Washington, D.C., July 17, 2007--The sermon selection from the National Council of Churches USA (NCC) Eco-Justice Program's sermon contest earlier this year is now nationally published and will be broadcast next month.

The latest issue of "Reflections," the twice yearly theological magazine of Yale Divinity School, includes "From Apocalypse to Genesis," the title of the sermon submitted by the Rev. Dr. Janet Parker, pastor for parish life at Rock Spring Congregational United Church of Christ, Arlington, Va. The sermon will also air August 26 on Day1, an ecumenical radio program broadcast on 150 stations nationwide and carried on Armed Forces Radio.

"The good news is that we do have it within our faith to give us hope for the future and power to act and to change," wrote Parker.

"We have the opportunity to be born anew, not only as children of God but as children of the Earth," she wrote, "as the new Adam and the new Eve who are committed to restoring creation, who are committed to serving the creation with nurturing love."

"It was indeed an honor to have this sermon included in the Yale publication and air on Day1," said Cassandra Carmichael, director of NCC's Eco-Justice Programs. "The Yale articles clearly point out the moral and theological imperatives that are moving us to be better stewards of God's creation."

Parker's sermon is one of more than 20 articles from diverse authors in the issue entitled, "God's Green Earth: Creation, Faith, Crisis."

"Everything that Breathes Praises God" is the title of the article from His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. It is followed by an offering from Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs, National Association of Evangelicals. His article is entitled, "New Moral Awakening, or How I Changed My Mind."