|
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. |

World Vision (International) Since 1975 World Vision, a Christian relief and development organization, has...
Read more
All Peoples Church, Milwaukee, MN In a community where the average household income is $26,700, All Peoples Church (ELCA) of Milwaukee, WI is reclaiming a garden, forming partnerships with local urban farming organizations and offering education in order to provide healthy, fresh food sources to all people. The church is located in the Harambee neighborhood, where the population is 63% African-American, 11% Hispanic and 19% Caucasian. 62% of the people are renters. There are several...
Read moreWashington, D.C. In early April 2004, Joe Sheldon, Professor of Biology and Environmental Science at Messiah ...
Read moreA TAPESTRY OF ENGAGEMENT Across the nation, wherever they live, work, and worship, people of faith have established diverse initiatives to care for God’s creation.
Read more
By Audubon International St. Mark Presbyterian Church, Newport Beach, CA When St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, CA began planning to build a new church, members wanted to strengthen their environmental stewardship and witness through the building itself. After becoming the first church ever to enroll in the Audubon International Signature Building program and meeting its standards, Audubon International dubbed St. Mark “The Greenest New Church in America” (N. Richardson, Stewardship News, Vol. 10,...
Read more
St. Thomas More Campus Ministry Syracuse, NY In October 2003, St. Thomas More Campus Ministry ...
Read more
Temple Emanuel, Kensington, Maryland Jewish, Reform Movement Temple Emanuel’s bimah, with its wooden sculpture...
Read moreJeff Street Baptist Community, Louisville, KY Anointing the head with oil is a long-standing Christian tradition—but what about anointing with sunscreen? Sunscreen anointing is part of the new “Blessing of the Bikes” service at Jeff Street Baptist Community at Liberty in Louisville, KY.
Read moreAu Sable Institute of Environmental Studies Grand Rapids, MI A partnership in missions is flourishing on the ...
Read moreSt. Mark's Episcopal Church Seattle, WA A spill off the Washington coast in 1989 sparked the formation of the Ecology/Spirituality Group at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral was started in 1989 after a priest and some church members answered a call for help to clean oil-soaked birds.
Read more
University Baptist Church Seattle, WA University Baptist Church is a small congregation in Seattle that considers creation care part of its Christian witness. On Pentecost Sunday in 2004, the congregation decided to celebrate the Holy Spirit’s blowing throughout God’s creation in a special way: Drive-Less Sunday. For a month leading up to Pentecost, bulletin announcements and verbal announcements were often heard to encourage a day to walk, bus, carpool, or bike to church on...
Read moreMount St. John Dayton, OHVisit site... In 1985 the state of Ohio dug a 14-acre, 40-foot deep gravel borrow pit on the Mt. St. John property, ...
Read moreUnited Methodist Church of Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA Members of the United Methodist Church of Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, CA wanted a church building that demonstrated their values: creating a safe environment for God’s people while having minimal impact on the earth. Now they are working to build a church following the discipline of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED for new construction certification, with the intent of achieving the highest LEED...
Read more
Redwood Rabbis, Northern California Jewish, Non-denominational While many Jewish congregations may celebrate Tu B’shevat, the Jewish New Year of the Trees, with simple rituals of tree-planting or the eating of new fruits, nuts or wine, in 1997, the Redwoods Rabbis of Northern California took their observance of the holiday to a new level. As part of their ongoing advocacy to protect Headwaters Forest -- the last unprotected old growth redwood forest on the Pacific coast,...
Read more