Green Seeds of Wheaton

18 Oct, 2011

 

Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting Wheaton College. Wheaton is a private Christian college that has been a cornerstone in the American evangelical community since it was established in 1860. Because of this role, I was uniquely curious about what sorts of responses to climate change I would come across. What I found was both surprising and inspiring: the seeds of sustainability are beginning to take root.

While environmental concerns are not the most immediate focus of attention on campus, several steps toward a more central role are clear. Wheaton’s new Biology building is a LEED certified gold. There are portions of the campus that are planted with prairie grass and other native species. There is even a nascent student garden.

Wheaton’s chapter of A Rocha (see http://www.arocha.org/int-en/index.html for about this international organization) is a collective of spirited and active innovators. They have recently completed an assessment of sustainable practices at work in a number of Christian colleges, which they hope to publish soon.

Faculty members at Wheaton are also active in various issues related to creation care. I had the pleasure of having an extended conversation with Dr. Fred Van Dyke, who teaches a number of courses focused on faith and ecology, including an Environmental Studies course and Conservation Biology. In 2010, he also published Between Heaven and Earth: The History and Practice of Environmental Stewardship in the Judeo-Christian Tradition. In our conversation, he stressed the importance of Christians  1) people living in coastal regions and in high latitudes and 2) working in mitigation of the changes we are beginning to witness. He also spoke about the balkanization of political parties as well as faith communities as extraordinarily dangerous. He suggested that the low trust level between evangelical and scientific communities is a hurdle to addressing common goals.

The LEED-certified gold biology building at Wheaton.

Wheaton student garden.

Thanks to my incredible hosts in Wheaton, IL-- Scott and Kirby Bruzek! Thanks also to Elaine Thomas for making that connection.

As Dr. Van Dyke pointed out, the evangelical community is beginning to embrace environmental stewardship as a practice significant to their faith. This is evident in the small but passionate community that is growing at Wheaton. Hopefully, the seeds of these practices will spread throughout the country to inform and enrich the evangelical community while also bridging the gaps between liberal and conservative as well as secular and faith-based. The evangelical community has important things to teach those outside of it—be they liberal Christians or secular scientists. Through dialogue, perhaps we can learn from one another.

 

Until we meet again

More actively listening to one another

Than we thought possible