O que pensam os líderes de igreja Assembleiana sobre as questões ambientais

Abstract

Environmental sustainability has never received such importance as it is today, we are just at the beginning of a process of change that every day proves inevitable and urgent. The so-called environmental crisis leads all sectors, including religion, to be alert to this current and latent issue. Religion allows you to know the place where people live and their values in a culture. This dissertation seeks to problematize the perception of leaders of an Assembly of God congregation regarding environmental issues and their insertion into religious activities. The research is justified by the need to promote socio-environmental responsibility within the religious organization and enable a diagnosis of the perceptions of the congregation's leaders. Considering that responsibility for the environment must be equal in society to mitigate and seek solutions to the environmental crisis, this study hopes to contribute to verifying how this segment of society appropriates this commitment. It is understood that even though they are different fields, spirituality, and environments are parts of the same world for humans. The objectives of the research were: to verify the presence or absence of the theme in the liturgical process; identify the environmental attitudes and values of leaders and investigate leaders' perception of the church's responsibility in forming an environmentally sustainable society. This exploratory descriptive research had interviews as a technique. The research subjects were 29 ecclesiastical leaders (16 women and 13 men) from different communities in the city who worked in different evangelization groups. The results indicate that the majority (65.5%) of leaders expressed concern about environmental problems; and 82% consider that the responsibility for seeking solutions lies in all social segments, including the church. When considering the inclusion of environmental issues in religious activities, leaders admit that although they are not central to the Christian faith, 89% of them say that it would be interesting to have spaces in their communities to address environmental issues. Although 52% of leaders say they have some understanding of environmental education, it is still understood in a very general and superficial way, that is, a process of raising awareness in lectures or some simple practices in everyday life. The vast majority (93%) of leaders, however, showed interest in developing environmental education programs within the scope of congregational activities. In the perception of the leaders, their community members, in general (93%), do not seem sensitized to environmental problems, and that, therefore, would be an indication of a new approach to religious activities. The study shows the first photograph in this religious segment and concludes that environmental education programs must be inserted in these groups with the support of leaders, and thus fulfill their socio-environmental responsibility in the search for environmental sustainability in the Amazon.