And Indeed, It Was Very Good

by Gary Beil, Eco-Justice Team member

Genesis 1:31 says that when God saw everything that God had made, God declared it very good. The members of the Eco-Justice team at Westminster share a belief that the practice of good ecology in our church, our homes and all we do in life is a matter of social justice central to being a Christian and a steward of God’s creation. I am excited to be part of a reinvigorated environmental initiative taking place within the Westminster community. A group who shares a great concern for the future of God’s creation has come together to form the Eco-Justice team (part of the Social Justice Ministry).

We have a common concern that the world faces a profound crisis of ecological disruption and depletion, and we believe our congregation can make a collective effort to help avert further environmental damage to our earth. We are blessed to have lay leaders and staff members who commit their energy and church resources to make certain our physical facilities are in good environmentally sound working order to make our church as green as possible.

One of many "Bike to Church" Sundays at WPC

The concept of eco-justice links the concepts of ecological sustainability and social justice. Eco-justice implies that it is impossible to care for the earth without also caring for all humanity. However, it seems more compelling to reverse the emphasis and recognize that it is impossible to care for humanity without caring for the earth. Anything we do that diminishes the health and well-being of the earth diminishes the health and well-being of real, flesh and blood people.

Our worship at Westminster is, of course, God centered. We continually reflect on the fact that this day, every day, is the day that God has made. One of the many blessings I count is that our congregation is committed to good stewardship of the creation bequeathed to us by God.

The Westminster Eco-Justice team has given careful thought about what we can do as a community of faith to act, not just in terms the abstract concepts of caring for humanity or for God’s creation, but for real people of both present and future generations. Some of the team’s priorities:

• maintaining our certification as an Earth Care Congregation of the PC(USA) environmental ministries program;


• working with the congregation and its councils and committees in a collaborative way; and


• developing methods to educate the congregation about additional ways to care for the environment.

I am grateful to my colleagues on the Eco-Justice team at Westminster – Elise Howell, Rick Person, Jim Christiansen and Duncan King – for their energy, commitment and talent. We believe that our congregation has a major responsibility to help guide humankind to a path of rightness and goodness. We invite you to learn more and join us in this eco-justice journey at Westminster!