EARTHKEEPING NEWS A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY Volume Eight, Number Five July/August 1999 INTERRELIGIOUS SUSTAINABILITY CIRCLES BEGINNING by Stephen Perkins The Center for Neighborhood Technology is convening Interreligious Sustainability Circles in communities around Chicago. Circle members are committed to engaging their own religious congregations in sustainable development and environmental justice. The Circles understand sustainability broadly, as the simultaneous regeneration of our ecology, the reinvention of our economy, and the re-creation of community. They are particularly committed to addressing environmental and justice issues together. Our pilot Sustainability Circle is under way in Evanston. There are now 13 religious congregations involved. It has met five times and is in the midst of its planning process. One weekend in April, 80 Evanstonians cut European buckthorn and distributed native seeds in nearby forest preserves. Afterwards, at the Evanston Friends Meeting House, we reflected on the religious meaning of habitat restoration, and its relationship to justice issues. The emerging Circle in Hyde Park sponsored two events Earthday weekend: a beach cleanup and an Endangered Species Parade. New Circles in West Suburban Cook County and Oak Park have also organized habitat restoration sessions. Each circle goes through its own facilitated planning process which combines reflection and learning, and results in an action agenda. The action plan includes ways to make religious congregations models of sustainability. The process is open ended to foster the creativity of participants. This approach also reflects an appropriate modesty about what we really know about making the world sustainable. The project web site (www.cnt.org/interreligious) includes resources, meeting notices and minutes of Sustainability Circle meetings. More from Steve Perkins, Center for Neighborhood Technology, 2125 W. North Ave., Chicago IL 60647; 773/ 278-4800 ext.155; steve@cnt.org. Home     Table of Contents