RWE History

For newly-ordained minister Frederick Emerson Small, it seemed clear that faith organizations and religious groups have not been doing enough to respond to the environmental crisis. "I wanted to explore" says Small "how to apply the lessons of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. to a challenge of comparable moral urgency."

Thus was born Religious Witness for the Earth, at the dawn of 2001. An environmental lawyer turned popular folk singer for 17 years before entering Harvard Divinity School, Small sought out another singer and old friend from musical circles who had since entered the United Church of Christ ministry. At Mt. Holyoke College, where she is Dean of Religious Studies, he found that Dr. Andrea Ayvazian was moving on a similar environmental and spiritual path and was glad to be Co-Chair of the new group. In the nation's capitol to plan for their first public witness, Small found a third Co-Chair for RWE in Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb (also a singer!), leader of the Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation of Bethesda, MD and trustee of the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL).

RWE in New York City, the 5th anniversary of the signing of the Kyoto Protocol - 11/12/03

Since its founding in February 2001, RWE has:

On the fifth anniversary of the US signing of the Kyoto Protocol, led a march to the United Nations where 300 worshipers joined our Interfaith Service of Repentance and Renewal, followed by teach-ins and meetings with diplomatic missions.
Led simultaneous Interfaith Services of Prayer & Witness for Climate Action in every state capital of New England.
Organized an "Interfaith Service of Prayer and Witness for Climate Action" on June 11, 2002, held inside the Massachusetts State House and in the capitols of all New England states. The goal was to call on the New England governors to implement their agreed-upon climate change action plan.
Circulated a New England Interfaith Call for Climate Action signed by more than 300 clergy and hundreds of lay people.
Organized a Prayer & Witness outside the US Department of Energy in Washington, DC, followed by nonviolent civil disobedience that resulted in 22 arrests (including 10 clergy).
Circulated a Call for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge signed by over 170 clergy and hundreds of lay people.
Sponsored an RWE Conference attended by 80 to 90 New Englanders to assess goals and plan next steps, with author Bill McKibben as keynote speaker.
Met with members of Congress urging protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and action to end global climate change.
Testified at state and federal hearings on energy conservation.
Co-sponsored demonstrations at SUV dealers in Lynn and Northampton, MA.
In March 2007, Religious Witness for the Earth led hundreds of walkers nearly a hundred miles from Northampton to Boston on the Interfaith Walk for Climate Rescue. On Climate Rescue Day, March 24, nearly a thousand people gathered for interfaith worship at Old South Church, and nearly 1500 rallied in Copley Square - at the time, the largest global warming demonstration in United States history.
Gained national media attention, including The Wall Street Journal, The Christian Science Monitor, Boston Globe, PBS, and National Public Radio.

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