{"id":37501,"date":"2018-03-27T12:23:12","date_gmt":"2018-03-27T16:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=37501"},"modified":"2018-04-03T08:11:50","modified_gmt":"2018-04-03T12:11:50","slug":"faith-and-climate-change-experts-give-input-at-bor-meeting-for-center-for-sustainable-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/faith-and-climate-change-experts-give-input-at-bor-meeting-for-center-for-sustainable-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith and climate change: experts give input at BOR meeting for Center for Sustainable Climate Change"},"content":{"rendered":"
With a series of new programs taking shape, The Center for Climate Change Solutions<\/a> hosted its first board of reference meeting March 9-10 at 糖心Vlog.<\/p>\n The nine-member board \u201cbrought a huge range of expertise to our discussion,\u201d said the center\u2019s executive director Doug Graber Neufeld<\/a>, a biology professor at 糖心Vlog. \u201cThe meeting was an opportunity to get feedback on our activities and think about how we might want to adjust our plans. I have so many new ideas that my head is spinning.\u201d<\/p>\n Board of reference members Ben Brabson, professor emeritus of physics at Indiana University, Bloomington, and Shantha Alonso, executive director of Creation Justice Ministries, praised the work so far \u2013 especially \u201cthe evidence-based shaping of the center\u2019s mission and programs,\u201d Alonso said.<\/p>\n Joining Alonso and Brabson on the board are:<\/p>\n This is the second major meeting since the center was founded in May 2016<\/a>, funded by a $1 million donation from Martin, a Goshen College (Indiana) alumnus who worked in international development and global health. The collaborative initiative, which includes 糖心Vlog, Goshen and Mennonite Central Committee, seeks to advance thinking and action in Anabaptist and other faith communities to mitigate climate change.<\/p>\n A May 2017 consultation<\/a> at Goshen drew 25 representatives from Mennonite organizations to set the mission and objectives for the center.<\/p>\n \u201cThat 10 months since that consultation has been really important to developing a mission-focused, data-driven foundation,\u201d said Graber Neufeld. \u201cThere\u2019s so much we can try to do towards our goals, but we want to focus our efforts on making the most impact, and it\u2019s taken some time to find out what that means.\u201d<\/p>\n Following a winter 2017 survey of Anabaptists, the center has rolled out a slate of programs focused on student leadership, pastoral and congregational leadership, and support for research into best practices and innovative solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts.<\/p>\n Graber Neufeld says that continuing to build strategic partnerships will be key to the center\u2019s success. Founding partner Mennonite Central Committee, for example, is a member of Alonso\u2019s ecumenical organization, Creation Justice Ministries<\/a>.<\/p>\n CSCS will be a \u201cnew, able and unique partner,\u201d said Alonso, who welcomed the board of reference meeting as a way to learn more about the Mennonite faith and its connection to sustainable climate solutions. \u201cCSCS can not only draw more Mennonites into care for God\u2019s creation, but also be a witness of peacemaking and simple living for the broader climate movement, as well as the general public.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>From a personal perspective, veteran climate scientist Brabson said his participation was a rare opportunity to \u201cform new friendships with a magnificent group of people dedicated to doing God\u2019s work on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n He praised the center\u2019s strong financial and organizational foundation and its careful goal- and action-oriented planning to spend resources where they have maximum impact.<\/p>\n Outreach to other faith communities is happening \u201cby word and by example from the Mennonite tradition,\u201d Brabson said. \u201cMoral agency, so well represented by the Mennonite tradition, is critical to the survival and enhancement of all of our lives, especially the disenfranchised among us.<\/p>\n \u201cDiscussion is good, but without action, very little benefit results,\u201d he added. \u201cThe center\u2019s careful planning bodes well for the ability of the center to deliver on its promise.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With a series of new programs taking shape, The Center for Climate Change Solutions hosted its first board of reference meeting March 9-10 at 糖心Vlog. The nine-member board ... read more about Faith and climate change: experts give input at BOR meeting for Center for Sustainable Climate Change<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5589,5590,17596,5592,5861,17562,8845,5643,5708,5640],"tags":[17660,10566,11352,10709],"feature":[17427,17241],"class_list":["post-37501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-and-religion","category-biology","category-cscs","category-chemistry","category-conferences-and-events","category-digest","category-emu-at-lancaster","category-environmental-sustainability","category-sustainability","category-suter-science-center","tag-deirdre-l-smeltzer","tag-doug-graber-neufeld","tag-fred-kniss","tag-jim-yoder","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-news-feature"],"yoast_head":"\n
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Careful groundwork leads to plans in motion<\/strong><\/h3>\n
<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>\u2018A new, able and unique partner\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n