http://www.wesleyan.org

THE ENVIRONMENT

We believe that even as God's care extends beyond humans to include other objects of His creation, the Christian's fulfillment of the “take dominion” charge includes active concern for protection of the environment.

We believe that we do have responsibilities to the non-human organisms that share God's earth with us. We also believe that we have responsibilities to humans of future generations, should there be such. We recognize that some environmental problems are difficult, perhaps even impossible to solve, but note that sin, in general, has no human solution, either, but that does not excuse us from trying to fight it in various ways. There are examples of environmental awareness having had positive results.

There should be more positive results. We believe that bringing them about is part of our mission. We call on Wesleyans, and others who will listen, to do the following:

Realize that the earth, as God created it, was good, but that it is less good as a result of human activity.

Accept our responsibility, individually and collectively, as stewards of the environment.

Seek information on environmental issues.

Avoid polluting as much as possible.

Participate in recycling efforts, and support political efforts to make recycling available where it is not.

Avoid actions that might endanger the existence of species of organisms, or wantonly destroy individual ones.

Examine the pattern of our consumption, and avoid unnecessary expense.