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Email to FriendEvolution Weekend to elevate discussion on religion and science
One important goal of the observance is "to elevate the quality of the discussion on [religion and science] -- to move beyond sound bytes" notes Michael Zimmerman, founder of the initiative.
Evolution Weekend is an outgrowth of the Clergy Letter Project, signed by more than 11,000 religious leaders of many denominations who recognize the compatibility of evolutionary theory and Christian belief. Formerly Evolution Sunday, the name has been changed to embrace all faith traditions.
Sandra D. Michael, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Binghamton University in New York, will be preaching and leading a study group on the morning of January 10 at St. John's Episcopal Church in Northampton, Massachusetts. Michael, who as a member of the Executive Council Committee on Science, Technology and Faith contributed to the Catechism of Creation, will use it a basis for her work with the congregation, which serves the Smith College community.
"Preaching positively about science can strengthen the credibility of church leaders at a time when our voices are sorely needed in important debates about abortion, stem cell research, cloning, resource sustainability, and other issues," says Peter M. J. Hess, faith project director at the National Center for Science Education (NCSE).
"Creationism -- in both its 'Young Earth' and its 'Intelligent Design' variants -- continues to trouble congregations. This rises to the level of scandal when a pastor of an educated congregation preaches a world view that disregards the work of astronomers, geologists, biologists, geneticists, and practitioners of a host of other sciences, some of whom may be members of the congregation," he adds. "The pulpit is a powerful tool, and one way to use it in the service of truth is to participate in some way, small or great, in the observation of Evolution Weekend."
Zimmerman has recruited scientists from every state and 29 nations who are willing to consult with congregations. Among them is the Rev. Alfred J. Hopwood, vicar of Saints Mary and Martha Episcopal Church in Eagan, Minnesota, and Professor Emeritus of Biology at St. Cloud University, who identifies the challenge of finding resource people who "have both the science and the theology straight."
"The anti-evolution phenomenon is an outcome of poor scholarship in scripture and theology, coupled with a lack of understanding of science," says Hopwood.
For those parishes without a scientist in the congregation or neighborhood, the NCSE and the Clergy Letter Project recommend "Science, Evolution and Creationism," recently published by the National Academy of Sciences, for its clear exposition of evolution and its sensitivity to religion.
Because Evolution Weekend coincides with the First Sunday in Lent this year, some Episcopal congregations will be including evolution and related topics in sermons or adult forums on another day.
At St. Philip's in the Hills, Tucson, Arizona, Thomas J. Lindell, deacon and professor emeritus in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Arizona, will be focusing on "Charles Darwin, the Man" in his February 3 adult class.
"To many Darwin has been demonized and painted as having been driven by the Devil in his articulation of evolution," observes Lindell. "Darwin the human is gentle, kind, a doting husband and father to his children. He had very human insecurities about floating his ideas to others, even those who accepted what he had to say."
Though Darwin became an agnostic, largely due to the death of his daughter Annie at age 10, "he was still very sensitive to how his evolutionary proposal would be received by those in the Church, and withheld publishing it for years partly for that reason."
Lindell notes that 2009 will be 200 years since Darwin's birth, and 150 years since the publication of On the Origin of Species, a time for recognizing both the man and his world changing work.
Links:
Clergy Letter Project
National Center for Science Education
Science, Evolution and Creationism
Copies of Science, Evolution, and Creationism are available from the National Academies Press (call 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242; or order from the website or read online or podcasts)
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