Washington, DC, March 25, 2011
Lights Out Saturday at Washington National Cathedral
Cathedral to participate in worldwide Earth Hour; calls for environmental stewardship in Sunday Forum event
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Washington, D.C.—Washington National Cathedral has announced that it will join individuals and buildings across the city, nation, and world by turning off its exterior lighting this Saturday, March 26, at 8:30 pm, to participate in Earth Hour. The following Sunday morning, the Cathedral will host Matthew Sleeth, an editor of The Green Bible, who will speak as part of a Sunday Forum conversation on faith and the environment with Cathedral Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III.
“Our participation in Earth Hour arrives at a time of global focus on the need for our faithful commitment to caring for God’s creation,” Dean Lloyd said. “The well-being of our world depends increasingly on the health of the planet God has entrusted to us. As Earth Hour makes clear, our individual choices can have far-reaching impact.”
Earth Hour encourages people across the world to turn off their lights at one predetermined hour; hundreds of millions of people are expected to take part in the observance, which aims to draw attention to the environmental costs of energy consumption. To learn more about Earth Hour, visit www.earthhour.org>.
Sleeth joins Dean Lloyd in the Sunday Forum, a 50-minute conversation that examines the intersection of faith and public life. Sleeth, also an M.D., is formerly a hospital ER director and is the author of The Gospel According to the Earth: Why the Good Book is a Green Book. The event will be held between morning services in the nave (or main part of the Cathedral), beginning at 10:10 am. Sleeth will also preach at the 11:15 am worship service following the Sunday Forum.
The Sunday Forum is free, open to the public, and webcast live at www.nationalcathedral.org. Complimentary parking is offered in the underground parking garage, accessed from Wisconsin Avenue.
About Washington National Cathedral
Washington National Cathedral is a church for national purposes called to embody God’s love and to welcome people of all faiths and perspectives. A unique blend of the spiritual and the civic, this Episcopal cathedral is a voice for generous-spirited Christianity and a catalyst for reconciliation and interfaith dialogue to promote respect and understanding. We invite all people to share in our commitment to create a more hopeful and just world.
SOURCE: Washington National Cathedral