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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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A Different Kind of Car Show

Mainline Protestant

A Different Kind of Car Show

Northaven United Methodist Church, Dallas, TX Most Texas car shows show off the biggest and boldest new cars, trucks, and SUVs out there, according to Rev. Eric Folkerth of Northaven United Methodist Church in Dallas, TX. So when church members proposed a hybrid car show four years ago, the idea was a semi-serious joke. Now that joke has turned into a rallying event for the church’s annual Earth Day Celebration.  Fuel efficiency has become a...

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Reality Tours of Mountaintop Removal

Catholic

Reality Tours of Mountaintop Removal

Catholic Committee of Appalachia, WV The Catholic Committee of Appalachia produced "Climate Change: Our Faith Response,” a 10 minute DVD and accompanying study guide.  This religious education program teaches the church’s social teaching principle of care for creation. The project was funded in part by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change. CCA offers spiritual and educational opportunities such as the “Pilgrimage to the Holy Land of Appalachia,” religious ...

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True Joy Through Water: Appreciating Nature in the Festival Holidays

Jewish

True Joy Through Water: Appreciating Nature in the Festival Holidays

Canfei Nesharim, New York, NY and National Canfei Nesharim (“the Wings of Eagles”) partnered with Orthodox synagogues across the United States to include environmental teachings in the Jewish festival holidays of Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret during the Fall of 2008. Canfei Nesharim is an organization that provides traditional Jewish resources about the importance of protecting the environment. On Sukkot, Jews celebrate water through the Simchat Beit Hashoeva (Celebration of the Water Drawing Ceremony).  On Shemini Atzeret,...

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Creation Care Challenges in Lebanon

Evangelical

Creation Care Challenges in Lebanon

World Vision (International) Since 1975 World Vision, a Christian relief and development organization, has...

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Zero-Carbon Tomatoes

Mainline Protestant

Zero-Carbon Tomatoes

Episcopal Church of St. Paul and St. James, New Haven, CT “Zero food-mile tomatoes for Christ!” That’s how Josh Hill, a 2007 NCC Eco-Justice Fellow, describes the gardening project organized by the 20s/30s group at the Episcopal Church of St. Paul and St. James in New Haven, CT. The young adults are growing organic tomatoes as well as organic basil in pots in the church parking lot. The wife of one of the rectors germinated...

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Mainline Protestant

Community Garden and Labyrinth

St. Andrew Presbyterian Church Billings, MT Health comes in many forms. Clean air, clean water, safe environment. Health also comes about through acts of feeding hungry people, bringing healing and wholeness to individuals, and offering hospitality to native species. Through changing an empty weedy lot into a lush Community Garden and an outdoor labyrinth, St. Andrew Presbyterian Church has created a healthy, wholesome space for God's creation. Rev. Brent Long, pastor at St. ...

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Protegiendo Nuestro Futuro (Protecting Our Future) --- Pesticide Safety Education Program

Catholic

Protegiendo Nuestro Futuro (Protecting Our Future) --- Pesticide Safety Education Program

National Catholic Rural Life Conference Des Moines, IA Educating farm workers in Yakima Valley, Washington ...

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Episcopal Church Rain Garden Protects Water

Mainline Protestant

Episcopal Church Rain Garden Protects Water

St. Ann’s Episcopal Church, Woodstock, IL Keeping water clean is a top priority for the Green Team at St. Ann’s Episcopal Church in Woodstock, IL. When members conducted a green audit to identify ways for the parish to become more environmentally responsible, they identified stormwater management as a key concern. Large concentrations of pollutants enter water systems in developed areas covered with impervious surfaces like roads and roofs. These surfaces don’t allow water to penetrate...

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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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Mainline Protestant

Stream Clean-Up

First Presbyterian Church Kirkwood, MO For the third consecutive year in 2005, First Presbyterian Church in Kirkwood, Missouri will celebrate Earth Day through hands-on community service: cleaning up local creeks. The Social and Environmental Concerns Committee of First Presbyterian sponsored the first annual Community Stream Clean-Up in April 2003. On that first Stream Clean-up day, twenty-eight volunteers of all ages ventured into four storm water creeks with large trash bags.

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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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Recycling and Energy Savings

Jewish

Recycling and Energy Savings

Adat Shalom Synagogue Farmington Hills, Michigan Adat Shalom, a Conservative shul (synagogue) in Farmington Hills,...

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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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Over a Decade of Jewish Environmental Activism at Temple Emanuel: a Model for Greening Your Synagogue

Jewish

Over a Decade of Jewish Environmental Activism at Temple Emanuel: a Model for Greening Your Synagogue

Temple Emanuel, Kensington, Maryland Jewish, Reform Movement Temple Emanuel’s bimah, with its wooden sculpture...

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