This year our synod will be deliberating about resolutions related to the kinds of issues that Grace has traditionally supported. My blog will share these resolutions during the Lenten season. This is the second installment:

A video regarding the resolution is available here and will be shown after our next on-line, midweek Lenten service.

Resolution in Support of Creation Care

Whereas Psalm 148 declares: “3Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars! 4 Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! 5 Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded, and they were created,” and calls humans to stand together with all created things to praise the one who formed us;

and Whereas God has created us and all that exists, given and preserves our bodies and all the necessities for life [The First Article: On Creation, Luther’s Small Catechism]; and Whereas the 1993 ELCA Social Statement Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope, and Justice affirms that “we are called to care for the earth as God cares for the earth;”

and Whereas climate research is clear that there has been a rapid rise in the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, with current levels (400 ppm) the highest in the past probably 2,000,000 years. This increase has occurred most rapidly in the past 200 years during the worldwide Industrial Revolution1 ;

therefore, be it Resolved that the Northwest Synod of Wisconsin shall urge all members to exemplify personal and institutional care for Creation by practicing energy conservation, purchasing energy efficient items, investing in renewable energy, and eliminating single-use plastics;

and be it further Resolved that the Northwest Synod of Wisconsin shall encourage all congregations in the synod to celebrate a four-week Season of Creation in the fall, and the Synod shall provide preaching and worship resources for this season;

and be it further Resolved that the Northwest Synod of Wisconsin shall provide confirmation curriculum for all congregations to educate youth on Care for Creation;

and be it further Resolved that the Northwest Synod of Wisconsin shall create a section of the Bishop’s report to collect information about each congregation’s efforts to care for Creation. Submitted by the Northwest Synod Environmental Justice Group

About Philip Ruge-Jones

After I served for eighteen years as a professor of theology at Texas Lutheran University, my family decided to return to the Midwest where my wife and I grew up, attended college and seminary. Read more...