Rev. Sally Bingham

I was invited to be on the board of a national environmental organization. and I have been an Episcopalian all my life and attend church on a regular basis. Learning on the one hand what humans were doing to the planet and on the other hand that God put humans in the garden to ’till it and to keep it’ – there was a distinct disconnect.

My life became consumed by the notion that things had to change. I couldn’t sit still knowing that the climate is changing and humans are responsible. Furthermore it is hurting poor people and low-income communities all over the world. As a lay-person with only my passion to guide me, I would not be taken seriously. I was a stay-at-home mom, went to college for the first time at age 45, then to seminary and became ordained in order to begin preaching and teaching in California.

I am now Founder and President of Interfaith Power and Light (IPL), engaging people of faith in environmental stewardship. We have grown to forty state programs so far and more than 15,000 congregations that are, in some way, responding to God’s call to be the caretakers of Creation. IPL developed a successful organizational model that engaged hundreds of congregations, educated thousands of people of faith about the moral and ethical mandate to address global warming, and helped pass California’s landmark climate and clean energy laws.

I was not alone on this journey, but there were few others who were bold enough to bring what was perceived to be a HOT political issue into the pulpit. That was fifteen years ago. Today many religions have statements on climate change and are calling for reductions in green house gases.

The stirring that led me to my encore was all about these very subtle messages that can come your way. My advice would be to be open to them, even if it sounds like an extraordinary opportunity, or totally crazy, or you say “I could never do anything like that.” I fought this urge for a long time. People kept saying “You ought to be ordained.” I thought “I don’t want to stand on an altar and wave my hands around and pretend to change water into wine — this is ridiculous.” I almost gave up the process because it was difficult. Once I did it, I realized this is what I should have done when I was 25, not 55.

(Sally Bingham was honored as an Encore.org Purpose Prize Winner in 2007.)