Washington National Cathedral plans Earth Day celebrations

Events to promote Christian commitment to stewardship of creation

Posted Apr 16, 2012

[Washington National Cathedral] In honor of Earth Day 2012, Washington National Cathedral will be partnering with Blessed Earth, the National Religious Coalition on Creation Care (NRCCC), and the Earth Day Network to build unity among Christians to heed Christ’s call to be stewards of creation for future generations. In partnership with these organizations that champion care for creation, Washington National is hosting a full day of events honoring Earth Day on Sunday, April 22.

As part of the Cathedral’s mission as the spiritual home for the nation and as a leader of dialogue on many issues, the regular Sunday worship service will include a sermon given by Blessed Earth Executive Director Dr. Matthew Sleeth, who has worked to galvanize support from many Christian denominations to adhere to the scriptural mandate to care for all of God’s creation.

The Cathedral will host its first Earth Day forum featuring special guest Wendell Berry, the internationally acclaimed poet, farmer, and creation care activist, who recently sold out his Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities, the most prestigious honor the federal government bestows achievement in the humanities. The forum will also be the launch of Blessed Earth’s Seminary Stewardship Alliance. A historic first, the group brings presidents from many of America’s largest and most influential seminaries together to integrate the principal of stewardship of creation into their curriculum and their own operations to prepare future church leaders to be catalysts for positive change around issues of environmental sustainability.

What: Earth Day Celebration

When: Sunday, April 20, 2012
10:10 AM Earth Day Forum: A conversation with Wendell Berry
11:15 AM Holy Eucharist, Dr. Matthew Sleeth preaching

Where: Washington National Cathedral
The service also will be webcast live from the Cathedral’s home page http://www.nationalcathedral.org/

MEDIA AVAILABILITY
Media is invited, and press coverage at this event is welcome. To attend, please RSVP to Meredith MacKenzie at (202) 265-3000 or meredith@rabinowitz-dorf.com.

About Washington National Cathedral
Washington National Cathedral is called to be the spiritual home for the nation. It seeks to be a catalyst for spiritual harmony in our nation, renewal in the churches, reconciliation among faiths, and compassion in our world. Learn more at www.nationalcathedral.org.

About Blessed Earth
Blessed Earth is an educational nonprofit that inspires and equips Christians to become better stewards of the earth. Through church, campus, and media outreach, it builds bridges that promote measurable environmental change and meaningful spiritual growth. Learn more at www.blessedearth.org.

About Earth Day Network
Earth Day Network mobilizes over one billion people in 192 countries through year-round advocacy, education, public policy and consumer campaigns to protect the environment. www.earthday.org

About Matthew Sleeth, MD
A decade ago, Matthew Sleeth, author of Serving God, Saving the Planet, was a successful ER physician and chief of the hospital’s medical staff. After an environmental and spiritual conversion experience, he and his family cut back their energy use by more than two-thirds and trash production by nine-tenths.  Raised in Damascus, Maryland, and educated at George Washington Medical School, he now helps lead the growing creation care movement from Lexington, KY.

About Wendell Berry
Forum guest Wendell Berry is the esteemed author of more than forty books of poems, essays, short stories, and novels, many of which draw on the traditional rural values of Berry’s native Kentucky. Berry has spent his career meditating on our relationship and responsibilities to the land and community, receiving international acclaim for both his activism and literary achievements.


Tags