*4.2. Analysis and Findings from Interviews and Focus Groups*

In the following paragraphs, we present and discuss the results of comparative analysis of the perspectives communicated in this research by Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox and Evangelical Christians.

The participants were asked to respond to seven research questions, and they could express their thoughts in more than one way. Thus, the total number of shared perspectives (responses) is not necessarily equal to the total number of participants. In our analysis, we compared the views of Evangelicals and Orthodox participants by paying attention to "themes", "categories", and "senses" evolved from interviews, and by calculating the percentage (weight) that each perspective (theme) received.

#### 4.2.1. The Value of Nature and Animals

Effective and ethical environmental leadership presupposes that people place a high value on a balanced ecosystem (Clatworthy 1997; Helm 2016). So, the first question in this research interview—"What value does nature and animals have for humans and for you personally?"—was intended to show how Orthodox and Evangelicals understood the value of nature and animals. In general, Christians of both traditions fundamentally shared the belief that the main value of nature and animals was as a resource for satisfying the biological needs of humankind. This emphasis was made 21 times by Evangelicals (21% of total Evangelical responses) and 12 times by Orthodox participants (19% of total Orthodox responses). For example, one Evangelical interviewee said, "*The role of animals is to be our transport (like donkeys, horses), be our 'living canned food,' be materials for experiments. But animals haven't been promised eternal life. They don't have the 'superstructure' of the human spirit*". An Orthodox priest put it similarly, "*Nature was created for humans. Sun, sea, water, air, the earth that feeds the whole population of the planet,—these are the exceptional providence of God for a human*".

Some respondents said that nature's highest value is displayed in its inherent harmony, interdependence, and interconnectedness. This was emphasized 19 times by Evangelicals (19% of their responses) and 19 times by Orthodox (30% of their responses). Thus, ecological responsibility had to be directed toward all species of flora and fauna. Nothing could be excluded from care without causing harm and posing risks to the rest of God's creation. As one Orthodox interviewee said, "*The world is interrelated. If we stop being responsible for the environment, something (or not some, but many things) will lose its value, which will lead to the devaluation of other things*. *Everything is interrelated".*

Orthodox respondents noted four times that humans get to know and realize themselves due to nature and animals. In other words, an individual could not think of himself or herself in isolation from the rest of creation. This approach was enlightened in the following quote, "*Animals are life forms beside which a man can understand his peculiarity in God's eyes*". Consequently, not only was creation interrelated at the biological level, but also at the ontological one. Notice that this idea was completely absent in the responses of Evangelicals, which could reveal either or both their anthropocentric biases.

Evangelical and Orthodox Christians agreed in belief that God invited humans to be good stewards and coworkers with God in caring for creation. Thus, God's command to be stewards; i.e., to care for, watch over, cultivate, govern, and/or improve the earth "on behalf of God", was a great privilege. The idea was stressed three times by Evangelicals (12% of responses) and eight times by Orthodox (12.7% of responses). One Orthodox interviewee stated that, "*God could have created the whole nature, our Earth, in such a way that people shouldn't cultivate it* ... *. But God commanded this task to us. If we look from this point of view, then nature should be very valuable to us*".

Some respondents argued that nature and animals are valuable simply because they are created by God (theocentric value). This emphasis was made nine times by Evangelicals (9% of responses) and 12 times by Orthodox (19% of responses). For example, an Orthodox interviewee noted that, "*All creation has great value because, if God created it, then from the perspective of God, everything that He created is valuable*".
