wfn.org | NCCCUSA Earth Day Mailing Goes to 73,000

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org (CAROL FOUKE)]

Congregations
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
Internet: wendym@ncccusa.org

Contact: Wendy S. McDowell, NCC, 212-870-2227

NCC2/3/98  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NCC EARTH DAY MAILING GOES TO 73,000 CONGREGATIONS
Theme is Human Health and the Environment, Focusing on 
Children's Environmental Protection

 NEW YORK, Feb. 3---- A National Council of Churches 
(NCC) mailing on "Human Health and the Environment," which 
encourages people of faith to support legislation on 
children's environmental protection, has been sent to 73,000 
congregations in preparation for Earth Day (April 22, 1998).

 "It is clear that the health and well-being of human 
beings is inextricably related to the health and well-being 
of the rest of creation, a connection made in Hosea 4:1-3," 
said the Rev. Richard Killmer, Director of the NCC 
Environmental Justice Office.  "Also, for people of faith, 
this is a justice issue, because it is the most vulnerable 
in our society who are most hurt by environmental 
degradation, including the poor, people of color and 
children.  Women also have special reproductive health 
vulnerabilities."

 The Earth Day mailing includes two church bulletin 
inserts, a letter from the congregation's denomination or 
the NCC introducing the mailing, a list of resource 
materials, and a two-session adult study for the 
congregation based on a newly available study/action guide, 
Your Health and the Environment: A Christian Perspective, by 
Shantilal P. Bhagat.

Throughout, the resource describes the urgent need for 
education and advocacy about this issue, giving startling 
statistics about the increased incidence of lymphatic 
leukemia (10.7 percent) and of brain tumors (30.5 percent) 
over the last 15 years, as well as providing other 
statistics and stories showing increased health problems due 
to environmental toxins.  "Environmental health specialists 
report that we are all immersed in what is becoming a deadly 
toxic stew," the resources states, and offers the following 
real-life scenarios:
  R.T. Conley's six children all had severe health 
problems.  A son was born with cancer, another with 
a blood disorder.  Hair would grow on only one side 
of the head of one child.  A little girl developed 
an acute skin disease at the age of one month.  Her 
skin grew thick and cracked, just like "alligator 
skin."  The Conleys lived in a poor community in 
West Dallas.  Across the street from their house was 
a lead smelting plant.
  Anne Anderson told her pastor, Reverend Bruce Young, 
that she believed her three-year-old son Jimmy's 
leukemia was caused by toxic substances in the 
municipal water supply of Woburn, Massachusetts.  
There were 12 childhood leukemia cases in the 
Andersons' immediate neighborhood.  Investigations 
eventually showed that the ground water supply for 
eastern Woburn was badly polluted by toxic wastes 
from a nearby chemical plant and tannery.  Jimmy has 
since died of leukemia.
  Cheryl Adams' nephew James misses 50-60 days of 
school each year because of his severe asthma.  
Cheryl and James live in Convent, a small town in 
southern Louisiana located right on the Mississippi 
River where 80 percent of the residents are African 
American and 43 percent have incomes below the 
poverty level.  Because of its proximity to river 
transportation and raw materials, Convent and other 
towns in the Saint James Parish are homes to heavy 
industry, including several chemical manufacturing 
plants.

 Because "life and health are always God's will for 
creation," congregants are encouraged to contact their 
congresspeople and ask them to support legislation seeking 
to protect children's health from environmental problems, 
including new legislation directing the Environmental 
Protection Agency to set new reporting thresholds for toxic 
chemicals which present a significant risk to children's 
health.  "We are talking about fixable problems," Rev. 
Killmer stressed.

 The mailing also includes a two-session adult study 
drawn from a longer, 13-session study/action guide by 
Shantilal P. Bhagat, a consultant for global missions in the 
Church of the Brethren who has been involved in eco-justice 
ministries for over two decades.  Each session has a 
biblical anchor, information about a particular health-
related issue, action ideas, questions for group discussion, 
and suggestions for additional reading.

 Topics in Your Health and the Environment: A Christian 
Perspective include: Biblical and Theological Perspectives 
on Health; Living with High-Risk Synthetic Chemicals; 
Environmental Hazards and Human Reproduction; The 
Environment and Cancer; Children's Health and the 
Environment; Women's Health and the Environment; 
Environmental Racism and Health, and Healing Ourselves and 
the Earth.  Biblical anchors are drawn from a number of 
texts, including Genesis, Isaiah, Psalms, Ephesians, 2 
Corinthians and the Gospels.

 Action suggestions under "What You Can Do" sections are 
relevant to the different topic headings and include:
  Accessing Toxics Release Inventory information to 
learn which toxic chemicals are stored, used, and 
released in your community.
  Joining the fight against dioxin.
  Supporting Clean Air standards.
  Surveying your home for exposed asbestos; checking 
your home for radon.
  Learning about drinking water source, treatment and 
quality in your area; working to halt the addition 
of industrial pollutants to sewage treatment 
systems; avoiding the unnecessary use of water.
  Avoiding additives and processed foods; supporting 
family-run organic farms.
  Supporting chlorine phaseouts and cancer policies 
based on prevention.
  Working to end all forms of incineration; linking 
with public efforts to control pesticide use.
  Protecting biodiversity; preventing global warming; 
helping to save tropical forests.
  Supporting President Clinton's Children's Health 
Care Initiative.
  Adopting the Shakerstown Pledge.

 Copies of the Earth Day mailing are available for 50 
cents each (ask for EJ9792).  Your Health and the 
Environment, the 13-session study guide, is available for 
$7.50 (ask for EJ9780).  Both can be ordered by calling 800-
762-0968.

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