Evangelical Environmentalism: Oxymoron or Opportunity?

Too often, Evangelicals do not see the Gospel as having any constructive bearing on the environment.This conference sought to help people come to a deeper understanding of God’s concern for the environment, especially as it relates to the Gospel of Christ’s kingdom. Can Evangelicals and environmentalism go together? Why are non-Christians so often more concerned about God’s creation than we are as Christians? Shouldn’t we take our rightful place alongside others as God’s stewards of creation? On the environmental continuum where one extreme is “Why save it when you can pave it” and the other extreme is made up of radicals ready to blow up lumber mills, where do Evangelicals fit? Are there other options available to us beyond these extremes? What is the biblical mandate for global stewardship? What is each person’s responsibility, and how does one fulfill that task? These questions and others were addressed within the theological framework of the Bible. Conference speakers included theologians, an ecologist, an environmental lawyer, and a Christian environmental activist. These participants shared their expertise from their respective fields in order to help us understand the issues and take the opportunity to become the stewards God called us to be.