Evangelical Friends Church
(from Faith and Practice)
Stewardship of the Earth and its Resources.
Friends believe that when God in the beginning gave man and woman dominion
over the earth He did not grant them license to do whatever they might wish
with its riches, but that rather He made them the stewards of what was and
remains God's by creation and rulership. We, therefore, are permitted the
use of the earth and its resources, but as stewards must use them wisely,
carefully, and as under the eye of their owner. Unplanned increase of population
and wasteful and destructive use of the earth's resources, Friends believe,
are foreign to good stewardship. Moreover, the use of natural resources to
support an extravagant style of life while others must exist in poverty and
squalor is contrary to the Scriptures: "Whoever has the world's goods, and
beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the
love of God abide in him?" (I John 3.17 NASB). Consequently, both in our
own practice and in what weurge upon the governments of the world, Friends
should be conscientious examples of acceptable stewardship." (EFC-MAYM Faith
and Practice, 2001 edition, page 19).