home, Encyclical Letter of Pope Francis, 2015
Presbyterians believe that all people are beloved by God and deserving of a healthy, bright future. We want for our children to breathe clean air and drink clean water. We do not desire for lives and churches to be consistently disrupted by natural disasters caused by climate change. What Presbyterians in North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Florida, Texas, California, New Jersey, and Louisiana have experienced are helping us to realize that the time is now for bold action, and that we can all take steps in the right direction—becoming energy efficient, purchasing renewable energy, lowering our carbon footprint, and advocating for safe environmental policies at all levels of government.
— Statement by Presbyterian Church (USA) Stated Clerk
The Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II
October 17, 2018
Penfield's Faith Community
Penfield is blessed with many different faith communities: Baptist, Catholic, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Methodist, as well as a number of nondenominational Christian churches. The Korean UMC church and Rochester Chinese Christian Church bring ethnic diversity, while our just-over-the-Brighton-border neighbor, Temple Sinai, meets the spiritual needs of many Jewish neighbors. Many other residents attend temples, mosques and churches in adjoining communities.
Each of these faith traditions comes with rich teachings on the need to care for earth and actively work to preserve its resources for generations to come. Color Penfield Green works closely with Rochester Interfaith Climate Action (RAICA) to provide resources for faith communities to adhere to their own teachings by living more sustainably.
RAICA has helped places of worship “green” their facilities through
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energy-saving retrofits
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contracting for budget-saving community solar energy
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establishing composting programs and
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educating their members through programs such as Pachamama's Drawdown
Among the many resources on RAICA’s website, raica.net, you can find a sampling of faith-based environmental teachings and statements.
We invite Penfield residents to let us know what their religious community is doing to adapt to the urgency of climate change and care for the gift of the earth.
Email us at ColorPenfieldGreen@gmail.com.
"Resolved, That the 77th General Convention calls on congregations, institutions, dioceses, and the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of The Episcopal Church, to work for the just transformation of the world’s energy beyond and away from fossil fuels (including all forms
of oil, coal, and natural gas) and toward safe, sustainable, renewable,
community controlled energy, and that fossil fuel workers and their families be supported during the transition to a “post-carbon” society."
— General Convention, Journal of the 77th General Convention of The Episcopal Church, Indianapolis, July 12, 2012 (New York: General Convention, 2012), p. 324
“Yes, climate change is happening. While we debate the causes of climate change, people are dying from its effects. Do we “love our neighbor” only if it costs us little or nothing, agrees with our politics, is convenient, and doesn’t interrupt our lives? In her book Teaching a Stone to Talk, Annie Dillard challenges us regarding the power of God. She writes, “The waking God may draw us out to where we can never return.” This is a call to more fully understand the reality of loving our neighbors as ourselves. Living at this level brings new eyes—new understandings, new feelings, and yes—new and bold actions.”
— Evangelicals
Loving the Least of These: Addressing a Changing Environment by Dorothy Boorse with contributions by Leith Anderson, Thomas Ackerman, Chris Shore, Galen Carey, Ken Wilson and Jo Anne Lyon
A Conversation Piece from the National Association of Evangelicals (2011)
