User:Lyndon Jamison/Christian views on environmentalism

Presbyterian Churches
Environmental stewardship remains a deep commitment for many Presbyterians. A significant number of mid-twentieth century progressive conservationists were Presbyterian or raised in the Presbyterian faith.

Two of many such men and women of nature were John Muir and William Keith. Both Muir, the noted father of national parks, and Keith, a landscape artist, were raised in stanch Calvinist Presbyterian homes in Scotland during the nineteenth century. Besides his establishment of the Serra Club, Muir particularly had a passion for the study of natural theology. Keith, in contrast, expressed his devotion to God through painting. Muir highly appreciated Keith’s work and praised it as “a kind of inspired bible of the mountain.” Another early Presbyterian conservationist supporter was Carleton Watkins, a New York photographer responsible for many of Yosemite’s many iconic images, which helped build public support in the days of the national park’s founding. Their Reformed spiritual upbringing informed their ideas about nature that humanity’s role was as God’s keeper of the land.

Calvinist theology, which emphasizes God's sovereignty over creation, inspired such environmentalists to see God's glory in nature. Seeing that Calvinists like Presbyterians believe in God's sustaining power, they consider that the Divine intimately relates to the created order through providence. In his Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin further taught that nature acted as the most apparent medium of God's revelation outside of Sacred Scripture. The Westminster Confession of Faith echoes this teaching in the first chapter on Holy Scripture and the fourth on creation.

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)
The mainline Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) has been an outspoken supporter of modern environmental causes. In 2018, the 223rd General Assembly approved a new policy of combating environmental racism. Other initiatives include establishing Presbyterian Earth Care Congregations and Green Leaf Seal camps, which involve many member churches and conference centers across the United States.

The church's 2010 “Earth Care Pledge” summarizes some of the critical aspects of creation restoration. The pledge is divided into four parts or resolutions. First, worship and discipleship are said to be the foundation on which the faithful ground their desire for earth protection. Second, through education, the flock may better understand the threats to God’s creation and the harms which it suffers. Thirdly, church facilities will be fitted with energy-efficient resources. Lastly, outreach with local communities is a positive means to achieve environmental justice.

Furthermore, denominational resources on earth care for local congregations stay widely available for distribution.

Quakerism
The Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, have a rich history of environmental concern. Inspired by the testimony of stewardship, Friends have sought to practice ethical economics and creation care since the earliest days of the Society’s founding.

Quakers have continued to express environmental concerns to this day. Numerous organizations and initiatives unite Quakers in the cause of environmental sustainability.

Founded in 1987 as the Friends Committee on Unity with Nature and later named Quaker Earthcare Witness, the organization remains an active participant in calling attention to the current ecological crises. Based on Quaker convictions, the organization argues that the deeper cause of environmental problems has resulted from a more profound spiritual crisis of human separation from the land.

The Earth Quaker Action Team is a non-violent protest organization that engages in the fight for ecojustice. Numerous news stories have highlighted the groups’ demonstrations. Energy companies which they view as ecologically harmful are often the targets of opposition. For example, in 2016, the Quaker activist group pressured the Philadelphia-based power company, PECO, to utilize solar. Another notable protest was in 2010: Bank Like Appalachia Matters, or (BLAM!), which called for the PNC Bank to end financing industries engaged in mountaintop coal mining. By 2015, the EQAT was successful with its demands, and the bank ceased financing such enterprises.