Photo provided by RAYMOND RANDALL

Raymond Randall (MBA '04), a former closet environmentalist, took the Go Green movement as a call from the Bible. After forming a task force dedicated to sustainability at his church, Randall lead volunteers in evaluating everything from energy and water use to purchasing practices with the goal of improving environmental stewardship.

What does being sustainable mean to you?

In the business world, it means acknowledging that we have to consider more than just the economic impact of our decisions. As communication technologies and global economies transition our world into a more interconnected community, I can no longer make decisions with the same mindset I've traditionally used. My life needs to reflect the need to make decisions based not just on the impact to me, my family and neighbors, but also on the impact to my local community, my neighbors around the world, and future generations. This requires me to be willing to wrestle with the status quo, and scratch my head to look for better ways of doing things that will benefit people I've never met or will never meet.

What changes have you made in your church toward sustainability?

I believe the first change was in the hearts of the congregation at my church, Northland, A Church Distributed in Longwood, and I am a result of that change. The Bible clearly calls us to be good stewards of our money, time, relationship, talents and gifts, and I seem to have overlooked our responsibility to also be a good steward of His creation. The audit itself was created in a way that could benefit other churches so they wouldn't have to recreate the wheel, and is available at http://www.creationicare.net.

We organized a "Green Expo" to give congregants exposure to products and technologies they could implement in their homes and personal lives. The congregations also filled two and a half large box trucks for the Salvation Army with donations of electronics and furniture that would possibly have been thrown away. We are also producing a short film that features well-known evangelicals speaking on the issue of creation care.

Who do you think was the most sustainable biblical figure?

Jesus was perfect in every way. He spent his life, literally, serving others both in His day as well as future generations. Plus, He survived in the wilderness for 40 days and nights. Even "Survivorman" (a Discovery Channel series) only goes out for a week at a time.

How can other citizens promote sustainability in their churches or religious sanctuaries?

I believe the first step is to initiate the dialog. That can be with the pastor-type person, or within the laity. For many in the faith community, this type of stewardship isn't even on the radar. And frequently when it is on the radar, it is immediately assumed to be a political issue and people either dismiss it or begin taking sides. The challenge within the faith community is to transform the dialog away from a political argument and into a conversation about biblical responsibility - are we doing what we've been told to do? I believe the next step is to conduct an audit that looks for opportunities to make improvements. These improvements can range from changing policies and procedures, to making long- and short-term capital investments that make the facility more efficient. The pursuit of Creation, I Care in the church isn't a trump card, but rather one more area of stewardship that the faith community needs to embrace and practice.

Raymond Randall is from Winter Park. He is a senior consultant and project manager with R. W. Beck Inc. which provides management and technical business services in the areas of utilities and infrastructure. His recent work focused on helping clients such as Wal-Mart embrace strategies and concepts related to sustainability. He works within the faith community, both locally and nationally, to develop strategies for churches to practice environmental stewardship.