 |
|
| The Joint Ecological Commission is
a movement of Churches in Kerala. It is a joint project of Kerala
Council of Churches and Nilkkal Ecumenical Committee. All the Episcopal
Churches in Kerala, ie. Catholic, Orthodox, Jacobite, Marthomite,
and CSI are its members. The Rt.Rev.Thomas Samuel, Bishop of Madhya
Kerala Diocese is the secretary of Nilakkal Ecumenical Committee.
|
| Its objective is to define the Eco-Church
fellowship and to play an active role in the spiritual-environmental
revolution and to encourage an eco-friendly life style. |
| God created humanity in God’s
own image and placed them in this beautiful world to live in harmony
with everything around them–animals, plants and all of nature.
But this harmony is threatened both at the global and national level
because of human greed, sinfulness and of human ignorance about the
existing internal relationships between humankind and nature. There
is rapid growth of environmental pollution because of destruction
of forests, extinction of animals, plants and rare species, poor sewage
systems, traffic hazards, industrial and agricultural wastes, improper
use of chemicals, leakage of toxic gases, and so on. Where does the
Christian mission stand in this generation in the face of these realities?
Christians, at least in part, seem to be responsible for the present
environmental crisis, primarily because of their misunderstanding
of the scripture. What does the Bible as a whole teach about ecology?.
|
| The Biblical story and rituals affirm
human responsibility to care for the Earth. As expressed in St. John
3:16, "God so loved the world..." God's salvation encompasses
the whole cosmos. Jesus Christ, our saviour, guide, and mentor, tells
us to repent, love God and our neighbour. The church now must expand
the concept of neighbour to include the whole creation. Just as we
meet Christ in our human neighbour, we meet Christ in every part of
creation. Understanding human history in the context of spiritual
and physical history of the universe is the first step towards repentance
— a humble acceptance of a holistic world view. |
| In all aspects of its life, the Eco-Church
fellowship will strive to re-establish the fundamental spiritual relationship
of humanity with God, the Earth and all its creatures. A basic tenet
of its evangelism is found in II Corinthians 5:19 which reads, "God
is reconciling the whole world — or cosmos — through Christ."
We encourage churches to incorporate ecological concerns in their
order of worship and include both advocacy and direct action for social
justice and the integrity of creation in missional activities |
| For the adult, the Christian education
curriculum will focus on eco-literacy and Christian theology in the
context of modern scientific understanding of the universe. The Biblical
understanding will be supplemented by a growing number of resources
dealing with science and ecology. In addition to learning biblical
stories, the curriculam will help children learn to love Nature as
God's sacred creation in which we have a special role. |
| The life of the Eco-Church fellowship
will reflect an environmentally sensitive simplicity of lifestyle,
both by individual members and by the gathered community. All aspects
of governance and management of the resources will be a witness to
its mutually enhancing relationship with the Nature. "If we learn
to love Earth, we will find labyrinths, gardens, fountains, and precious
jewels! A whole new world will open itself to us. We will discover
what it means to be truly alive." (St. Teresa of Avila) |
| Of the many stories in the Bible,
there are at least two that show God's compassion on people in distress
as a result of an environmental problem. One of these events takes
place at a spring called "Marah" (Exodus 15:22-27). It was
here that God restored the bitter, polluted waters that were unfit
to drink after hearing the prayer of Moses on behalf of His people.
God promised to be their healer always if they would follow after
Him. In the other story (2 Kings 2:19-22), the prophet Elisha had
compassion on the people of Jericho and prayed for the Lord to heal
their water supply, which made the people sick and the land unproductive.
Elisha threw a bowl of salt into the water, and its purity was restored.
|
| Water pollution is just one of the
many environmental problems facing communities in the world today.
Some regions of the earth have been devastated by human activities
that pollute the land, water, air, and food supplies. This pollution
diminishes the quality of life for the people who live and work in
these regions. |
| We encourage people in organizing
grassroot movements inspired by the love of God to conserve God’s
sacred creation. Like Moses and Elisha, we seek to be God's agents
of healing and restoration to those facing environmental crises as
a result of ecological degradation. We encourage the active participation
of our fellow Christians, churches and all people of good will through
prayer, partnership, stewardship, and involvement which will help
humanity to return to an eco-friendly life style. |
| Presidents: |
 |
Mar Mathew Arackal (Catholic Church) |
|
Rt.Rev.Dr.Issac Mar Philexenos(President,
Kerala Council of Churches) |
| Vice Presidents |
|
Prof.Philip N Thomas (Secretary, Kerala Council
of Churches) |
|
Rev. Fr.Varghese Kattuparambil (Catholic Church) |
|
Rev.Dr. K.M.George (Malankara Orthodox Church) |
| General Secretary |
|
Prof. Mathew Koshy Punnackadu, Malayil, Punnackadu, Kerala, India.
689652(CSI) |
| and a committee consisting 21 members
from the different Churches in Kerala. |
| Programmes |
 |
Organising conferences all over
Kerala |
|
Training programmes for clergy, lay leaders |
|
Coordinating the activities of the Churches, |
|
to teach the biblical understanding on Ecology,
conscientise people regarding ecological problems, methods of conservation
etc |
|
Collaborating with other environmental groups |
|
Preparing papers on different current issues
and circulating among the people |
|
|
