Environmental Leadership Program: ELP News: Winter/Spring 2003: Fellow Profiles

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newsletter Winter/Spring 2003

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ELP News:

Fellow Profile

CASSANDRA CARMICHAEL

Cassandra Carmichael, ELP Fellow 2002-2004, was most recently director of faith-based outreach at the Center for a New American Dream, where she worked to encourage communities of faith to take action to protect the environment. Cassandra also has worked as an environmental consultant with faith-based organizations, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and A Rocha USA, and has developed an environmental education curriculum used in numerous church summer camps and religious education classes.

How did you start working with the faith community on environmental issues?

My interest in faith-based environmental work began with a research quest in grad school. When a minister asked me to review a nationally distributed religious-based environmental curriculum, I found it interesting but realized that it did not compare to the quality and level of sophistication of secular resources on the same topic. At that moment I began to search for quality environmental education curricula for the religious community, which I have pursued ever since.

How can environmental and faith groups work together to meet a common goal?

People - mostly environmentalists - often think there's a disconnect between environmental and religious issues. Actually, the connection between faith and the environment runs very deep. Most faith traditions teach the importance of treating people justly and caring for the Earth. So, it isn't surprising that almost all of the major religious faiths have made a statement affirming the importance of caring for the environment. A great number of religious folks, thankfully, understand that connection.

Additionally, environmental and religious groups have a great deal to offer one another. The religious community can gain valuable knowledge and information about environmental issues. They also can draw upon the resources and tools that environmental organizations have created. On the other hand, environmentalists can learn how value-based, spiritual messages are able to motivate individuals to action. Religious groups offer the environmental movement a moral and spiritual argument for social change.

Environmental groups wishing to work with faith communities must keep in mind the importance of building relationships, fostering trust, developing true collaborative partnerships, and listening attentively.

What type of work have you done with religious groups?

Over the years, I've developed a variety of resources for the faith community, such as camp activity guides, a habitat manual, and a responsible purchasing guide. During my two years at the Center for a New American Dream, I moved beyond writing educational materials and began to do more outreach work with the faith community. My role included encouraging people to make their lifestyles more environmentally and socially responsible. Also, I focused on helping congregations, as institutions, change how they do procurement. My latest publication, Responsible Purchasing Guide for Faith Communities, includes a how-to manual for congregations that want to take concrete actions to be more environmentally and socially responsible. Getting individuals and institutions to change is a lot like eating an elephant: you must do it one piece at a time.

The scope of my work covers the country and includes all faiths, including Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Unitarian, Pagan, Buddhist, and more. I work at the grassroots, grass tops, and national level - from individual congregations to regional groups such as Earth Ministry to national institutions such as the National Council of Churches.

What are some of the challenges you have faced?

People in the faith community who work on environmental issues are incredibly passionate about what they do. But, they are also tired and overwhelmed. I see my role as providing resources and encouraging (cheerleading, even) religious and lay leaders to lead the charge to change. The greatest challenge I have faced, however, has not come from within the faith community. Ironically, I have found it incredibly difficult to rally environmental and funding groups to respond to the religious community's need for environmental information. The faith community is hungry for resources, assistance, and support. In many ways, that need is not being met.

What have you learned?

I was a bit surprised when I found that my "research" project to hunt down quality curricula had become a network of living, breathing people. And people have a way of changing you. At no other time in my life have I worked with a group of people that has inspired me with their faith, charged me full of hope, and left me with more than I ever gave in return.

Cassandra Carmichael, Lula Odom, James Spencer, next