Presbyterians
For Restoring Creation (PRC)
15 Cisco Rd, Asheville, NC 28805
Coordinator Julie Lehman (828) 713-5767
Environmental Ministries
Katie Holmes, Louisville
Presbyterians For Restoring Creation
Foundational Statements
PRC is a member-based, grassroots, 501c3 non-profit organization operating
primarily in the Presbyterian Church (USA) but also in ecumenical circles.
Below are statements passed by the Steering Committee of PRC.
PRC MISSION STATEMENT (2005)
Presbyterians for Restoring Creation (PRC) is a nationwide network
that cares
for God’s Creation by:
Connecting with God and others through biblical and theological reflection, study,
and experiencing God in Creation;
Equipping members with news and effective tools and resources;
Inspiring members through conferences on timely eco-justice issues and Creation-honoring
worship.
1997 STATEMENT
We live in a time of wide-spread catastrophic destruction of the natural world
and human communities. Our faith compels us to respond. Empowered by our rich
biblical and theological heritage:
We trust that God -- who created heaven and earth and pronounced it good -- calls
us to sacrificial, loving, and joyful participation in caring for the fullness
of that creation.
We trust that Christ -- whose incarnation reveals God's love and compassion,
who suffered death that we might have life -- calls us to carry on the holy work
of transforming brokenness into wholeness.
We trust that the Spirit -- whose presence in trial and rejoicing moves us into
deeper awareness of God's reign -- calls us to witness boldly as servants and
prophets to our age.
There is great urgency to the work before us. Our hope rests fully in the One
who continues to create, redeem, and sustain us all. May we be faithful to the
call.
1995 STATEMENT
PREAMBLE:
In 1990, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) adopted
the report "Restoring Creation for Ecology and Justice," which
called Presbyterians to recognize the urgent need for addressing
the environmental justice crisis that we face, and to adopt Restoring
Creation
as a new priority
of mission
of the church. Presbyterians for Restoring Creation is a national
organization formed to help Presbyterians and their congregations respond
to that
call.
We believe that God loves all creation, and that the covenant given by God is
for all creatures and their descendants. We believe that we are called to repentance
for our irresponsibility in tilling the earth without sustaining the earth, for
our destruction of the beauties and bounties of God's creation, and for our failure
to recognize that justice and love belong to all beings, that injustice toward
one is linked to injustice toward another (Romans 8:19-23).
We believe that we are living in a kairos time—a time of great opportunity
and a time of great need—and that we can respond with hope
and rejoicing to the challenge before us, to help ourselves and humanity
make necessary
lifestyle and attitude changes that promote earthkeeping, justice,
and community. We
believe that we must begin to practice radical discipleship to follow
Christ without
compromise in the struggle before us and that we can do that best
with
fellowship and support for one another.
We accept, in our work for ecology and justice, the ethical norms
of equity, sustainability, frugality and community. "Equity" means justice in
the sharing of the world's resources; "sustainability" means living
within the bounds of the regenerative, absorptive, and carrying capacity of the
creation. "Frugality" means thrift and moderation, so that all may
participate in sufficiency, "community" means enjoyment
and fulfillment through loving, mutual supportive relationships,
and dedication
to the
common good.
MISSION: Our mission is to gather a grassroots fellowship of Presbyterians to
seek support and implementation of Restoring Creation through all agencies of
ministry within the church; to foster networks of Presbyterians from all walks
of life to learn from Holy Scripture and life experiences in order to share gifts
and skills for restoring and preserving creation for future generations; to cooperate
with others who are actively involved in living lightly on the earth through
ecumenical, national and community organizations, and in all, to be faithful
to the call of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
Creation cries out in this time of ecological crisis.
- Abuse
of nature and injustice to people place the future in grave jeopardy.
- Population
triples in this century.
- Biological systems suffer diminished capacity to renew themselves.
- Finite minerals are mined and pumped as if inexhaustible.
- Peasants
are forced onto marginal lands and soil erodes.
- The rich-poor gap grows wider.
- Wastes and poisons exceed nature's capacity to absorb them.
- Greenhouse gases pose threat of global warming.
Restoring
Creation for Ecology and Justice (1990 General Assembly)
This profile
of the environmental crisis, with biblical affirmations and ethical
norms for response, includes a study
guide to help groups
move into community-based
reflection and action.
Therefore,
God calls the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to respond to the cry of
creation, human and non-human; engage in the effort to make
the 1990s the "turnaround decade," not
only for reasons of prudence or survival, but because the
endangered planet is God's creation; and draw upon all the resources
of biblical faith and the Reformed tradition for empowerment and
guidance in this adventure.
The church has powerful reason for engagement in restoring God's
creation:
- God's work in creation is too wonderful, too ancient, too beautiful,
too good to be desecrated.
- Restoring
creation is God's own work in our time, in which God comes both to
judge and to restore.
- The
Creator-Redeemer calls faithful people to become engaged
with God in keeping and healing the creation,
human and non-human.
- Human
life and well-being depend upon the flourishing of other life
and the integrity of the life-supporting processes that God
has ordained.
- The
love of neighbor, particularly "the least" of
Christ's brothers and sisters, requires action
to stop the poisoning, the
erosion, the wastefulness
that are causing suffering and death.
- The future of our children and their children and all
who come after is at stake.
In this critical time of transition to a new era, God's
new doing may be discerned as a call to earth-keeping,
to justice and to
community.
Therefore, the 202nd General Assembly affirmes that:
- Response to God's call requires a new faithfulness,
for which guidance may be found in norms that illuminate
the contemporary
meaning of God's steadfast love
for the world.
- Earth-keeping
today means insisting on sustainability-the ongoing capacity of natural
and social
systems to thrive together — which
requires human beings to practice
wise, humble, responsible stewardship, after
the model
of servanthood
that we have in Jesus.
- Justice
today requires participation, the inclusion of all members of the
human family in obtaining and
enjoying the Creator's gifts
for sustenance.
- Justice
also means sufficient, a standard upholding the claim of all to have
enough — to be met
through equitable sharing and organized efforts
to achieve that
end.
Community in our time requires the nurture of solidarity,
leading to steadfastness in standing with companions,
victims and allies
and to the realization of the
church's potential as a community of support for adventurous
faithfulness.
On the basis of these findings and affirmations
the 202nd General Assembly (1990)
- recognizes
and accepts
restoring
creation as
a central concern
of the church, to be incorporated into its life
and mission at every level;
- understands
this to be a new focus for initiative in mission
program and a concern with major implications
for infusion
into theological
work, evangelism,
education,
justice and peacemaking, worship and liturgy,
public witness, global mission and congregational
service,
and action at
the
local community
level;
- recognizes
that restoring creation is not a short-term
concern to be handled in a few years, but a continuing
task to which
the
nation and the
world must give attention and
commitment, and which has profound implications
for the life, work and witness of Christian
people and
church
agencies;
- approaches
the task with covenant seriousness — "If you obey the commandments
of the Lord your God ... then you shall live ..." (Deut. 30:16) — and
with practical awareness that cherishing God's
creation enhances the ability of the church to
achieve its
other goals.
The
202nd General Assembly (1990) believes God calls the Presbyterian
Church
(U.S.A.) to engage
in the
tasks of
restoring creation
in the "turnaround
Decade" now beginning
and for as long as
God continues to call
people of faith to
undertake
these tasks.
The Presbyterian Church has
passed many other resolutions
about caring for creation.
Among
them are “Hazardous Waste, Race, and the Environment” and “Hope
for a Global Future: Toward a Just and Sustainable Human Development.” To
find more information on
any caring for creation policies
passed by the PCUSA, search
the Advisory
Council on Social
Witness
Policy Compilation.
Presbyterian Church