Natural Saints: How People of Faith Are Working to Save God's Earth

The urgent task of conserving our natural resources demands the work of many. A large majority of the U.S. population is affiliated with Christian denominations. At a time when the churches are becoming increasingly politically engaged, this community represents an important potential source of environmental activism. This book presents the concrete evidence that churches and faith organizations are reconnecting with conservation and working to save the natural world. On a national level, the National Council of Churches, which represents 45 million people in a wide range of Protestant, Anglican, and Orthodox faith groups, has instituted an Eco-Justice Program. The program sponsors such initiatives as "Churches for the Chesapeake," a consortium working to protect the resources of Chesapeake Bay. On the local level, individual churches like St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle have integrated "creation care" into the core values of the congregation. Through interviews and field visits across the country, McDuff uses a framework of five bioregions in which to present the responses of churches to pressing environmental issues. She shows that the local congregation is the right vehicle for connecting social and environmental justice in a community. Despite the growth of this movement, she argues, most environmental professionals are unaware of the power of this partnership between Christians and conversation. This book is meant to help bring churches, faith organizations, and environmental activists together in the service of this vital cause.

Mallory McDuff teaches at Warren Wilson College in the Swannanoa Valley near Asheville, North Carolina, where she lives with her two daughters. She grew up on the Gulf Coast in Fairhope, Alabama, where her parents connected faith to environmentalism through actions such as giving up driving for Lent. She has a Ph.D. in wildlife ecology and conservation, with a focus on environmental education.