The Episcopal Church and the Church of Sweden are sponsoring a two-day environmental event, “Sustaining hope in the face of climate change” in Washington DC on May 1 and 2.

The public is invited to attend the Wednesday evening and Thursday afternoon events held at St John’s Lafayette Square for no charge. Pre-registration is suggested; contact http://sustaininghope-eorg.eventbrite.com/

On Wednesday evening at 7 pm, Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori will present opening remarks and then the keynote address will be presented by Mary Evelyn Tucker,

a Senior Lecturer and Senior Research Scholar at Yale University and a co-founder and co-director of the Forum on Religion and Ecology. This will be followed with remarks by Dr. Kevin Noone, the Swedish Secretariat for Environmental Earth System Sciences at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and a research scientist in atmospheric chemistry and physics at the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University. Following a Q and A session, Church of Sweden Archbishop Anders Wejryd will conclude with a closing statement.

Thursday afternoon begins at 2 pm and features two roundtable discussions, both facilitated by David Crabtree, anchorman of WRAL-TV, North Carolina.  The first, “Envisioning hope: a faith-based, international response to climate change” will feature Bishop Julio Murray of the Diocese of Panama; Dr. Willis Jenkins, the Margaret Farley Associate Professor of Social Ethics at Yale Divinity School and author of the prize-winning Ecologies of Grace: Environmental Ethics and Christian Theology;

and Mary Minnete, Director of Environmental Education and Advocacy for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Washington Office and the North American representative to the ACT Alliance Climate Change Advisory Group and the current chair of the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Working Group.

The second, Responding in Hope: the local church’s response to climate change” will be discussed by the Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullit-Jonas, Priest Associate of Grace Church, Amherst, Massachusetts and Co-Chair of Religious Witness for the Earth; the Rev. Henrik Grape, an ordained priest in the Church of Sweden who  coordinates the Church’s environmental network and a member of the Climate group of Christian Council of Sweden; and Cassandra Carmichael, director of the National Council of Churches Washington Office and the NCC's eco-justice program director. 

A joint statement on climate change will be released by Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori and Archbishop Wejryd.

The Thursday roundtable sessions will be videotaped and will be available on demand.

The forum is ideal for group watching and discussion, or on demand viewing as well as Sunday School, discussions groups, community gatherings, and other get-togethers.

For more information contact Neva Rae Fox, Public Affairs Officer, publicaffairs@episcopalchurch.org.