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Scientists and Evangelicals Initiative

The Scientists and Evangelicals Initiative is an effort that seeks to bring together leading environmental scientists and evangelical Christians to explore humanity's degradation of the global environment, and to help lessen its impacts.

Ultimately, we believe that such collaboration will capture the imagination of people worldwide who will recognize the urgency of our concerns about the environment and be moved by our willingness to put aside whatever differences we may have to work together to protect it.

The idea of leading environmental scientists and evangelical Christians meeting and working together is initially often met with surprise and some anxiety as there are clear areas of disagreement between the two groups.

However, both groups have come to understand that the devastating effects of climate change and biodiversity loss disproportionately affect people who are poor and lack the financial resources to adapt to a changing climate. This is at the heart of our groups' shared sense of moral purpose.

Our efforts to date include:

February 12, 2009

God and Global Warming:
Scientists’ and Evangelicals’ Common Voice

Harvard Divinity School

There are periods in history when humanity is at a crossroads, when the paths that are followed influence large numbers of people in fundamental ways for hundreds of years. We are in one of those periods right now, as the decisions we make over the next decade about the global environment will affect the health and lives of billions of people worldwide for countless generations.

Speakers:

Eric Chivian M.D.
Director
Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School

Rev. Richard Cizik D.Min, M.Div
Former Vice President for Governmental Affairs
National Association of Evangelicals

WATCH THE LECTURE VIDEO (Realplayer)

Updated scientific content for a Creation Care Kit for Busy Pastors booklet. During the summer of 2008, Paul Epstein and staff from the Center have been working with Pastor Ken Wilson of the Vineyard Church in Ann Arbor, MI to update the booklets. The inspiration for these booklets can be traced to the Scientists and Evangelicals Initiative's first meeting in Thomasville, Georgia.

Updates include revised content, a list of scientific readings, and the formation of a scientific advisory committee consisting of 17 top scientists who have volunteered to serve as a resource to pastors, answering questions and possibly participating in sermons.

Five thousand copies of the booklet were printed and sent out to evangelical pastors, along with a copy of the What If... DVD created by the NAE to provide evangelical background information on climate change, and a DVD of the PBS God and Global Warming program from the Scientist-Evangelical Alaska Expedition in August 2007.

Additional Creation Care Resources

Through their Friendship Project, Pastor Ken Wilson of the Vineyard Church and Carl Safina of the Blue Ocean Institute have organized and implemented two day-long workshops in the Spring of 2008. Each workshop had 30 participants, evenly split between scientists and evangelical pastors, and the format was modeled on the Initiative's successful retreat in Thomasville, Georgia. These workshops were located at Akron University and Ohio State University, and future workshops are currently being planned.

A week-long joint trip to Alaska in August, 2007 to witness first-hand the effects of climate change on local populations and on the land, ocean, plants and wildlife of our northernmost state. This trip was filmed by a PBS crew for the program NOW and was aired October 26, 2007. Visit the NOW website for more information on the show, useful background information on the trip, as well as lessons learned on the journey by Eric Chivian and the Rev. Richard Cizik.

Trip Participants:

Leith Anderson D.Min, M.Div., President, National Association of Evangelicals; Senior Pastor, Wooddale Church
Eric Chivian M.D., Director, Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School; Shared 1985 Nobel Peace Prize
Richard Cizik M.Div, M.A., Vice President for Governmental Affairs, National Association of Evangelicals
Deborah Fikes M.A., Advisor, Ministerial Alliance of Midland, Texas;Special Advisor to Governor Kim Moon-soo, Republic of Korea; Advisory Committee, Senator Sam Brownback; President; D.H. Fikes International Inc.
Peter Heltzel Ph.D., M.Div., Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology, New York Theological Seminary
Harry Jackson D.Div, M.B.A., Bishop andSenior Pastor, Hope Christian Church
James McCarthy Ph.D., Alexander Agassiz Professor of Biological Oceanography, Harvard University
Camille Parmesan Ph.D., Associate Professor, Section of Integrative Biology, University of Texas
Peter Raven Ph.D., President, Missouri Botanical Garden; George Engelmann Professor of Botany, Washington University
Carl Safina Ph.D., President, Blue Ocean Institute; Adjunct Professor, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University

Press Release | Media Appearences

The release of an "Urgent Call to Action" at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on January 17, 2007, sparked intense interest in our joint effort and was covered in over 90 mainstream and Christian media outlets including: CNN, MSNBC, FOX, the BBC, Houston Chronicle, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Newsweek, NPR's All Things Considered, The Associated Press, The Christian Post, and the Religion News Service.

A private, 2-day retreat that brought together 30 people, half leading scientists and half evangelical Christian leaderst. The goal of the meeting, which was held at the historic Melhana Plantation in Thomasville, Georgia from November 30-December 2, 2006 was to begin a dialogue that developed mutual trust and respect, a set of common goals, and a plan about how to join forces to protect the global environment. The meeting surpassed the expectations of all who attended. Indeed, many participants remarked that the retreat was among the most powerful, if not the single most powerful, meeting that they had ever attended.