The Orthodoxy of Environmental Stewardship – How Patriarch Bartholomew’s 30-Year Climate Mission Is Finally Breaking Through in American Christian Communities

When the majority of American Christians first heard the term “ecological sin,” they most likely were unaware that an Orthodox bishop in Istanbul had been using it for many years. It has taken nearly 35 years for Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s phrase—which may seem strange and unsettling to some Western ears—to become part of the discourse taking place in American parishes, Bible studies, and seminary classrooms. Observing this gradual seep gives the impression that the transformation is at last genuine.

In just one month after becoming patriarch in 1991, Bartholomew organized an ecological conference in Crete titled “Living in the Creation of the Lord.” It was opened by Prince Philip. People are still taken aback by that detail. The fact that the then-chairman of the World Wildlife Fund was seated next to an Orthodox patriarch discussing creation care in 1991, when American evangelicals were largely dismissing environmentalism as a culture-war loser, speaks volumes about how forward-thinking he was. To put it simply, he was ahead.

The breakthrough in American communities did not happen overnight. Congregation by congregation, it infiltrated. For many years, Greek Orthodox parishes in Brookline and Astoria have observed September 1st as a day of prayer for creation. However, in recent years, the language has spread, with Catholic dioceses adopting the framing, evangelical creation-care organizations quoting Bartholomew in their newsletters, and seminary students being able to recite his statement that humans are “stewards and priests of the creation” without realizing where it originates.

The spiritual framing appears to be arriving at last. Bartholomew has never made a policy argument on the matter. He presents it as a soul. He has stated unequivocally that since creation was a gift from God, destroying the air, earth, and waters is a sin. A UN report does not accomplish the same thing as that sentence. It shifts the debate from the legislative sphere to the confessional, where many American Christians have always felt more at ease dealing with difficult issues.

Additionally, there is the issue of timing. During a period of years characterized by floods, wildfires, and the kind of weather anomalies that give abstractions a concrete feel, he published his 2025 Patriarchal Encyclical, which marked the New Indiction. He described the “groaning of creation” in addition to “the pandemonium of war cries, bombings, missiles and explosions.” It’s difficult to overlook the fact that, at a time when many religious leaders favor softer ground, he has been willing to name the environmental cost of war, including the invasion of Ukraine.

I’ve had casual conversations with American pastors over the past two years, and they all tend to characterize the change in this way: their congregations aren’t necessarily convinced about every climate policy, but they are becoming more uncomfortable with the idea of waste, casual consumption, and treating the natural world like inventory. They have a theological vocabulary that doesn’t seem to be taken from activism thanks to Bartholomew’s framing. This distinction is more important than outsiders may think.

It remains to be seen if this is a transient emphasis or a long-term reorientation. Bartholomew is currently in his mid-eighties, and the Orthodox Church in America is small. Questions about succession loom. However, the encyclicals have been written, the seminars at Halki have taken place, and the phrase “every day is Earth Day” that he has been repeating for years has finally transcended the patriarchal culture. It is now part of a much broader discussion. And the discussion about what to do with it is just getting started.