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[Back to index of April 2007 articles] VTS forum to address earth’s water crisis By Charles Dervarics “Water is a precious commodity, much more valuable than gold,” said Canon Peter Gwillim Kreitler, an Episcopal priest who will speak at an April 27 forum on “The Water of Life: Earth’s Water Crisis” on the grounds of Virginia Theological Seminary. Kreitler has preached about the need for environmental stewardship – beginning with clean water – for more than 20 years, and he currently hosts a Los Angeles environmental talk show, “Earth Talk Today.” For baptisms, christenings and other ceremonies across a variety of religions, water is an essential standard for spiritual health, he said. But an estimated 1.5 billion individuals worldwide have no access to clean water, and the April forum seeks to raise awareness among parishes and Episcopal leaders about this issue and related topics. “Here we can buy bottled water from France. But a child in Kenya might walk four to six miles for water,” he said. “Water is the basis of life. It’s as fundamental as air.” Kreitler is a 1969 graduate of the Virginia seminary, and last year VTS created the Kreitler Environmental Fund to empower clergy and the church with a strong environmental ethic. He will preach and participate in a panel discussion during the daylong event, the seminary’s 2007 Mollegen Forum, which will run from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The day also will feature a keynote address from the Rt. Rev. Frank T. Griswold, former presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. Griswold and Kreitler both will participate in a noontime Eucharist. Other sessions include a lecture by British author Fred Pearce on the theme, “When the Rivers Run Dry: Water, the Defining Crisis of the 21st Century,” and a lecture by an environmental attorney. The Rt. Rev. Peter J. Lee, Bishop of Virginia, will introduce the daylong event, and Rev. Martha Horne, VTS dean and president, will moderate sessions. The day will conclude with a reception and book signing. Kreitler says he always recognized water as an essential part of religious services and Biblical stories, most notably Noah’s Ark. But like others, he took little notice of its importance in his day-to-day life until he was living in a rural Indian village more than 40 years ago. “I was a 20-year-old kid from Brown University,” he says. “I realized I couldn’t just go to the tap and get water when I wanted it.” While the issue is central to developing countries, clean water also is an issue in the U.S., he says. In his parish work during the 1970s and 1980s, Kreitler often talked about environmental issues. But after leaving parish life in 1990, he focused on the issue on largely a full-time basis. He calls water part of the “core” of creation. “Water is so basic but we take it for granted,” Kreitler said. “It’s a justice issue.” As a basic daily need, water transcends cultures, nations and faiths, said Martha Franks, an environmental attorney in Santa Fe, N.M. “Water raises people’s most basic feelings about where they are in the world,” said Franks, who will speak at the conference on the need for “a theology of water.” “The church has to grapple with the theology of environmentalism generally, and water is a good place to start,” said Franks, who earned a master’s degree in theology from VTS. She envisions the conference as “a conversation between the Gospel and the social and political issues of the world.” As a federal attorney and in private practice, Franks has worked to mediate water resource disputes involving state governments and other groups such as Native American tribes for whom water has a particularly strong spiritual link. “Water is so basic to our lives that it speaks to our thoughts,” she said. “It plays a central role in Christian theology and understanding,” she added. Individuals can register for the one-day conference through the seminary’s Web site at www.vts.edu. The site also provides links to accommodations in Alexandria. For more information, contact the seminary at 3737 Seminary Rd., Alexandria, VA 22304, 703/370-6600. [Back to index of April 2007 articles]
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