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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. |
The West Michigan Environmental Action Council Grand Rapids, MI Western Michigan is a region of strong religious heritage, rich with faith communities whose sacred texts and religious traditions urge care and respect for the environment. Recognizing this fertile ground for environmental advocacy, in 1997 the West Michigan Environmental Action Council (WMEAC) hosted a series of discussions on the relationship between religion and ecology, inviting the participation of the Grand Rapids Area Center for Ecumenism, the...
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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...
Read moreThe First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Austin, TX The Unitarian Universalist Church holds as one ...
Read moreSanta Rosa, CA The Religious Campaign for Forest Conservation, based in Santa Rosa, California, is surrounded ...
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Oscar Romero Catholic Worker House Oklahoma City, OKVisit site... Daily contact with small, struggling farmers, combined with commitment to the social justice teachings of the Catholic Church, led members of the Oscar Romero Catholic Worker House in Oklahoma City to begin thinking of ways to re-create the local food system. Local residents desired fresh, healthy foods and farmers needed a way to sell their goods directly to the public. Connecting local producers and consumers...
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Diocese of Stockton, CA “To respect life, you must respect the envelope of life, the Earth, on which all life depends,” wrote Bishop Stephen Blaire in his pastoral letter ushering in the first Environmental Justice Sunday throughout the Stockton Diocese in 2005. The Diocese extends from the rich farmlands of the California’s Central Valley, through the river canyons of northern Yosemite National Park, and into the stark beauty of Mono Lake, North America’s most ancient body...
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 moreBeach Lake United Methodist Church, Beach Lake, PA The members of Beach Lake United Methodist Church in Beach Lake, PA, take God’s command to till and keep the garden seriously. Not only have they built a community garden, but they also work to ensure just, environmentally friendly farming conditions around the world.
Read moreFirst 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.
Read moreMark Cerbone, Buffalo, NY A version of this article by Tricia O’Connor Elisara originally appeared in the Spring 2008 issue of Creation Care magazine. Toxic fumes turned Mark Cerbone into a vigilante when his eldest daughter Sage began attending public school in Buffalo, NY.
Read moreChestnut Hill United Methodist Church Philadelphia, PA Actively providing environmental education and programs...
Read moreMaplewood Mennonite Church Fort Wayne, IN Maplewood Mennonite Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, has just about 147 members, typically with 89 ...
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Washington State Catholic Conference, WA In Washington, Archbishop Alexander Brunett served on the Governor’s Climate Advisory Team, which prepared recommendations to achieve emission reduction, and green jobs goals. Many of the team’s recommendations were signed into law, the Climate Action and Green Jobs legislation. Some of the goals are to reduce emissions from the vehicle miles traveled, the establishment of a regional market-based system and the participation of local governments in them, and how the...
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