Yale Bulletin and Calendar

February 22, 2008|Volume 36, Number 19

‘Renewing Hope’ to explore
alliance of religion and ecology

A major conference exploring the emerging alliance of religion and ecology will be held at Yale Thursday-Sunday, Feb. 28-March 2.

Sponsored by the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES) and the Yale Divinity School, the conference will bring together scholars and grassroots religious environmentalists to share ideas and strategies about work of mutual interest across the United States and Canada. The organizers of the conference, Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, are co-directors of the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale.

The conference, titled “Renewing Hope: Pathways of Religious Environmentalism,” comes at a time of increasing awareness of climate change and global warming, amid growing momentum to address these environmental challenges from within the religious traditions, note the organizers. Indeed, Pope Benedict XVI will address the moral dimensions of climate change at the United Nations in April, and the evangelical community in the United States has been lobbying to focus public attention on the particularly harmful effects of climate change on the poor.

“This conference promises to underscore how much common ground exists between the faith and environmental communities,” says Divinity School Dean Harold Attridge.

F&ES Dean Gus Speth notes, “The religions have a key role to play in helping to moderate values and inspire action for environmental protection, restoration and renewal.” Speth will speak at the conference on how the synergy of religious communities, scientists and policy makers can help create a sustainable future.

Sallie McFague of the Vancouver School of Theology, who has written for many years on the subject of religion and the environment, will deliver the conference’s opening lecture, “A New Climate for Theology: God, the World and Global Warming,” at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 28.

Also highlighting the conference is a premiere of “Renewal,” a new film exploring the environmental work of several Jewish, Christian and Islamic communities. It will be screened at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 29.

McFague’s lecture and the screening of “Renewal” are both free and open to the public. Both will take place at Sterling Divinity Quadrangle, 409 Prospect St.

There will be live streaming of at least two of the conference sessions — McFague’s Thursday evening address and a panel presentation on Friday afternoon — on the Yale Divinity School website at www.yale.edu/divinity/video/index.shtml.

The full conference agenda can be seen on the web at www.yale.edu/divinity/news/071128_news_renewing.shtml.

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