Steward of God's Creation Award

The Steward of God's Creation award is bestowed to those individuals who exhibit courage and commitment in the caring and keeping of the earth in a heroic, distinguished and effective manner. Awardees are determined by a vote of religious leaders and bestowed at a public event, normally the National Prayer Breakfast for Creation Care, which is sponsored annually by a coalition of religious organizations and affiliates.

Vincent Rossi
Forestville, California

In 1999 Vincent Rossi was tasked with the articulation of a moral and ethical commentary on what did not yet exist: a Christian theology of forests. Vincent previously authored important articles on Christian responsibility for creation while serving as the executive director of the British Religious Education and Environment Programme (REEP) in London while attending Oxford University .In tackling the challenge of a theology of forests, he developed the first article showing the connections between forests and Christian theology. He is perhaps the first modern author to recognize that whenever the word “tree” is used to represent Christ’s crucifixion in the Epistles, this represents a special ‘kerygmatic’ moment in the growth and development of the church. For his ground-breaking research and article, Vincent Rossi was awarded a Steward of the Forest award at the first national Conference on Religion and the Forests which was held at Blackwater Falls State Park in West Virginia.