Renewal (DVD)

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Anyone who's paid attention to the U.S. presidential elections over the past 20 years knows how polarized the country has become. On the one side are pro-environment, pro-choice, pro-government-services, and pro-labor liberals. On the other side are pro-life, pro-state's rights, pro-gun, and pro-business conservatives. Though there are churchgoers on both sides, the "religious right" has claimed family values for the Republican party and has been an influential force in advancing the conservative agenda. That's why it's so striking--even shocking--to watch this documentary from Marty Ostrow and Terry Kay Rockefeller, because "Renewal" bears witness to an emerging religious-environmental movement. That's right. Evangelical tree-huggers.

What's more, in one of eight segments illustrating stories of save-the-planet actions taken by whole congregations, we even see Chicago Muslims and downstate Illinois Christian farmers coming together because of environmental issues. All of the stories tell a tale of community activism, but the filmmakers are also activists. The packaging and the "Renewal" website indicate that they hope the film will inspire more faith-based conservation efforts.

The 90-minute film begins with a trip to eastern Kentucky and an introduction to a Catholic priest and the Catholic Committee of Appalachia's combined efforts with other groups like Christians for the Mountains to stop mountain-top removal coal mining. Ostrow and Rockefeller's style is to intro and outro each episode with footage of the natural world, move from voiceover to talking heads on camera, then document the group in meetings, interaction, or direct action. I personally could have used a little more variation and less artsy and protracted nature shots (which began to feel a little like video-audio screensavers), but the topic itself and the case studies that the filmmakers chose are strong enough to make up for these slight stylistic deficiencies.

"Renewal" isn't a preachy film, but it does have a clear point of view, and given the relatively large number of scriptural references to stewardship, it would seem that the film is aimed at convincing more spiritual and church-going people to follow the example of these committed people. "If you love the creator, we should take care of creation," says Peter Illyn of Restoring Eden, an Evangelical group. Mountain-top removal clogs rivers and valleys, causing flooding, and it strikes him as a "rape" of the mountain. It's an epiphany for him and others in Restoring Eden, and Illyn, like the filmmakers, believes that epiphanies need to be shared--hence his participation and this film.

It's more than epiphanies, though, and the filmmakers know it. "Renewal" is a sourcebook of ideas for congregations who might be wondering what they can do in order to be better stewards of the world that they were born into. Maybe it will be a segment on a husband-wife minister team in Highland Park, New Jersey and their Green Faith efforts to make their church self-sufficient by putting solar panels on the rooftop, giving consumer quizzes to parishioners, and doing dumpster dives to see where they could all improve. In this segment, as others, we see them both in physical and spiritual action, with the new solar roof dedication sparking praise:

"Barrels of oil consumption avoided, 19.68."
Thanks be to God.
"Pounds of coal consumption avoided, 11,153."
Thanks be to God.

Or maybe people will find inspiration from the Northbrook Mosque in suburban Chicago, whose reaction to the animal abuse in the poultry and cattle industries and resultant high level of antibiotics in the meat caused them to look for organic farmers who treated their animals with respect, as the Koran prescribes. We see shots of them praying inside the mosque and the lead person on this venture, a woman named Shireen, taking tours of farms and talking with the farmers. In the process, we watch a dialogue emerge on religion and environmentalism, and amazingly the segment concludes with everyone sharing a chicken meal. Cultures come together as well in an Albuquerque, New Mexico sequence that unites Catholics and Native Americans in a common cause to conserve and clean up the water supply.