At its 232nd Convention held from Nov. 14 to 15 in Mahwah, NJ, the Episcopal Diocese of New York officially endorsed the Earth Charter. The Diocese consists of more than 200 congregations encompassing Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island in New York City, and the counties of Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester. “There were about 600 delegates registered and the vote was overwhelmingly in favour” reported Had Talbot.

The resolution calls upon the Diocesan Social Concerns Committee to develop “action steps that the diocese, parishes and individuals may take to implement the principles of the Earth Charter locally, nationally and internationally”. The Diocese of New York will now put the Earth Charter on the agenda of the General Convention of the entire Episcopal Church in July 2009 that is made up of around 7.500 congregations across the United States and abroad.

The last General Convention designated justice and peace work as the Episcopal Church’s top mission priority for 2007-2009, which led to the creation of numerous initiatives to support the Millennium Development Goals and to reduce poverty, as documented in the resource portal www.globalgood.org

Please download the full text of the endorsement resolution here.