“The Bible tells us that God created, but it does not tell us how, and we need to be careful that we do not force the God of the Universe into one of our human molds. […] What do we learn about the nature of God’s activity from studying the Bible? One thing we learn is that God builds freedom into His creation. […] Just as God builds freedom into our lives today, so freedom may well be a central component of God’s biological world as well. This is not to say that God is not playing a supervisory role in creation in a manner resembling the role God plays in my life and yours. But there is no a priori scriptural reason to assume that the biological world was created one species at a time by the God of the Universe “pushing creation buttons” each time he wanted a new species. […] God’s spirit guides the progression of life. His presence is never far from creation, just as it is never far from the events of my life. Nonetheless God respects my freedom and (I suspect) values freedom in the rest of creation as well.” -- Darrell Falk

Since the fall of 2004 The Clergy Letter Project (thankyou "OringAbout" for the reference on ABCNEWS.com's forum) started by biologist Michael Zimmerman, has collected almost 13,000 signatures from clergy across the United States affirming the theory of evolution and its compatibility with a non-literal reading of the creation narratives in the Bible, and a compatibility between science and religion in general. 

To give up the creation accounts in Genesis as literal accounts and to trust the scientific evidence for natural evolution does not mean we give up that God is creator, or that He created humans in His own image—no more than we give up other elements of the story, like the existence of earth or all the life which has been ‘formed’ on it.  The universe has a beginning—even the cyclic model admits there is a ‘first’ cycle**.  Atheists have faith that something physical just popped into existence, while theists have faith that something non-physical, a creator God, brought it into existence.  As for humans being made in God’s image, we hunger for real purpose, and eternal love (God) is the only purpose which passes the litmus.  Our essence, how we are supposed to be, "male and female", is His essence (love).  That does not mean the Father is “male and female”—it means both male and female share His essence.

A non-literal reading of these narratives does not result in a slippery-slope of reading the entire Bible as poetry, only of reading poetically where poetry was intended.  See this article for a discussion of how this applies to the narrative of the Fall.  This no more threatens the authority of Scripture than did Galileo, though the church sure thought he did, at the time.  The church now recognizes that the earth revolves around the sun without threatening the Bible, and is beginning to recognize the same thing about natural evolution.

First United Lutheran Church and Lakeside Presbyterian Church are the only churches in San Francisco slated to participate in Evolution Weekend 2011, which will take place February 11-13, intentionally planned annually to fall close to Charles Darwin's birthday.  The Clergy Letter Project's website reads, "Evolution Weekend is an opportunity for serious discussion and reflection on the relationship between religion and science."  If your church would like to become part of the Clergy Letter Project and take part in future evolution weekends, go here. 

The Clergy Letter Project (alternative link) has a data base of scientific consultants willing to help educate clergy members on evolution.  Somewhat locally, Jeremy M. Brown, NSF Bioinformatics Postdoc at the Integrative Biology Department of the University of California, Berkeley, specializes in phylogenetics and molecular evolution.

One downside to The Clergy Letter Project is that, even though it focuses on open dialogue, its language treats religious truth and scientific truth as completely different, overcompartmentalizing the issue.  In reality, science has informed religion, as when Galileo informed the correct (nonliteral, poetic) interpretation of certain passages of scripture which the church had used to contradict the discovery that the earth revolves around the sun.  Some use Galileo as an example that proves religion and science will always be in conflict, but Galileo was both a man of science and a man of faith.  Religion informs science regarding ethical concerns pertaining to experimentation and application.  Secularists like Sam Harris claim science can self-regulate, but not without committing the is-ought fallacy and fallacy of reification.

The BioLogos Foundation website is a rich source of educational material answering questions on evolution and its compatability with Christianity.  It was founded by physician and geneticist Dr. Francis Collins, director of the Human Genome Project before being sworn in as director of the National Institutes of Health.  Unlike The Clergy Letter Project, it does not think religious truth and scientific truth are completely distinct from eachother.  Like The Clergy Letter Project, it does see religion and science as compatible and encourage open dialogue, as well as affirming a non-literal reading of the creation narratives in the Bible.  Its website has several articles answering questions raised by literalists, atheists, and others.  This is a great talk with Dr. Francis Collins on ‘faith and reason’ and Theistic Evolution at a Veritas Forum at U.C. Berkeley.  He also authored an excellent introduction into natural evolution and its compatibility with Christianity, The Language of God.