EARTHKEEPING NEWS A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY Volume Nine, Number Two January/February 2000 CHURCHES JOIN WITH ENVIRONMENTALISTS FOR ECO-JUSTICE Since 1997, the Washington Association of Churches (WAC), an association of 16 Catholic and Protestant judicatories in the Pacific Northwest, has collaborated with multi-faith, academic and environmental organizations to explore the connection of spirit and nature through joint educational projects, political advocacy and religious celebration. The WAC has identified an Ecumenical Environmental Contact for each of its judicatories, to promote ecology and social justice in the churches. Its Partnership for Religion and Environment (PRAE) has met with the Wilderness Society Governing Council to introduce faith-centered environmental programs. In 1995 WAC Bishops and Communion Executives issued a statement, The Earth is the Lord's, to parishes and congregations encouraging them to undertake personal actions and to help shape public policy to protect our environment and promote economic justice. In 1997 the Association recommitted itself to a 1987 Apology to the tribal councils and traditional spiritual leaders of the Indian and Eskimo peoples of the Pacific Northwest on behalf of the churches, for their long-standing participation in the destruction of traditional native American spiritual practices. In 1998 the Executive Minister, Rev. John Boonstra, testified against Senate Bill 1691 which would remove all Indian tribes' governmental immunity, undermining the integrity of both tribal and federal court systems. High on the WAC agenda in 1999 were the Jubilee 2000 events and WTO teach-ins, which it helped to organize. Information from Washington Association of Churches, 419 Occidental Ave. S., Seattle WA 98104-2886; 206/ 625-9790; <wac@thewac.org>. Shelley Means, Coordinator of Environmental and Racial Justice Program, <means@thewac.org> Home     Table of Contents