Religious Communities and the Planetary Crisis

The Interreligious Eco-Justice Network and Hartford Seminary are proud to bring you the second webinar in our collaborative series, Many Faiths, One Creation.

Religious Communities and the Planetary Crisis will examine the response of faith communities to the climate crisis from the Christian, Jewish, and Hindu perspective. We are excited to have the following panelists join us:

• Rev. Jim Antal, Special Advisor on Climate Justice to the General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ
• Sofia Gilani, Climate Change Advocate, Green Muslims
• Rabbi Warren Stone, Founding Chair, Central Conference of American Rabbis’ Committee on the Environment
• Hari Venkatachalam, Board Member, Sidhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus

This webinar is free, but donations are gratefully accepted!

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Rev. Jim Antal serves as Special Advisor on Climate Justice to the General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ. The Rev. Antal’s 2018 book, CLIMATE CHURCH, CLIMATE WORLD, is being read by hundreds of churches. From 2006-2018, the Rev. Antal led the 350 UCC churches in Massachusetts as their Conference Minister and President.

Sofia Gilani was born and raised in Virginia, where she grew up experiencing all the nature the state has to offer. She also had the opportunity to experience and explore nature in her parents’ motherlands of Pakistan and Nicaragua. This set the path for an appreciation of the outdoors and awareness of the global world around us. Sofia joined Green Muslims in the summer of 2019 as an intern and now holds a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental science. Sofia will be using her outreach and education skills, plus her passion for climate change advocacy to work with Green Muslims. In her free time she enjoys hiking, kayaking, and snorkeling.

Rabbi Warren Stone is known nationally for his leadership on Religion and the Environment. He is the founding chair of the Central Conference of American Rabbis’ Committee on the Environment. Rabbi Stone represented many national Jewish organizations as the Jewish United Nations delegate at the UN Conference on Climate Change in Kyoto, Japan in 1997, and, again, in 2009, in Copenhagen, Denmark, UNCOP15, where he blew the Shofar and led a number of interfaith programs and prayer vigils. He currently Co-chairs the National Religious Coalition on Creation Care and serves on the Global Advisory Committee for Earth Day Network.

Hari Venkatachalam is an epidemiologist and data manager for the Department of Veterans Affairs. He received his Master of Public Health from the University of South Florida. He is a Hindu activist focused on the areas of public health, social justice, environmental change, and LGBTQ rights. Based in Tampa, Florida, Venkatachalam is a member of Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus.