The Environmental Action Group of the Uniting Church in SA - MISSION STATEMENT
Environmental Action Group
INTRODUCTION
The original mandate given in 2O14 by the then Synod and Presbytery of South Australia charged the Environmental Action Group [EAG] to enable the church to: express its concern for all created life on the planet; model ways of living and working that minimise our impact on the environment; relate our concerns for the environment to our Christian life in prayer, worship, study and communal decision making; and research the impact of human-induced climate change and advocate for appropriate lifestyle change To further this mandate the EAG adopts the following Mission Statement.
Caring for God’s Creation is our Core Business
Mission
Enhance a sense of wonder in and with God’s Creation throughout the South Australian Uniting Church – in worship, prayer and community life – and in this, our climate emergency, to provide resources to support congregations to help Creation heal and to nurture and protect our Home for future generations.
Draw on and promote Christian courses and resources calling us to: ‘serve and care for the land’ (Genesis 2 and the way of Jesus), to nurture mother earth.
Advocate to Australian leaders, industries and communities to rapidly shift to clean renewable energy away from fossil fuel reliance, and to oppose those vested interests that seek to delay the shift.
Activate greener practices which assist UC church congregations to reduce their carbon footprints, and ensure financial management is directed to the same ends.
Deeply respect and stand beside our First Nations brothers and sisters, and the most vulnerable in Creation, in solidarity with others (including other faiths). To that end, engage with and support actions led by national and international agencies such as the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC), and GreenFaith International (GFI).
Ensure that meetings organised by the EAG are respectful, friendly, inclusive, science-based where appropriate, and consistent with the values of the Uniting Church.
Explain who we are to the Synod and congregations through regular communications; and to strive to ensure that the EAG has the right people, resources and ‘profile’ to carry out the above.