SPLENDOR will be a high-quality educational introduction to religious-environmentalism for diverse religious communities. With Activity Fund support, I will work with two experienced religious education curriculum designers, an internationally-respected designer and evaluator of environmental education programs, a graphic designer, and a religiously and ethnically diverse Advisory Board to complete professional-level SPLENDOR curricula and facilitator's guides for adults and teens. I will field-test these curricula in four New Jersey houses of worship from diverse ethnic and religious communities and secure feedback from participants at each site and from ELP Fellows from the Delaware Valley Regional Network and the National Fellowship Program. The curriculum, which will emphasize themes of Spirit, Justice and Stewardship in relation to the earth, will be available for use through GreenFaith's website. I will also initiate contact with at least one religious publishing house to explore their interest in SPLENDOR.

WHY THE PROJECT IS NEEDED:

Religious institutions wield significant influence over the beliefs and behavior of millions of US citizens. Despite this influence, the vast majority of US religious leaders and educators have not yet engaged environmental issues. As a result, people of faith miss opportunities for growth, while society suffers from the effects of a large religious population with little environmental grounding or motivation for environmental action.

For the past four years I have worked as Executive Director of GreenFaith, an interfaith environmental coalition based in New Jersey. I have conducted over 70 speaking/preaching engagements in each of these years and have learned that very few religious institutions offer religious education on the environment, though opportunities for meaningful educational efforts abound. For example, nearly all people have powerful spiritual experiences in nature but almost no religious educators help their members recognize these experiences or cultivate a deeper relationship with the sacred in nature. Environmental injustice exists in nearly every US county, but few religious educators even comprehend this concept. US consumption patterns harm the environment while deadening the soul, but few religious educators have the skills to engage the ethical, spiritual and environmental aspects of consumerism. Debates about "Intelligent Design" capture headlines, but few religious educators can lead an informed discussion of the relationship between evolution, ecology and religion.

Several factors lie behind this lack of religious-environmental education. First, few religious-environmental curricula exist. Secondly, most existing curricula lack a teacher/facilitator guide, and have been created without input from professional religious educators and graphic designers. Third, the religious-environmental movement is young and small, and has not yet developed a range of resources connecting religion to the earth.

SPLENDOR will help religious educators become environmental leaders, asserting their unique strength in support of environmental spirituality, sustainability and justice. People of diverse religious backgrounds will also benefit from faithful, relevant religious-environmental education. Without such a resource, the religious community's environmental influence will not reach its potential and the environment will lose a critically important community of advocates.

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