CBF’s Brock Environmental Center sits on the banks of the Lynnhaven River in
Virginia Beach—a pastoral setting for the second Living Waters: Wading In interfaith summit on October 7. Nearly 100 clergy and
people of faith spent the day focusing on
advancing the conversation between faith
communities and the Chesapeake Bay
restoration movement. Hosted by CBF,
Lynnhaven River NOW, and the Alliance
for the Chesapeake Bay, the summit
included speakers from Richmond’s Union
Presbyterian Seminary, Virginia’s Nottoway
Tribe, and science and advocacy experts.
Presenters led sessions on theology, science, and advocacy.
Ann Jurczyk, CBF’s Virginia Outreach and
Advocacy Manager, explained where the
theme “Wading In” originated. “The first
Living Waters started a wonderful dialogue
between the faith and conservation commu-
nities, but participants were hungry for more
hands-on activities and behavior changes
houses of worship could adopt to move for-
ward in their stewardship journeys.”
The Living Waters agenda was designed to
represent faith from different perspectives.
The interfaith opening ceremony (seen
above) on the banks of the Lynnhaven
River featured prayers and songs, which
lead to a morning session focused on the
sacredness of water from the Judeo-
Christian to the indigenous people’s per-
spective. During Dr. Paul Galbreath’s
keynote session, he shared that “…our
dependence on water was so basic that
Roman Catholic theologian Linda Gibler
observed that, ‘For at least the first two
hundred years of Christian tradition water
was not blessed for baptism. Clean, living
water did not need to be blessed.’ It already
was the source of life.”
The Honorable Tayloe Murphy, former CBF
board member and Virginia Secretary of
Natural Resources, encouraged attendees to
“speak with their elected officials as a person
of faith, a person who believes we should be
better stewards of God’s creation.”
During the closing ceremony, participants
were asked to share what they would take
away from the day and to add their pledges
to a two-dimensional oyster reef in the
front of the room.
“I was speechless after reading the pledges.
We were able to touch people’s hearts and
they were inspired to ‘Wade In’—to go
beyond their comfort zone to improve the
health of our waters.”
The event followed on the heels of the
Pope’s visit to the U.S. last June and tied
into his encyclical. The Pope called upon
Catholics to take care of each other and
to take care of the environment as a way
of ensuring we take care of each other.
This public declaration raised awareness
that people of faith can, by working
together, change public policy to improve
the health of our environment and by
extension, the health of our fellow brothers
and sisters.
We were able to touch
people’s hearts and they
were inspired to
‘Wade In’—to go beyond
their comfort zone
to improve the health of
our waters.
“
”
Alice Christman—CBF’s Senior
Manager of Community
Engagement—loves sailing,
eating oysters, and playing on
the Bay in equal measure.
Participants at Living Waters: Wading In,
an interfaith summit, gather at the
Brock Environmental Center to learn how
congregations protect and heal our waters.
Living Waters:
Wading In
I
RE
NE
BO
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By Alice Christman
