{"id":316059,"date":"2017-07-06T08:49:44","date_gmt":"2017-07-06T07:49:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/offering-moral-leadership-ucc-urges-clergy-to-be-bold-and-courageous-in-climate-fight\/"},"modified":"2017-07-06T08:49:44","modified_gmt":"2017-07-06T07:49:44","slug":"offering-moral-leadership-ucc-urges-clergy-to-be-bold-and-courageous-in-climate-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/offering-moral-leadership-ucc-urges-clergy-to-be-bold-and-courageous-in-climate-fight\/","title":{"rendered":"Offering Moral Leadership, UCC Urges Clergy to 'Be Bold and Courageous' in Climate Fight"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The United Church of Christ on Monday passed a resolution<\/a> that calls on clergy to lead educational and legislative efforts to combat climate change, urging its members to be “bold and courageous as we address the greatest moral challenge that the world has ever faced.”<\/p>\n

The resolution, titled “The Earth is the Lord’s\u2014Not Ours to Wreck: Imperatives for a New Moral Era<\/a>,” was supported by 97 percent of the delegates of the church’s General Synod, which meets every two years to discuss church structure and policies.<\/p>\n

“This sets the stage for engagement and hope. This is a proclamation of truth and the love of God’s gift,” said<\/a> Rev. Jim Antal, head of the UCC’s Massachusetts conference and author of the resolution. “The climate crisis is an opportunity for which the church was born.”<\/p>\n

\n

.@unitedchurch<\/a> national synod votes 97% 2 urge pastors 2 preach on climate change: https:\/\/t.co\/R9KedoT3sM<\/a> @billmckibben<\/a> @massucc<\/a> @KHayhoe<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/28TgrEiyOt<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jim Antal (@JimAntal) July 4, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Framing climate change prevention as a moral obligation\u2014similar<\/a> to the message of Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical<\/a>\u2014the resolution reads: “As people of faith, recognizing that the earth is the Lord’s, it falls upon our generation to embrace the imperatives set forth in this resolution.”<\/p>\n

It details a strategy for “the whole of the church to prayerfully engage” with the issue of climate change through three key imperatives:<\/p>\n