Over the past six weeks or so, I have been working on my latest book, a 6-week study for youth on creation care, which will be published later this year. The project gave me a chance to explore some of the latest resources for congregational environmental ministry, and I thought I'd share 3 of them with you today.
The Green Bible. HarperOne, 2008.
Every time I walk past the Bibles in a Christian book store, I'm pretty sure I let out an audible groan. Did the world really need, after all, the "wedding edition" of the Lighting the Way Home Family Bible by painter Thomas Kinkade, to name but one of the books that seem to me to be a desperate attempt to reach every niche audience out there? No doubt there are many people in the world who will feel similarly dismayed about The Green Bible, but this is one of the few Bibles I wholeheartedly recommend.
Printed on recycled paper, using soy-based ink and a unique cotton/linen cover, The Green Bible is the most ecologically-responsible Bible available. A highly unique feature of the Bible is that verses with a connection to God's creation are printed in green, making it easy to see just how many things the Bible actually does have to say about creation. The Bible uses the NRSV translation and includes 100 pages of exceptional introductory articles, written by a diverse and interfaith audience including such well-known authors as Brian McClaren, Bill McKibben, and Barbara Brown Taylor. These provide tremendous insight into reading the Bible with green eyes.
Additional resources include website links, group study and action guides, and a concordance that focuses on the environment. I wish that commentaries were also included with the biblical content, but that's my only major critique. This is a Bible you definitely need to have on your desk, in your church library, and in your congregants' hands! (You can view a video about it on YouTube here.)
Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything, by Daniel Goleman. Broadway Books, 2009.
If you're like me, the first things you do when you pick up a book is to see who has provided a "book blurb" on the back cover. In this case, one of the recommendations comes from Howard Gardener, the scholar who introduced the world to the theory of multiple intelligences. Gardener did not originally include an intelligence related to the environment, but later he warmed up to the idea and "naturalist" intelligence to his original list. Goleman is well-known for his books on "emotional intelligence" and "social intelligence," two worthy contributions to the conversation in educational and psychological circles about how people learn.
In his latest book, Goleman opens our eyes to the hidden impacts of our consumer choices and how, as consumers and business leaders, we can bring about shifts to a more environmentally-responsible economy. A core idea in the book is that we need "radical transparency," or complete information about the hidden costs of our purchases and activities, in order to make the right choice. I certainly found his book to be compelling reading and think his book could provide valuable insight to any congregation team wrestling with environmental issues. Sadly, in my opinion, Goleman misses a basic truth (and a key element of true ecological intelligence): while we do need more responsibly-produced products, we also simply need to consume less. Still, the book is well worth your time if you care at all about the many ways your purchases affect the lives of people you'll never meet.
The Green Study Pack, www.thethoughtfulchristian.com, 2009
A short-term study is a challenging place to explore topics related to the environment. One could spend many weeks just exploring one of any number of topics, like environmental justice, global warming, or ecotheology. The Green Study Pack, a series of 6 lessons on environmental realities and the ecological responsibility of Christians, does an excellent job raising issues, suggesting some action steps, and providing resources for further study. It's the kind of study perfect for a congregation that wants to begin to explore environmental issues, but it's far from complete.
The six sessions can be used (and purchased) individually or as a group. Topics for the studies include recycling, air pollution, land, being green at home and in daily life, and water. Each session is designed for use in a roughly 1-hour setting, though the material will certainly work in shorter or longer formats. Each session contains 2 PDFs - a student handout which is 4 pages long, and a leader's guide.
I really like The Thoughtful Christian studies and have personally used many of them. They are affordable, well-written, and fairly easy to teach. This particular pack strikes me as incomplete, though. No overview of the whole series is provided when you purchase the pack, and the lessons do not directly tie together except by theme. This is unfortunate, because the studies need to have a built-in opportunity for sharing the actions taken by class members during the week. My recommendation would be to stretch each study out over two weeks so that class participants can engage in a bit of praxis, that is, reflection on the actions they took in the context of a caring and supportive community. Clearly, no 1-week study on any these topics can include everything, but I was struck by the infrequency of connections to the impact our actions have on the rest of the world. That, too, would make interesting discussion material for a "week 2" dialog on each topic.
~ Tim Gossett