Though they're taking a closer look at the environment, Barna found that evangelicals are doing so with some skepticism about the environmental movement, which they perceive to be tied to media hype surrounding global warming.

Most Christians, Barna said, are not satisfied to sit on the sidelines of the green push, and three-fourths of those surveyed would like to see their fellow Christians take a more active role in caring for God's creation in an informed and biblical way.

Americans as a whole don't see the environment as one of the top challenges facing the nation, the research group reported. Instead, respondents told Barna the nation's top concerns include the economy, fuel costs, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, health care, unemployment, moral concerns and education.

"If anything, the importance of environmental issues tends to be interpreted through the lens of their economic reality, such as how it affects fuel costs," the Sept. 22 Barna news release said.

One out of every two adults surveyed said they have made specific changes to their lifestyle in the last year in light of the environmental impact, Barna found, and a similar proportion of evangelicals had made changes to become more environmentally conscious. Most Americans said their changes were prompted by a general concern for the environment rather than a specific concern about global warming.

Among the reasons respondents gave for being skeptical about global warming: some solutions would have a negative impact on the poor, especially in other countries; the earth has undergone climate change before; the news media have made global warming a bigger story than it merits; and the U.S. economy is not strong enough to address the problem now, Barna said.

"Evangelicals are among the most skeptical population segments when it comes to global warming -- just 27 percent firmly believe global warming is happening," Barna said.

Churches for the most part aren't addressing how Christians can be good stewards of the world God created, the news release noted, and the term "creation care" was not recognized by most of the people who were interviewed.

"Millions of Christians -- no matter how you slice it, Catholic or Protestant, evangelical or not -- want to see their faith community become more active in environmental stewardship," David Kinnaman, president of The Barna Group, said. "There is a void in Christian leadership on environmental issues, as well as an inability to articulate clearly and confidently a biblical understanding of creation care.

"Since climate change is controversial, many churches have simply avoided dealing with the subject, ceding the conversation to other voices," Kinnaman added. "It may not be an easy arena to venture into, but the Christian community is ready for balanced, thoughtful, non-partisan and engaged leadership on this crucial issue."

FAMILY DINNERS MAKE A DIFFERENCE -- A five-year study from Columbia University has found that children who have frequent family dinners are less likely to use marijuana or tobacco, or drink alcohol.

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) said in September that compared to children who have five or more family dinners per week, children who have less than three family dinners per week are two-and-a half times more likely to have used marijuana and tobacco, and they're one-and-a half times more likely to have consumed alcohol.

"If you asked me based on CASA's 16 years of intensive examination of substance abuse and addiction in our nation what's the most effective thing we can do to curb this scourge and protect our children, I would say parental engagement," Joseph Califano Jr., CASA's chairman, said.

"Years of surveying teens have consistently shown that the more often they have dinner with their parents, the less likely they are to smoke, drink and use drugs," Califano added.

CASA's advice to parents includes: spend time with your children by having dinner with them; talk to them about their friends, interests and the dangers of drugs and alcohol; answer their questions and listen to what they say; and recognize that parents have the power to help keep their kids substance-free.

To help facilitate productive family meals, CASA created a family dinner kit that includes placemats and menu cards that children can decorate plus recipes and conversation starter questions that can be downloaded at www.casafamilyday.org. Continued...