a MUST-READ article

thanks to bob braxton for bringing this article to our attention:

"The Green Gospel: Will Seminaries Equip Church Leaders for an Age of Environmental Crisis?"

by Katharine Preston, Sojourners online sept/oct 2007

an excerpt:

... THREE MAJOR STUMBLING blocks hinder seminaries from taking on this critical role of preparing new church leaders.

The first, prevalent in evangelical seminaries and possibly more present in mainline institutions than is admitted: hesitancy to engage in the conversation until creation care and eco-justice are vetted to be a) thoroughly scripturally grounded (that is, not nature worship) and b) distinguishable, theologically and operationally, from a broader liberal political agenda.

...

The second stumbling block—systemic to First World society, not just the church—persists despite the recent upsurge of environmental concern: a failure to fully acknowledge the moral and spiritual severity of the problem and the lifestyle changes needed to help mitigate the effects of overconsumption.

...

To avoid these profound theological, ethical, and pastoral considerations is to deny our responsibility to engage in God's work of justice and love of creation. To overlook the complexities of the conversation in the training of church leaders is simply irresponsible.

"Unless the seminaries are prepared to raise up effective leadership for this situation, Christians will once again be contributing to the problem rather than being pioneers who generate solutions," says David Rhoads, a professor of New Testament at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. "To this end, every seminarian and every pastor should have at least one course that introduces them to the information, resources, and skills necessary to offer effective environmental leadership in their congregations and in their communities."

Here we encounter the third stumbling block.

With few exceptions, seminaries and theological schools have neither the resources nor sufficient individuals qualified to teach and lead them in addressing 21st century environmental concerns.

...

But the prophetic voices were often not heard, and today, vibrant, ongoing programs exist only at a couple of these seminaries and a handful of new ones.

Despite the church's historical leadership at the forefront of some social movements, seminaries retain a culture of dispassionate academic inquiry that often clashes with the call to advocacy. Without ongoing leadership, time, and resources, programs do not become part of the ethos of the institution. Success, therefore, is usually linked to the long-term dedication of one or two individuals.

With such persistence, a seminary can become a model for how to appropriately address environmental challenges and a vital training ground for new leaders.