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In the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, there is a prayer for the “Right Use of God’s Gifts,” which recognizes that God’s loving hand has given us all that we possess and asks that we might be given the grace to honor God and, “remembering the account which we must one day give, may be faithful stewards of thy bounty.”

While we were growing up, during the Depression and World War II, we learned habits of thrift and care which, while not expressly linked to the ideas of this prayer, led to our being aware of our capacity to do harm to the environment and to our way of life.

In our later years, along with many other people, this awareness and our deepening faith have confirmed us in our commitment to be faithful stewards of God’s rich gifts. With Moses, David and Paul, we understand that the earth is the Lord’s and we are the beneficiaries of God’s gracious generosity.

Perhaps we have also brought from our youth the realization that to waste or damage these gifts would be discourteous toward the loving God in whom we live and move and have our being. At any rate, we have grown to appreciate a way of life that is intentional in our use and care for this part of the planet we call home.

We also have come to appreciate that the environment is changing because of carbon emissions, and that our modern way of life may actually be contributing to undesirable changes. Perhaps we cannot prevent or reverse these changes, but we can strive to live in a way that leaves little impact upon an increasingly fragile earth. As Christians, we understand that it is Christ in whom all things hold together and our obligation is to live with reverence and respect toward his world.

Alaska Interfaith Power & Light (www.akipl.com) is part of a nationwide effort known as The Regeneration Project which brings faith communities and religious organizations together to encourage actions aimed at reducing the impact that we are having on the environment.

Faith communities are invited to sign the covenant which challenges their members to learn about the changing climate and to make choices that will reduce their carbon emissions.

This project asserts that it is the churches, congregations and other religious communities that are responsible for taking a leadership role in defending God’s creation from the harm that modern industrial practices inflict upon it.

Among the ways the project helps bring congregations to understand these issues is through workshops like “The Low Carbon Diet,” a short one month course in ways to cut household energy usage and increase savings.

The workbook was developed by David Gershon of the Empowerment Institute. We have been using the workbook in our home, as we seek to fulfill our calling to be stewards of God’s gifts.

Insight is sponsored by the Tanana Valley Christian Conference.

Oliver and Andrea Backlund are lay members of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church and represent Alaska Interfaith Power & Light in Fairbanks.