WHEREAS the United Church of Christ has by

resolutions, pronouncements, and proposals for action

over many years proven itself to be deeply

concerned with issues of the environment, including,

but not limited to, issues of ecojustice and environmental

racism, air and water quality, sustainable

growth, and matters of national and international

environmental policy, and

WHEREAS a review of Synod history between

1975 and 1999 identified over twenty actions that

deal explicitly with various environmental concerns,

and

WHEREAS the Seventeenth General Synod recognized

the role of the Church in environmental

issues by adopting the priority, "Integrity of Creation,

Justice and Peace," affirming that these issues

are central to our identity, and called on many

instrumentalities of the church to address these issues,

and

WHEREAS the United Church of Christ has encouraged

member conferences and churches to examine

their own role within their community and

to adopt a posture of being a "Whole Earth Church"

or "Whole Earth Conference," and

WHEREAS issues of environmental integrity and

sustainability are of great and increasing importance

to individuals, communities, and the global

ecosystem, and

WHEREAS God has created all things (Genesis

1—2, John 1:1–5), joined in relationship with all

creatures (Genesis 9:8–17, Job 38—41), and redeems

all of creation (Romans 8:18–25, Colossians

1:15–20), and

WHEREAS God calls humans to strive toward shalom—

peace, justice, and harmony for all of creation,

and

WHEREAS responding to God's love and grace

requires that people in the modern world rethink

the place and purpose of humanity within God's

creation. and

WHEREAS in our modern world, a faithful response

to God's creation, redemption, and call toward

shalom requires more than ministries of justice

and witness, but also requires education, pastoral

care, spiritual direction, acts of service, and

new perspectives in worship, and

WHEREAS under the current structure of the denomination,

individual members, churches, and

conferences, as well as secular and religious bodies

outside of the church, do not have a clear point of contact

for information, assistance, and leadership in areas

involving environmental faithfulness, and

WHEREAS other secular and religious bodies outside

of the church have ongoing, active and vital environmental

offices which could benefit conferences,

churches, and individual members of the United Church

of Christ if such contact was facilitated, and

WHEREAS prior actions of General Synod make clear

the intent that faithful attention to environmental issues

requires leadership, program, and resources from

all parts of the national church, addressed to local

churches as well as ministries in other settings, and

WHEREAS "ecojustice" refers both to the intertwined

areas of environment sustainability and social justice

and to theological and spiritual perspectives that affirm

the integrity of creation, and

WHEREAS it has become clear that ecojustice cannot

be broadly addressed in Covenanted Ministries without

staff assigned to that theme;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Twentythird

General Synod affirms the many actions by previous

Synods which have dealt with the integrity of

creation and environmental issues and looks to that

history of action as an indicator of broad theological

and ethical conviction in support of ecojustice.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Twenty-third

General Synod urges the four Covenanted Ministries

to evaluate the extent to which their programming and

staffing reflect the United Church of Christ's deep and

historic commitment to ecojustice.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the four

Covenanted Ministries are encouraged to identify

clearly the program areas and the member of their staff

that address ecojustice concerns.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Twenty-third

General Synod requests the Executive Council to provide

ongoing encouragement and support to the

Covenanted Ministries as they work individually and

collaboratively for ecojustice.

Funding for this action will be made in accordance with

the overall mandates of the affected agencies and the

funds available.

Prudential resolution. Requires majority vote for passage.