EARTHKEEPING NEWS A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY Volume Thirteen, Number Three May/June 2004 A SERVICE OF REPENTANCE AND RENEWAL TO STOP GLOBAL WARMING By Margaret Bullitt-Jonas Episcopal News Service Under threatening skies, nearly 300 worshipers from diverse faith traditions gathered Nov. 12 outside the United Nations in a service of repentance and renewal to stop global warming. Among them were two Episcopal Bishops, ten Episcopal priests and the Anglican Observer at the United Nations. The service marked the fifth anniversary of signing the Kyoto Protocol to address global warming. Congress never signed the treaty, which President Bush has rejected as too costly. "People of faith and conscience cannot remain silent while creation is pillaged. We in the United States, whose 4.5% of the world's population contributes 25% of global greenhouse emissions, bear a moral responsibility to heal the earth's wounds and build a sustainable economy." Asking the world's forgiveness for the United States' failure to address climate change, worship leaders pledged to mobilize faith communities to protect the environment. Traveling to the event, some participants literally "walked the walk" of reducing carbon emissions. Four Buddhist monks led a contingent of walkers all the way from Western Massachusetts. Others arrived in fuel-efficient hybrid cars or vans powered by biodiesel made from vegetable oil. "Every religious tradition forbids theft, but global warming steals from our own children and grandchildren," said the Rev. Fred Small, co-chair of Religious Witness for the Earth, which organized the service. Other speakers included Enele Sopoaga, ambassador to the UN from Tuvalu, a small Pacific island nation facing inundation by rising sea levels caused by global warming; Bishop Roy F. Cedarholm, Jr. from the diocese of Massachusetts; Bishop Catherine Roskam from the Diocese of New York; and Archdeacon Taimalelagi Fagamalama Tuatagaloa- Matalavea from Samoa. Home     Table of Contents