Theological Rationale
God calls Christians to be responsible stewards of God's creation, which includes ensuring the right of future generations to inhabit a livable planet.

Psalm 24 declares "the earth is the Lord's" and Genesis 1:31 proclaims, "God saw everything God had made, and indeed it was very good."

God's counsel to Job, "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth" reminds us of the sacred character of God's creation and warns us against human efforts to exert godlike power over the earth.

Christian responsibility to God requires stewardship toward the natural world and compassion and justice toward the most vulnerable members of the human family. Those who love and serve God cannot help feeling concern that the harmful effects of climate change most severely touch the most vulnerable of the world's population.

Climate change is not simply a matter of scientific observation; it is becoming the story of God's children in need.

Background
The Twenty Second General Synod of the United Church of Christ in 1999 adopted a Resolution on Global Warming recognizing the serious environmental danger and emphasizing the biblical mandate that we act as stewards of God's creation; affirming the greater responsibility of industrial nations and especially the United States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; encouraging local churches, Conferences, Associations and national agencies to educate and advocate for ratification of the Kyoto Climate Change Treaty and urging us to examine our own lifestyles to assure the minimum production of wastes and emissions that threaten the environment.

All members of the United Church of Christ were urged to engage in advocacy and appeal to elected officials to support legislation that would regulate and reduce pollution and provide alternatives to the burning of fossil fuels.

Now, in 2007, as we observe the 50th anniversary of the United Church of Christ, the urgency surrounding climate change has grown significantly and, at the same time, the strength of the worldwide environmental movement among governments, corporations and citizen organizations has shown new strength, even in recent months.

Beginning in early February 2007 and nearly monthly since, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, representing 90% consensus among 2,500 scientists, has issued sobering reports, with recommendations, that the burning of fossil fuels and other human activities are driving climate change.

With the near unanimity among scientists about the causes of worldwide climate change and the new public interest in responsible care of the earth, it is appropriate, in fact imperative, that members of the United Church of Christ recommit ourselves to the care of God's precious earth and reaffirm our efforts to educate and advocate for responsible policies and practices.

Resolution
WHEREAS, the impact of global warming, as currently predicted and understood by leading scientists and scientific bodies around the world in reports of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, as well as in reports of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Academy of Sciences, will dramatically and negatively alter God's gracious gift of creation;

WHEREAS, the effects of global warming are already clearly evidenced in the melting of glaciers and shrinking of the polar caps, threatening the polar bear with extinction and the Native Peoples of the Artic with loss of food resources, land, ancient traditions and ways of being in the world;

WHEREAS, experts speak with a profound sense of urgency and clearly state that the window of opportunity to avoid catastrophic climate change is rapidly diminishing;

WHEREAS, the predicted impact of global warming will have a disproportionate impact on those living in poverty, least developed countries, the elderly and children and those least responsible for the emissions of greenhouse gases;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the 26th General Synod of the United Church of Christ admits Christian complicity in the damage human beings have caused to the earth's climate system and other planetary life systems, and urges recommitment to the Christian vocation of responsible stewardship of God's creation, and expresses profound concern for the pending environmental, economic, and social tragedies threatened by global warming, to creation, human communities and traditional sacred spaces;

WE FURTHER RESOLVE that the 26th General Synod of the United Church of Christ urges the United States Government to respond to global warming with great urgency and firm leadership by supporting mandatory measures that reduce the absolute amount of green house gas emissions, and in particular emissions of carbon dioxide, to levels recommended by nationally and internationally recognized and respected scientific bodies;

WE FURTHER RESOLVE that the 26th Synod of the United Church of Christ urges state and local governments to support and invest in energy conservation and, specifically, in sustainable, renewable and affordable systems of transportation, and calls on business and industry to lead in responses to global warming through increased investments in efficient and sustainable energy technologies that are economically accessible and just;

WE FURTHER RESOLVE that the 26th General Synod of the United Church of Christ urges all segments of the Church to address global warming in their decisions and investments and in their educational and advocacy efforts;

TO THAT END, the 26th General Synod of the United Church of Christ calls on the Covenanted Ministries of the United Church of Christ, specifically Wider Church Ministries and Justice and Witness Ministries, to address the severe nature of this global warming crisis as one of the most urgent threats to humankind and, indeed, all of God's precious planet earth and that Local Church Ministries develop materials to help churches “green” their buildings.