Rev. Dr. Chuck Currie

Darkness Invades a Sanctuary -- But the Darkness Will Not Overcome It

My oped this AM: Darkness Invades a Sanctuary -- But the Darkness Will Not Overcome It #CharlestonChurchShooting http://t.co/lYHOoKKTky

— Rev.Dr. Chuck Currie (@RevChuckCurrie) June 18, 2015

My oped in The Portland Mercury: How All Christians Can Be More Christ-like About #MarriageEquality

My oped in The @PortlandMercury: How All Christians Can Be More Christ-like About #MarriageEquality http://t.co/1W7OvpubDp #PrideMonth

— Rev.Dr. Chuck Currie (@RevChuckCurrie) June 10, 2015

Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions: A Movement The United Church Of Christ Should Reject #GS2015

Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions: A Movement The @UnitedChurch Of Christ Should Reject #GS2015 http://t.co/gmMzJ2SphQ #BDS #bdsmovement

— Rev.Dr. Chuck Currie (@RevChuckCurrie) June 5, 2015

Personal Testimony Before Portland City Council On Pembina Propane Terminal

Good morning.

My name is Rev. Dr. Chuck Currie. I am a resident of NE Portland and serve as a minister in the United Church of Christ, currently in the capacity of the Director of the Center for Peace and Spirituality and University Chaplain at Pacific University.

I can share with you this morning theological concerns to projects such as this one under consideration. Like the Audubon Society of Portland, I believe this project is inconsistent with Portland’s Climate Change Action Plan.

In 2005, I joined over 1,000 religious leaders across the United States in signing a document called “God’s Earth is Sacred: An Open Letter to Church and Society in the United States.” We declared:

Rev. Dr. Chuck Currie & Rev. Kate Lore at Council hearing

The imperative first step is to repent of our sins, in the presence of God and one another. This repentance of our social and ecological sins will acknowledge the special responsibility that falls to those of us who are citizens of the United States. Though only five percent of the planet’s human population, we produce one-quarter of the world’s carbon emissions, consume a quarter of its natural riches, and perpetuate scandalous inequities at home and abroad. We are a precious part of Earth’s web of life, but we do not own the planet and we cannot transcend its requirements for regeneration on its own terms. We have not listened well to the Maker of Heaven and Earth.

The second step is to pursue a new journey together, with courage and joy. By God’s grace, all things are made new. We can share in that renewal by clinging to God’s trustworthy promise to restore and fulfill all that God creates and by walking, with God’s help, a path different from our present course. To that end, we affirm our faith, propose a set of guiding norms, and call on our churches to rededicate themselves to this mission. We firmly believe that addressing the degradation of God’s sacred Earth is the moral assignment of our time comparable to the Civil Rights struggles of the 1960s, the worldwide movement to achieve equality for women, or ongoing efforts to control weapons of mass destruction in a post-Hiroshima world.

In that spirit, I urge you to reject the proposal before you.

* as prepared for delivery