BRATTLEBORO — Renewal, a film about how diverse religious organizations are confronting environmental issues and working to build a sustainable future, will be shown at All Souls Church, Saturday, April 28, at 1 p.m.
Told in eight short segments, each featuring a different, faith-centered group, Renewal describes how Jewish, Buddhist, Islamic, Christian, and interfaith groups are confronting local environmental challenges.
Journalist Bill Moyers has said of Renewal, “You will be stirred to discover people of different faiths engaged in an exhilarating stewardship of the earth that offers our best chance to yet save creation.”
Evangelical Christians in Appalachia join other groups to bear witness to the destruction and pollution that results when mountaintops are removed to mine coal.
Muslim communities in the Chicago area are supplying organic meat to the poor from animals raised by methods that are environmentally friendly and which assure that the animals are humanely treated. The project assures a supply of healthy meat slaughtered in accordance with Islamic law.
A Buddhist community in northern California is leading a campaign to save trees by encouraging magazine publishers to recycle paper waste. Catholics and Native Americans in Albuquerque, N.M., join to resist commercial and residential development that threatens the scarce water supply.
Interfaith Power and Light (IPL), a multi-state affiliate of faith communities, works to reduce the use of fossil fuels and increase reliance on renewable energy. IPL leaders lobby Congress in favor of policies that reduce pollution and reverse climate change.
Just as thousands of people in religious communities worked to promote civil rights, the creators of Renewal assert that now people of faith are working to build a sustainable way of life on a fragile planet.
Film directors Marty Ostrow and Terry Kay Rockerfeller said this of their film: “We were inspired to make Renewal by the countless Americans who are answering a spiritual call to confront the enormous challenges of environmental degradation.”
In addition to the film, local organizations and businesses aligned with a better environment will set up displays and provide information before and after the movie. Light refreshments will be available during the intermission and following the 90-minute showing.
Admission to Renewal is one container of nonperishable food or $1 per person, both to benefit the food shelf at the Brattleboro Area Drop In Center.
All Souls Church has been recognized as a Green Sanctuary by the Unitarian Universalist Association for its efforts to conserve energy and promote environmental sustainability. The church is located at 29 South Street in West Brattleboro, where free parking is available.
For more information please contact All Souls at office@ascvt.org or Kathryn Turnas at newjerseyred@gmail.com.