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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. |

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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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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Wesley United Methodist Church, Yakima, WA Five million pounds. That’s the amount of material kept out of Washington State landfills over the last 30 years thanks to the members of Wesley United Methodist Church in Yakima, WA. The church placed a recycling center in its parking lot almost 30 years ago. A core group of volunteers—with an average age of 76—processes 60,000 pounds of recyclables every month. “This is much more complicated than simply having...
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Noah Alliance, National A version of this article by Dorothy Boorse originally appeared in the Summer 2007 issue of Creation Care magazine. “Speaking Truth to Power” Noah Alliance helps keep endangered species afloat “Well,” said an insistent congressman. “Well, which is it, artificially help prairie chickens breed in my state or lose jobs” He didn’t wait for a response. “Chickens or jobs? Which? Which?” Gathering her thoughts as quickly as she could, Dorothy Boorse answered, “Well, congressman, I’ve...
Read moreAu Sable Institute for Environmental Studies, MI A version of this article by Peter Illyn originally appeared in the Fall 2007 issue of Creation Care magazine.
Read moreMinter Lane Church of Christ Abilene, TX It was a difficult time at Minter Lane Church of Christ in Abilene, Texas. Marge Wood describes ...
Read moreMaryland Presbyterian Church, Baltimore, MD Sometimes a church can’t see an outreach opportunity for the trees. That was the case for Maryland Presbyterian Church in the northern suburbs of Baltimore, MD. The church is surrounded by four acres of sloping woodland, populated by oaks and tulip poplars. Members once viewed the property’s wooded lot as a hindrance to ministry because it limited the church’s visibility in the neighborhood, but now the church is attracting...
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The Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Los Angeles, CAJewish, Reform Movement The Wilshire Boulevard Temple kicked off its first ...
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Boston, MA — Boston COEJL, coordinated by Susie Davidson and Amelia Geggel, began a statewide “Pledge to Green" synagogues in Massachusetts. The Pledge, a nonbinding promise to practice more environmentally-conscious measures, is viewable on BostonCOEJL.org, which will post progress reports of individual synagogues. Over 15 Boston-area synagogues have signed on to the pledge. Boston COEJL members, who are available for consultations and Basics of Greening talks for children and adults, have also posted a Green Guide for Massachusetts Synagogues, with information...
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Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Munroe, MI Nationally recognized as models of sustainable living, the IHM Sisters of Monroe now are coming full circle. They are pioneering the emerging trend of "sustainable dying." In August 2009 the sisters carried out their first green burial. IHM Sister Antoinette Ruedisueli, who died on Aug. 16, was the first IHM sister to have opted for a green burial. Green burial reduces a person's environmental impact...
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First English Lutheran Church Columbus, OH First English Lutheran Church has been in the creation care business for the past 20 years. ...
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Reformed Church of New Paltz New Paltz, New York Sometimes, just one day isn't enough. In April 2004, the Reformed Church of New Paltz, spearheaded by their Caring for Creation Committee, spent a week celebrating Earth Day. The week's events began Wednesday and Thursday with...
Read moreThis 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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Quaker Center, Philadelphia, PA It’s a building renovation project grounded in the Quaker values of peace, simplicity and equality. Leaders of the Quaker Center in Philadelphia, PA are pursuing LEED Platinum certification for the renovation of the center’s 34-year-old office building, and are using LEED Platinum standards as they renovate its 1856 Meeting House. According to Director of Development Pat McBee, the Quaker tradition of testimony motivated the decision to build green: “The wars...
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