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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. |

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...
Read moreEarth Ministry, Seattle, WA A unique partnership in Seattle, WA, is uniting people of faith with community environmental leaders to decide advocacy priorities and win legislative battles. Earth Ministry, an ecumenical environmental justice group works with advocacy organization, Priorities for a Healthy Washington, to select four environmental priorities each year. Earth Ministry then mobilizes the faith community to legislative advocacy based on those priorities.
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Northwest Jewish Environmental ProjectPortland, OregonJewish, Non-Denominational In 2003, the Northwest Jewish Environmental Project launched a year-long energy campaign, asking the ...
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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,...
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United Methodist Conference of North Texas, TX The North Texas Annual Conference has created a groundbreaking opportunity for its churches to go green. It negotiated for its 200 churches to buy the equivalent of 10 percent of its energy from renewable sources within Texas.Some congregations are taking greening a step further. Northaven UMC in Dallas, TX, plans to pay a premium to buy 100 percent green energy. According to Pastor Eric Folkerth, “It’s consistent...
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Diocese of Joliet, IL Article by Mark Indreika taken from Catholic Explorer 7/23/2008 As the Catholic Church continues to raise its voice in defense of the environment, people across the Diocese of Joliet are heeding the call, participating in educational programs and implementing new, environmentally friendly technologies. Education JustFaith was a series of workshops in the Diocese of Joliet, a 30-week program on Catholic social teaching. Maribeth Meaux, coordinator of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development in...
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South Carolina — Reverend Michael McClain is working with the National Council of Churches (NCC) to reach out to historic black churches, explain the ways in which climate change is impacting poor people and people of color, and invite them to sign the National Council of Churches’ Faith Principles on Global Warming. Although global climate change affects all people, it hits people of color and those living in poverty the hardest.
Read moreAu Sable Institute of Environmental Studies Grand Rapids, MI A partnership in missions is flourishing on the ...
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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Racial Justice Ministries, Justice and Witness Ministries United Church of Christ When many church members go to Mexico, it is often on a mission trip to build churches or houses, ...
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Benedictine Women of Madison, Madison, WI The monastic community of the Holy Wisdom Monastery in Madison, WI have been hearing and practicing a lot concerning stability: Their new strategic plan focuses on growing their community in ways that will bring stability and strength to the work of the sisters; Ecumenical Board member Judith Rock claims stability is more countercultural today than celibacy; and a local environmental expert noted that the root system of prairies like...
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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...
Read moreBrackenhurst Environmental Program Kenya Baptist Kenya is an African nation where indigenous trees and whole forests are rapidly disappearing. The ...
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Mary Help of Christians Church Parkland, FL When the Mary Help of Christians Church in Parkland, Florida constructed its church, they also established ...
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