The Role of Faith Based Organizations

A couple of years ago when my church was doing a capital campaign because they wanted to make a larger facility on the same site, they held a meeting for the congregation. When I asked the pastor what environmental considerations were being taken into account, he jokingly replied they would do whatever was least expensive and never really did address the question. I remember listening to a cultural anthropologist years ago talking about how the church steeple used to be high point and the centre of the community, something that everyone looked up to - now, in many communities, the centre and high point are office towers. In addition, there are now what are called "megachurches". I tried to find information on the environmental impact of these big box churches with little success. I'll likely keep looking. Faith based organizations traditionally play a role in influencing human behaviour yet many are silent on the environment and sustainability. How big is the role of faith based organizations when it comes to sustainable infrasture? There are a number of ecumenical faith based organizations that are strong advocates on the social side of sustainability, particularly when it comes to human rights. Here's a great website by a Canadian based organization that showcases a number of North American initiatives and gives me hope that, at least some churches, are taking action http://www.faith-commongood.net/gss/spaces.asp. I'm going to post another message about the "green rule".