A prayer and three verses of the hymn "All Creatures of Our God and King" is not the typical opening for a meeting cosponsored by the nation's largest science organizations.
Yet the opening and the meeting itself, held here this past weekend, typify a growing effort by scientific and religious communities to join forces to head off what many see as looming environmental catastrophes - from global warming to destruction of habitats and extinction of species.
Organized by the Boston Theological Institute (BTI), a consortium of nine local seminaries and theological schools, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the conference brought …