United Methodist Women Join 'Sacred Gifts' Event in Nepal

"Sacred Gifts for a Living Planet" will be celebrated Nov. 15 in Nepal. Organized by the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC) and the WWF-World Wide Fund for Nature (formerly known as the World Wildlife Fund), the event is expected to draw more than 800 faith leaders and environmentalists. Representatives include Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, Bahai, Sikh, Shinto, Taoist and Zoroastrian leaders addressing a wide range of environmental issues.

The United Methodist Women's gift is a continuing campaign to convince local branches of Kinko's, a chain of copying stores, to use chlorine-free paper.

After a 1994 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report concluded that the bleaching process used by paper manufacturers releases cancer-causing dioxins into the air, the Women's Division made the switch to chlorine-free paper and embarked on an educational and awareness-building campaign about chlorine-free products within the church. The division also initiated the Kinko's campaign. The 1996 General Conference - the denomination's top legislative body - backed the work with a resolution on "A Dioxin-Free Future."

Pamela Sparr, who will represent the Women's Division of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries at the Nepal event, considers participation to be "a really great honor" and looks forward to sharing with and learning from faith leaders from other countries and traditions. "One of the aims of the Women's Division's work on the environment is that it has a multiplier effect," she said.

The gifts to be presented in Nepal provide models of what can be accomplished, according to Kathleen LaCamera, a United Methodist pastor and press officer for ARC. The gathering of worldwide religious leaders will "acknowledge that the planet is important and sacred."

Different segments of The United Methodist Church have responded to the Sacred Gifts program, LaCamera said, because they "understood right away what we were trying to do on a global scale."

Other sacred gifts to be presented in Nepal include:

• Promotion of ethical and environmentally friendly business practices; The United Methodist Board of Pension and Health Benefits will use investments as an incentive.
• Combatting global warming in the United States, a joint effort of the U.S. National Council of Churches and the National Religious Partnership for the Environment.
• An environmental audit being launched by leaders of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations.
• A pledge by the China Taoists Association to call upon its members to stop using endangered animals in traditional medicine products.
• A team effort by Muslim fishing communities to conserve Misali Island, one of the most important turtle nesting sites in the Zanzibar archipelago.
• A pledge by India's Sikh community to reduce fossil fuel consumption in Delhi's community kitchens.
• The reintroduction, by Buddhist leaders, of a centuries-old ban on hunting the snow leopard and saiga antelope; both are endangered species in Mongolia.
• Promotion of the River of Life - a network designed to engage religious communities along the Danube River in conservation efforts - by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.

More information about the Sacred Gifts Project is available at the ARC Web site, www.religionsandconservation.org, or the WWF Web site, www.panda.org.

Further Reading:
Paper demand will increase production, lower cost
United Methodist Women urge use of chlorine-free paper
Kinko's Report Card Campaign Is Success
Tips on Using Chlorine-Free Paper

Links of Interest:
Environmental Protection Agency
Green Guidance
National Council of Churches
United Methodist Women/GBGM Women's Division homepage