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Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life
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US Conference of Catholic Bishops
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National Religious Partnership for the Environment
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National Council of Churches of Christ
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Evangelical Environmental Network
God said: This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations.(Gen 9:12)

Caring for God's Creation

Love and gratitude for God's creation lie deep within religious life. From mountaintops to forests, green pastures to still waters, stars in the sky and lilies of the field, we experience the grace of our Creator and the gift of our presence here.

With Earth in grave environmental peril, many religious Americans are seeking to respond through our faith. Through the many gateways and galleries of this website, we offer resources and accounts of how people of faith are acting upon God's mandate to be stewards of our precious Earth.

Partners in Stewardship

The National Religious Partnership for the Environment is an association of independent faith groups across a broad spectrum: the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the National Council of Churches U.S.A., the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, and the Evangelical Environmental Network.

Each Partner — in common biblical faith but drawing upon its disctinctive traditions — is undertaking scholarship, leadership training, congregational and agency initiative, and public policy education in service to environmental sustainability and justice. Together, they seek to offer resources of religious life and moral vision to a universal effort to protect humankind's common home and well-being on Earth.

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Events: Jewish Energy Covenant Campaign

Jewish Energy Covenant Campaign Signing

50 Jewish leaders commit to reduce energy use, advocate for energy security: leaders across the political and religious spectrum celebrate Tu B'shvat by setting goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 14% by 2014.  Read the declaration...  List of signatories...

Events: Calling All Scholars!

Catholic Climate Covenant: Care for Creation. Care for the Poor.
The Catholic Coalition on Climate Change, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Catholic University of America, and CUA's Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies are cosponsoring a scholars' conference to explore the implications of recent papal teaching, particularly that of Pope Benedict XVI, on creation, solidarity and environmental justice. Scholars across academic disciplines (especially from theology, religious studies, philosophy, and economics, as well as public health, history, biology and other sciences) are encouraged to submit proposals for papers addressing the implications of Pope Benedict XVI's ecological vision, particularly for the Catholic Church in the United States. Proposals are due March 31, 2012.
Call for papers...

Events: Upcoming NCCC Eco-Justice Events

  • Live Webcast: The Intersection of Poverty and the Environment. April 21 at 12:00pm ET.
    Learn more...

  • Interfaith Moral Action on Climate. April 21-27 in Washington DC and many other communities.
    Learn more...

  • Webinar: Healthy Aging for An Abundant Life. May 15, 2:00pm ET.
    Learn more & Register now...

  • Symposium: Religion and Environmental Stewardship. June 5-7 at Yale Divinity School. Register by May 1st, 2012.
    Register now...

  • Seminar: Food, Glorious Food: The Eucharist and Your Foodshed. June 18-24. New Mexico.
    Learn more...

Events: Global Day of Prayer

Evangelical Environmental Network
 
 
The 3rd Day of Prayer for Creation Care will be held Thursday April 26, 2012 and will be hosted in Washington DC. This year our prayers will be globally focused. Dr. Chris Wright of the Langham Partnership will be the keynote speaker. Save the date and be sure to join us in Washington DC. Registration is now open!


RECENT NEWS

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Ecumenical Garden Cultivates Restorative Justice

Mainline Protestant

Ecumenical Garden Cultivates Restorative Justice

Madison Christian Community, Madison, WI It’s a ministry that scatters seeds of hope for incarcerated people. Madison Christian Community, an ecumenical partnership between Advent Lutheran Church (ELCA) and Community of Hope (UCC) in Madison, WI, works with a nearby correctional facility to offer a restorative justice-based horticulture program in its 6000 square foot garden. “The garden ministry is one way to bridge the racial, economic and social barriers that exist between people today,”...

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Carless Sunday Creates Community

Mainline Protestant

Carless Sunday Creates Community

Grace Episcopal Church, Bainbridge Island, WA A one-time Carless Sunday event at Grace Episcopal Church in Bainbridge Island, WA, has grown into a long-term program that is raising awareness about global warming. Inspired by Earth Ministry’s “On the Road” program, the church sponsored its first Carless Sunday April 2007. Organizers created a large map of the island, divided it into zones, and created lists of parishioners in each zone. They hung it in the...

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Jewish

Communication With Policy Makers

This is a support document for the Jewish Stewardship Story, "Speaking Out for Children's Health," and is a sample legislative advocacy letter:   The California Interfaith Partnership for Children's Health and the Environment, California Interfaith, with Jewish participation [Besides focusing on public education, the California Interfaith Partnership for Children’s Health and the Environment facilitates communication with policy makers – through face-to-face meetings, letters, and calls. The following is an example of the type of letter facilitated by the Interfaith Partnership.]

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Getting Yourself Into A Pickle

Jewish

Getting Yourself Into A Pickle

Adamah Fellowship Program at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, Falls Village, CT Beginning in the 1990’s, Zelig Golden became interested in community agriculture and dreamed about farming through experiences he’d had on farms in Idaho and South America.  In 1998 he became the first program director of the Northwest Jewish Environment Project in Seattle, Washington (a COEJL affiliate), which drew connections between Judaism and environmental protection.  Some of his training to undertake this task came from Adam Berman, Executive Director of...

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Green Week at St. Francis University

Catholic

Green Week at St. Francis University

Diocese of Joliet, IL The University of St. Francis is one of the Catholic Universities leading the way when it comes to environmental stewardship. According to the university’s Greening of Campus mission statement: Greening, a philosophy rooted in Catholic Franciscanism, is a philosophy for life. The ultimate goal of Greening of the Campus is to cultivate among students, faculty, and staff a humble recognition that God made humanity the steward of creation, with personal responsibility...

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Evangelical

Environmental Racism

Mission Year, Atlanta, GA A version of this article by Leroy Barber originally appeared in the Spring 2008 issue of Creation Care magazine. Leroy Barber lives in an unjust American landscape. The people in his church live in one of Atlanta’s urban sacrifice zones. If you sat down to list the social ills that are unequally visited on his neighborhood, you might be able to name a few of the most prominent. But environmental injustices likely...

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Evangelical

“Monarch Mania” Leaves No Child Inside

Lakeland Christian School, Lakeland, FL A version of this article originally appeared in the Spring 2008 issue of Creation Care magazine. Since 1998, “Monarch Mania” has been an annual event at Lakeland Christian School. It started with a local butterfly entrepreneur, Gil Daigneau, who stopped by the school and left elementary principal Fred Wiechmann a monarch chrysalis hot-glued to a Golden Dewdrop plant.

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Center for Earth Spirituality and Rural Ministry (CESRM)

Catholic

Center for Earth Spirituality and Rural Ministry (CESRM)

School Sisters of Notre Dame Mankato, MN The Center for Earth Spirituality and Rural Ministry ...

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Faith Communities Clamor for Clean Air

Mainline Protestant

Faith Communities Clamor for Clean Air

Second Presbyterian Church, Carlisle, PA When more than 100 physicians in Cumberland County, PA, published a warning statement about the high levels of diesel particulate matter in the air, Rev. Jennifer McKenna called to find out what they were going to do about it. Upon learning they had no plans to act, she spurred her congregation at Second Presbyterian Church in Carlisle, PA, to advocacy. Together, they formed the Clean Air Board of Central...

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After the Storm

Mainline Protestant

After the Storm

First Grace United Methodist Church, New Orleans, LA The people of First Grace UMC of New Orleans, LA, know first hand the devastation caused by severe storm events. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed First UMC of New Orleans and Grace UMC. When the churches merged to form First Grace UMC 13 months later, sustainability became a top priority. “One of the most at-risk cities for the effects of global warming is New Orleans, and one...

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Interfaith

Sustainable Futures Task Force

New Mexico Conference of Churches Albuquerque, NM The New Mexico Conference of Churches (NMCC) ...

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Downtown Church Spurs Green Renewal

Mainline Protestant

Downtown Church Spurs Green Renewal

Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Cleveland, OH In a city struggling with economic hardship, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Cleveland, OH, stands for green renewal. In 2002, the cathedral, in conjunction with the Diocese of Ohio, expanded its buildings using green building principles and became an example of urban revitalization as well as sustainable development. As the city’s first downtown green renovation, the project won the Cleveland Engineering Society’s Excellence in Renovation Award and was a ...

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Sprawl Education Project

Catholic

Sprawl Education Project

Archdiocese of Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA In the crowded metropolis of Los Angeles sprawling ...

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Mainline Protestant

Urban Green Team

First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY It’s a green oasis in the gritty city—a restful “Peace Garden” on the grounds of The First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, NY. The building of this garden along with other efforts of the congregations active “Green Team” have helped the congregation expand its understanding of the “priesthood of all believers” to include the “priesthood of all living things” according to associate pastor Rev. Beth Waltemath.

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