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By LIZ SWITZER, The Daily News

Western Kentucky University’s Community Religious Literacy Project is partnering with area churches and community organizations to sponsor an interfaith conference designed to create dialogue and foster awareness of spirituality as it relates to the green movement and sustainability of the Earth — the first of its kind here, according to event organizers.

The Interfaith Dialogue on Earth Care will be Feb. 19 and 20 with presenters and participants exploring the faith community’s response and responsibility in protecting people, species and the environment.

During conference sessions, participants will examine the relationship of humans to the Earth in religious traditions from around the world. One goal is to plan for cooperation among faith communities as it relates to sustainability, according to conference organizers.

“This conference will not be studying whether human activity has seriously upset the balance of Earth’s ecosystems. Rather, we will explore the directive to humans in four world faiths, Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism, to care for and maintain Earth’s ecosystems for now and the future health of humanity and the Earth,” said Margaret Bowker, a WKU biologist and Christ Episcopal Church member.

“My faith tells me that all God’s creation is beloved by Him, and that to please God we humans should be caring for all of the Earth and life,” Bowker said. “My biology tells me that all life is interconnected and dependent on the health of the Earth.”

The conference is the result of efforts by Bowker, along with Eric Bain-Selbo, department head of the philosophy and religion departments at WKU and organizer of the Community Religious Literacy Project, and Isabel Mukonyora, also a philosophy and religion department faculty member, along with broad sponsorship from WKU and area churches and organizations.

“This is a unique opportunity for folks at WKU and in the local community to reflect upon and discuss the relationship of the world’s religions to current environmental crises,” Bain-Selbo said. “The kind of dialogue that we will have is critical across the globe if we hope to achieve a more sustainable future.”

The event dovetails with WKU’s efforts to green its campus for the last two years, according to Mukonyora.

“A lot of this work has been made possible by businesses and interest groups in the city of Bowling Green. Now, there are a number of courses now being offered by different members of the university in responding to problems of climate change,” she said. “In short, let’s have a citywide dialogue because, unlike a lot of other universities one comes across in America, WKU has made it official policy to relate to the wider society, starting with the environs of the city of Bowling Green.”

Dr. Matthew Sleeth, a nationally acclaimed speaker, author and executive director of Blessed Earth, an educational nonprofit that works with faith communities on sustainability, will give the keynote address, “Serve God, Save the Planet,” at the Mass Media and Technology Hall Auditorium at 7 p.m. Feb. 19. The event is free and open to the public.

Sleeth’s books include Serve God, Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action and The Gospel According to the Earth: Why the Good Book is a Green Book.

The conference on “Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism and Earth Care” will be from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 20 at Christ Episcopal Church, 1215 State St. On-site registration will be $25. Limited scholarships are available. The registration deadline for the discounted rate of $20, which includes meals, is Feb. 15, but participants may register up until Feb. 19 at the $25 rate.

The event is sponsored by the Community Religious Literacy Project, the WKU Office of Sustainability, the WKU Provost’s Initiative for Excellence Grant, WKU Departments of Biology, Philosophy, Religion, Geography, Geology and Sociology, the Potter College of Arts and Letters, Ogden College of Science and Engineering, College of Health and Human Services, Graduate Studies, BGGreen, Southern Recycling, Islamic Center, Holy Spirit Catholic Church, The Presbyterian Church, State Street United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist Church, State Street Baptist Church, First Christian Church and Christ Episcopal Church.

 

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