Several evangelical groups are sponsoring an 18-day pilgrimage across several states on the East Coast to raise awareness about environmental concerns.

Starting on Saturday in West Virginia, dozens of participants will walk through that state, then Virginia and finally arrive at Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., later this month. The more than 300-mile creation care walk will take place ahead of the National Day of Prayer for Creation Care on May 25.

The Rev. Mitch Hescox, president and CEO of the Evangelical Environmental Network, said he is participating in the walk because of a five-year-old girl from Tanzania. The girl has to walk 12 miles each day for water because of the devastation caused by deforestation, climate change and other environmental degradation that has destroyed the local watershed. more >>

God communicates with people through the written word and through nature, said a Florida megachurch pastor on the eve of Earth Day.

Pastor Joel Hunter of Northland, a Church Distributed, in Longwood, Fla., cited Romans 1:20 Wednesday evening at the Hope for Creation event. He said like the Bible verse, which says God’s invisible qualities can be seen through creation, God allows people to understand Him through nature.

“The word of God is really both nature and Scripture but in Scripture it commands us to do exactly what we are doing tonight, and that is to guard God’s creation,” said Hunter, who co-hosted the Hope for Creation event with Dr. Matthew Sleeth, the founder of Blessed Earth and the visionary behind the event. more >>

Churches around the world are celebrating the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on Thursday. And while some are taking the call to go green to a whole new level, others are more hesitant.

"I think our churches should be the first to push the envelope in terms of reducing our carbon footprint," Molly Harper Haines, 27, told the United Methodist News Service. "If every church 'got off the grid' by installing solar panels or using wind energy (for example), had community gardens to grow food and flowers for decorations ... the world would be a different place."

United Methodists are among dozens of Christian groups taking seriously the call for creation stewardship and for greener congregations. more >>

LONDON – The Methodist Church of Great Britain is giving its members the opportunity to make their voices heard on climate change as part of a newly launched consultation.

They are being invited to share their views on the draft Methodist Conference Statement on climate change, "Hope in God’s Future."

The statement draws on a joint report of the same title on climate change received by the Methodist Conference in 2009 and written in collaboration with the United Reformed Church and Baptist Union of Great Britain. more >>

A few years ago, I was invited by a group of Harvard scholars, well-known scientists, and clergymen to visit Alaska. Our visit was to investigate the effects of climate change in that state. Alaska is unique by virtue of the fact that its environment is so varied that one can observe everything from regime change of insects, the melting of glaciers, the erosion of islands, and the change in spawning patterns of salmon. I left the trip concerned that green-activists would overstate genuine changes that were happening and force the nation into non-productive reactions to what are our real problems.

After I returned home, I did further research asking the following question. How can we satisfy the scientists’ concerns while producing a genuine return on our investment? Yet I was shocked to find out that very often the poor are not actually considered in the strategic planning of projects.

Therefore, two years ago I joined several civil rights organizations that developed a poignant campaign called “Stop the War on the Poor!” To the surprise of media who attended to our first press conference, our target was not the banking industry or automobile industry. We wanted to send the message to environmental leaders that our own domestic poor must be considered in this critical time. We wanted to raise a warning that the green supporters who promoted measures to drive up energy costs as a way of “forcing” conservation were hurting the impoverished. more >>

Hispanic evangelical leaders for the first time are pushing for action on climate change.

Leaders of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, the Hispanic version of the National Association of Evangelicals, joined the Evangelical Environmental Network Wednesday to announce their new partnership.

The two organizations plan to meet elected officials in Washington and work together to educate Hispanic churches on creation care, including helping churches learn how to be more energy efficient. more >>