THE EARTHKEEPING
MINISTRIES CONGRESS
THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY

September 13-15, 1996
Summary Report

 

ALTERNATIVE ECONOMICS

How can churches model sustainable economics on behalf of a healthy planet? How do we move from consumer-church to eco-church? How can churches support the transformation of work and restore work's meaning?

Resource Persons

Josephina Reyes is team coordinator for the housing and community environmental protection teams of Project Vida, a comprehensive border ministry of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and Presbyterian Church USA in El Paso, Texas.

Susan Witt is Executive Director of the E.F. Schumacher Society, Great Barrington, Massachusetts, founder of the Self-Help Association for a Regional Economy (SHARE), and administrator of the Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires.

Robert Swann, President of the E.F.Schumacher Society, Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and a former director of the Institute for Community Economics, is also known as the "father of the Community Land Trust movement."

"Land must not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; and to me you are only aliens and tenants." (Leviticus 25:23)

"Brother helped by brother is a fortress." (Proverbs 18:19)

"No man can serve God and mammon." (Luke 16:13)

"Strive first for the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33)

"We abuse the land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect." (Aldo Leopold)

"There is a difference between property and trusteeship. Land is not for sale." (Robert Swann)

"The stories that you have about the items in your home begin to build a cultural relation with the area. Money should be a record of our deeds for each other." (Susan Witt)

"In Project Vida we pay volunteers with service unit coupons.They can use these to pay for things like child care classes, GED and English classes. They can earn other coupons for food at the co-op by attending health education presentations in homes." (Josefina Reyes)

Current Trends

In the midst of the globalization of economic institutions with ever increasing concentration of power, there is growing anger, and a fear of the commercial domination of governments. At the same time, consciousness of our global interconnectedness and a better understanding of local community development has given rise to hundreds of experiments and creative alternatives, enabling people to become less dependent on an economic system which is rapidly widening the gap between the rich and the poor, between humans and the rest of creation.

Our Vision

Jesus calls us to a radical relationship with God which transforms our relationship to land and to money. By the year 2000 our dream is that local churches will be transforming our cultural perspectives by practicing holistic, simpler life styles; by teaching life fulfilling values of work in service to the whole earth community; and by holding land as a trust, not as possession. Churches will use the assets of local communities to generate meaningful and life giving work. They will cooperate with businesses to develop ecologically responsible alternatives that can sustain community. They will be in the vanguard to promote a viable local economy as part of an interconnected global village system.

Challenges

Major obstacles in the way of promoting alternative economics include our personal resistance to change on behalf of the planet and our vested interest in the status quo, based on a world view of "unlimited growth." We have no sense of urgency to change the system. We do not understand what real security involves. In our individualism, with illusions of independence, we lack experience of being community. With our conflicting views on what the struggle to survive means, we do not perceive or grasp eco-friendly alternatives to a destructive global economy.

Strategies

To address these challenges we encourage churches to:

  1. Learn from other cultures, contacting developing communities and participating in international work camps.
  2. Be social pioneers and entrepreneurs, creating institutions that give meaning to work, and make money a record of community interaction.
  3. Move towards ecological integrity and unhook themselves from the consumer culture through projects such as:
    • educational workshops on economics and ethics
    • participation in community gardens, congregational supported agriculture, community land trusts, co-housing affordable family housing
    • local exchange and trading schemes
    • pooling of resources to promote an eco-friendly humane neighborhood.

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