Religiously Green
March 3rd, 2008 . by Bryan A. McCarty 
Part I
“Renewal,” a documentary by Marty Ostrow and Terry Kay Rockefeller opened this past weekend at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. This documentary traces the rise in environmental activism among religious communities throughout America. In rural communities, suburbs and cities, people of faith are rolling up their sleeves in practical and far-reaching ways. Offering a profound message of hope, Renewal shows individuals and communities driven by the deepest source of inspiration - their spiritual and religious convictions - being called to re-examine what it means to be human and how we live on this planet. Throughout, Renewal attempts to paint an honest picture of how much work will be needed to stem the tide of environmental devastation. Its compelling characters and stories inspire the vision and commitment that addressing the challenge will require. The 90-minute documentary is designed for theatrical and community screenings, and for broadcast, yet each of Renewal’s eight stories also stands on its own.
Renewal is really eight short documentaries stitched into a 90-minute whole, each focusing on a local action spearheaded by a different religious organization. Catholics and evangelicals in Appalachia raise awareness of the coal-mining practice known as “mountaintop removal” by flying over in helicopters and videotaping the devastation. (Later they sing “Amazing Grace” while dynamite detonates nearby cliffs.) New Jersey’s GreenFaith organization outfits churches with solar panels while teaching them to reduce their own consumption. California’s Buddhist Green Sangha petitions The New Yorker and National Geographic to print on recycled paper; the Teva Learning Center in Falls Village, Conn., teaches Jewish kids about nature and waste.
Renewal documents that religious zeal can be yoked to change as well as conservatism, that differing faiths can speak to each other, and that, really, good works are faith these days. Above all, the film is said to spread the good news that we’re just getting started.
KeepGreenGoing has contacted producer Terry Kay Rockefeller and has scheduled an interview in the coming weeks. After our staff has a chance to watch the film, we will get a chance to chat with Terry about The Renewal Projects mission, thoughts on faith, going green and how we can get involved. Look for part II of this article soon.
Via The Boston Globe and The Renewal Project
Faith and keeping it green. This aspect of being ecologically aware, convicted, just and educated is one of particular interest to me. I think more specifically because this is a dynamic that can be a dangerously growing dichotomy for people to not care because they are frightfully unaware of how “keeping it green” is part of their historical, contextual, and shared faith.
I’m also amazed at how it can be a unifying thing for communities of faith who advocate, fight and take ownership of these issues.
Despite which side of the board people of faith might be on in regards to going green I’m constantly reminded that if faith, ecology, and creation are tied together than this issue is personal.
I’ll look forward to part II of this article and perhaps take part in a viewing of Ostrow and Rockefeller’s film.
Midway through reading “Ishmael” by Daniel Quinn I had to stop. I put the book down. I paced. I shook. I sat quietly and waited. And then, when I was ready, I picked up where I left off to face this brand new way of reading the stories of Adam and Eve and the Tree, of Cain and Abel, of God’s message to man. I had to face a new perspective on mankind’s role. As the Earth rumbles and groans, our investigations into what it means to live green and live by God are starting to unearth a very secret terror: that we got the message wrong from the very beginning.
Good insight Caleb -
Ishmael is a great book. I think it’s time to read that one again!
::bryan
[...] those of you who missed our previous post on the Renewal project, make sure you keep checking back. We’ll be doing an interview with [...]