In the fall of 2003, the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration hosted a day retreat on the “spirituality of simplicity”. Led by Michael Schut of Earth Ministry, the retreat focused on our need to “live lightly on the Earth”, to let go of the material and emotional clutter in our lives so that we can become more open to God and to our neighbor, as well as living in a more Earth- friendly way. Out of this retreat, an environmental committee was formed at Transfiguration. Its first action was to organize Transfiguration’s first Earth Day Fair in April 2004, which was a success.

 

Around the same time, a class for adults on spirituality and ecology, led by IEA founder Gary Stuard, was offered at Transfiguration. From that class, an environmental study group was formed in the summer of 2004. By the end of that summer, the group decided that there was a crucial need in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area for people of faith to work together to be a prophetic voice for honoring, protecting, and healing God’s creation. In August 2005, the Interfaith Environmental Alliance was formed.

 

IEA meets monthly, during which it often hosts guest speakers (e.g. Dallas Sierra Club, Clean Air Alliance, and Sustainable Dallas) to speak to the group about local and state environmental issues. In April 2005, IEA co-sponsored an interfaith environmental workshop that focused on how people of faith can organize their congregations on the issues of creation awareness and care.

 

The goals of IEA are two-pronged:

 

(1) To train individuals from different faith communities to organize a local chapter of IEA within their congregation (or work with existing creation awareness groups) so as to raise their congregation’s awareness of the growing threats to creation, helping their community to connect their faith tradition to caring for the Earth and all life forms, and stimulating environmental action and change in their faith community and beyond and

 

(2) To bring together these various congregations to work together to identify crucial environmental issues facing the North Texas area (and beyond when necessary), research and develop policies and agendas to address these issues, and to advocate for and to help implement these policies. IEA will work with other organizations to achieve these goals, when necessary.

 

While IEA is a political organization, it is non-partisan. We do not work for candidates. We work on issues that address the common good of the community and the environment. Issues that we have identified as being important for us to work on are air quality, water conservation, environmental justice, recycling, education, and the formation of an Interfaith Environmental Power and Light program in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area that would provide Earth-friendly source of energy to congregations.

Because of our concern about the health of our planet, as well as heeding the message of all the world’s great religions that God’s/ the Ultimate’s work of redemption includes the honoring, protecting, and healing of creation, members of faith communities throughout the Dallas/Ft. Worth area have come together to form the Interfaith Environmental Alliance (IEA).

 

The goals of IEA are: