Creation 1: Creation in Peril

The first subsection of “Community of All Creation” in the United Methodist Revised Social Principles acknowledges and confesses the role of humans in the destruction of ecosystems and in the rising threat of global warming and climate change:

“We acknowledge that unsustainable human activities have placed the entirety of God’s creation in peril. Further, we confess that the degradation and wholesale destruction of the natural environment threatens unprecedented harm, bringing danger to human and nonhuman life alike.”

This sentiment has existed in one form or another since the first Social Principles in 1972. From that year until 1996, the UMC “repented” of the human-caused devastation of God’s creation. Then in 2000, a softening of language replaced the word “repent” with “recognize.” From that point until now the SP have recognized that we have not been good stewards of the world which God has entrusted to us. The proposed RSP further edit the language to “acknowledge” and “confess” these things.

Destruction of Ecosystems

“[W]e are participants in and beneficiaries of complex natural ecosystems made up of myriads of symbiotic relationships between living organisms . . .”

“Overconsumption, shortsighted policies, poor management of natural resources, and other unsustainable practices have severely impacted the fragile, natural ecosystems on which all of life depends.”

This section continues the shift away from anthropocentric views of creation and toward a more holistic understanding. But this theological commitment—that humans are participants within complex ecosystems made up of symbiotic relationships—is seldom lived out even within the community of faith. Human activities have negatively disrupted these fragile ecosystems, a consequence of “treat[ing] the rest of the created world as disposable and just here for our benefit.”

Global Warming and Climate Change

“Global warming and climate change are already creating extreme conditions that threaten the entirety of life on earth.”

The RSP detail the human culpability in global warming and climate change: over-industrialization, widespread deforestation, and overreliance on fossil fuels. All are building up greenhouse gases in earth’s atmosphere, resulting in sea level rise, growing acidification of world’s oceans, increased droughts and famines, and intensification of extreme weather events.

“Climate scientists warn that the window of opportunity for reversing the negative effects of global warming and climate change is rapidly closing. Without concerted action . . . the negative effects will become irreversible.”

This call to action reminds humans that we are not only part of the problem, but we also ought  to be part of the solution. It is here that the absence of language of repentance is most deeply felt, for that is what is being called for here. Confession is an acknowledgement or recognition of sin, but repentance is the act of turning away from what is evil and toward what is good; turning away from sin and toward God. By calling humans to take action to reverse the effects of climate change, the RSP are calling us to repentance.

One way the RSP suggests humans do this is to invest in “research, development, and distribution of alternatives to fossil fuels,” but in ways that are mindful not to worsen current problems or create new ones.

Analysis of RSP: Creation in Peril

The UM Social Principles have always stated concern for the natural world, God’s creation, and have always acknowledged the human role in worsening climate crises. This section in the RSP does not add much new content to the UMC’s commitments to creation.

However, its vague overgeneralizations and lack of citations is problematic. At least in the United States, and potentially in other places around the world, many people are skeptical of or outright deny the role of humans in contributing to climate change. Though this is not a position with which I agree, nor is it the majority opinion of the scientific community, in many places climate change is still presented as a partisan political issue.

In order to keep the UMC from being unnecessarily pulled into these debates, and to strengthen its own position, this section of the RSP ought to cite sources to back up its sweeping claims and add specific facts and figures where appropriate.

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Read the full proposed revised UMC Social Principles and find resources to engage your congregation in studying the document here: umcsocialprinciples2021.org

All quotes from UMRSP, “Community of All Creation: Preface.”

Top image: Old Tree by Pamela Rosenkranz, an art installation on the High Line, New York City, 2023. From the artist: “The tree’s sanguine color resembles the branching systems of human organs, blood vessels, and tissue, inviting viewers to consider the indivisible connection between human and plant life. Old Tree evokes metaphors for the ancient wisdom of human evolution as well as a future in which the synthetic has become nature.” Learn more: https://www.thehighline.org/art/projects/pamela-rosenkranz/