Something very encouraging is happening at my church, the United Methodist Church of Northfield, Minnesota. A group of us have formed a church “Green Team” to focus on Christian stewardship of creation.

Another label we might have chosen for the group is “Creation Care Team.” In some ways I like that better, since it connects us more to our Christian roots. For some, the word “green” has negative political connotations.

We had mentioned forming a group such as this for a while, but then rather suddenly a few weeks ago, following an adult education forum on energy usage, we decided to meet informally during and/or following the church’s Wednesday night dinners. Many of us were already attending these dinners, and child care is provided, so the setting seemed to be a natural one. Thus we began to talk about environmental issues each week.

Last Sunday, the team made a group presentation at the Sunday education forum, each taking a few minutes to address a specific topic. One person made an impressive, well-substantiated presentation on “peak oil” - the concept that a peak in oil production has been or will soon be reached. Another, an engineer, spoke on his long-standing connection to energy research, including work on solar power and innovative window designs. He said the obstacles to making significant strides in energy conservation are political rather than technological or economic. Another engineer spoke of his work on our city’s energy task force and his use of a device to monitor real-time electricity usage in his home.

My wife and I spoke about an excellent book we’ve been reading: Ignition: What You Can Do to Fight Global Warming and Spark a Movement. My wife addressed a chapter on how our faith can guide our views on the environment, while I focused on another that concerns how we can frame discussion of global warming and move people from inaction to action. The latter involves moving from a focus on scientific certainty to an acceptance of uncertainty. The chapter uses the analogy that if we can take action based on imperfect predictions of a hurricane or tornado heading toward us, we can also take action based on the imperfect predictions of climate change. If we would heed the warnings of 3 out of 4 meteorologists who tell us a hurricane is likely to hit our town, why would we not heed the warnings of the 99 out of 100 climate scientists who tell us that carbon emissions are changing our climate? And if we can prepare for a hurricane, we can prepare for climate change - and we can begin to think about prevention.

The entire presentation was energizing, and it felt like a watershed moment for our little corner of the world. I was encouraged to think, what might come of this group?

The group is still in its early stages and is casting about for a way to take action and inspire others. Some opportunities are beginning to emerge. For one, our church, at my urging, recently had an energy audit done by our utility, Xcel Energy. The audit covered both the 29,000-square-foot church building and the parsonage next door. The chair of our board of trustees gave me a summary of possible actions to take, and I was immediately encouraged. It listed ten clear actions that could be taken. If action was taken on all ten, the church would save $3,000-$4,000 from its $25,000 annual energy bill and eliminate a big chunk of its carbon emissions.

And now another opportunity for action has come up: the church’s high school education director has asked us to speak to the high school classes this month.

I could go into other ideas I have for action - from lobbying politicians to dialogue with our own church members - but suffice it to say, I’m more optimistic about the future now than I was before our Green Team was formed. Now we move forward, with humility and yet with passion, seeking to serve others and staying alert to God’s guidance.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 9th, 2008 at 3:12 pm and is filed under Autobiography, Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Ecology, Minnesota, Religion.