by Gaurav Tiwari, Lee University
posted October 26, 2009
Lee University and Harvard Medical School's Center for Health and the Global Environment will present a symposium, “Creation: A Call to Care” Friday and Saturday at Lee University. The symposium is part of the Center’s “Scientists and Evangelicals Initiative,” an effort to put aside differences in order to explore the issues of the environment and how to address them.
The symposium features contributions by Paul Epstein, Carl Safina, and Joel Hunter in addition to a list of other experts who will look at concern for creation from a variety of perspectives. Mr. Epstein, associate director of the Center, has done extensive research throughout the world on the health impacts of climate change. He received recognition for his contribution to the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
Mr. Safina is president and co-founder of the Blue Ocean Institute and author of multiple books on marine ecology. He has led campaigns to reform federal fisheries law in the U.S. and to achieve passage of a United Nations global fisheries treaty.
Mr. Hunter is pastor of Northland, a 12,000 member church in central Florida. Author of A New Kind of Conservative, he is a leading Evangelical voice for compassion issues, including care for creation.
“We are very excited about having speakers of this caliber on our campus for this important event,” said Carolyn Dirksen, vice president for Academic Affairs. “Concern for creation is a vital topic, and we are pleased to be able to approach this subject from the perspective both of science and theology.”
The symposium will begin with a plenary session in Dixon Center at 7 p.m., Friday. The session will feature guest Mr. Epstein, who will talk about “Climate Change and Human Health”; Mr. Hunter will give “A pastoral call to Care for Creation” and Mr. Safina will speak on “In the Same Net: Ocean Life and the Human Spirit.” The presentation will be followed by a coffee reception and book signing.
Saturday's portion of the event will start with a continental breakfast and exhibits at the School of Religion lobby between 9-9:30 a.m., followed by breakout sessions in various locations in the religion building. Topics for the breakout sessions include “The Ministry of Earth Care,” “Growing Switch Grass for Cellulose Ethanol Production,” “Driving Demand: A Consumer's Glance at Sustainable Agriculture,” “Sustainable Lifestyle Covenant,” and “Connecting People and Nature.”
Participants will then convene at the Dixon Center for the final plenary session between 11 a.m.-12 p.m. They will hear from Cheryl Johns, faculty member at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary, “All Creation Groans”; Paul Epstein “Healthy Solutions for the Low Carbon Economy,” and Nancy Sleeth, author of Go Green, $ave Green, who will speak on “Saving the Planet: A Journey.”
This symposium is a result of the Scientists and Evangelicals Initiative of the Harvard Medical School’s Center for Health and the Global Environment. Launched with a two-day meeting of 30 scientists and evangelicals in December of 2006, this initiative has brought people with divergent views together to address the problems of climate change and biodiversity loss.
According to the organizers of the initiative, “We believe that such collaboration will capture the imagination of people worldwide who will recognize the urgency of our concerns about the environment and be moved by our willingness to put aside whatever differences we may have to work together to protect it.”
Admission to the symposium is free and open to the public. For more information please contact Lee's Office of Academic Affairs at 614-8118 or visit www.leeuniversity.edu/newsEvents/creationCare/.
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