Supporting US church leaders in carrying out their divine responsibility to the Earth
Center for Earth Ethics
The US-based Center for Earth Ethics (CEE) is a non-profit Christian organisation working towards a world where value is measured by the sustained well-being of people and planet. Its work is carried out through four main programmes, centred on an understanding that systematic changes are needed in both policy and culture. The programmes are:
Eco-Ministry
Environmental Justice and Civic Engagement
Original Caretakers
Sustainability and Global Affairs
In April 2021, CEE, along with the secular Climate Reality Project, hosted an online programme of Climate Reality Leadership Corps Training. The training offered expert guidance on three topics: stopping fossil fuel expansion, accelerating climate solutions, and driving federal climate action in the US.
‘We have a divine responsibility and role in allowing the world to engage in the harmony originally envisioned by God' – Rev Darin Lamar Jones
In a Faith Plans webinar, Rev. Darin Lamar Jones, director of operations at CEE, said 'We should view the fight around climate change not as a way to avoid damnation, but as a way to live life fully.
'In Genesis Chapter II we have a snapshot of perfection, with God and man working in perfect harmony in the biodiversity of Eden. In Chapter III we see the destruction of intimacy between man and the earth.
'The reason we should involve ourselves in ethical action is because we have a divine responsibility and role in allowing the world to engage in the harmony originally envisioned by God.'
Bringing wisdom to explore the climate crisis
The CEE’s Eco-Ministry programme brings together the theological wisdom and expertise of faith leaders to offer classes, training and workshops that explore spiritual and moral aspects of the climate and ecological crisis. The programme creates a space for academics, faith leaders, communities and students to have open dialogue and share knowledge and experience of environmental issues relating to core beliefs and values.
By highlighting the importance of wisdom in training and teaching, such wisdom can be passed on the next generation of faith leaders, allowing solutions to be designed on centuries-old foundations that have, more often than not, inspired environmental change.