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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. |

National Catholic Rural Life Conference Des Moines, IA Educating farm workers in Yakima Valley, Washington ...
Read moreMission Year, Atlanta, GA A version of this article by Leroy Barber originally appeared in the Spring 2008 issue of Creation Care magazine. Leroy Barber lives in an unjust American landscape. The people in his church live in one of Atlanta’s urban sacrifice zones. If you sat down to list the social ills that are unequally visited on his neighborhood, you might be able to name a few of the most prominent. But environmental injustices likely...
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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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This is a support document for the Jewish Stewardship Story, "Over a Decade of Jewish Environmental Activism at Temple Emanuel: a Model for Greening Your Synagogue," and is an example of a congregation's environmental policy statement: Adopted by the Board of Trustees, December 19, 2003 Introduction In 1992, the Temple Emanuel Board of Trustees ...
Read moreEpiscopal Diocese of Ohio, OH The Episcopal Diocese of Ohio is changing attitudes about global warming by helping churches change light bulbs. Bishop Mark Hollingsworth and intern Andy Barnett are leading a campaign titled “How Many Light Bulbs Does it Take to Change an Episcopalian?” The program provides up to $250 per church to all 95 churches throughout the diocese to replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). “Almost any bulb under 250...
Read moreCanfei Nesharim, New York, NY Jewish, Orthodox The 19th-century scholar, Rabbi Samuel Rafael ...
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Michigan Catholic Rural Life Coalition (MCRLC) Alma, MI The MCRLC is a grassroots group consisting of ...
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Jewish Reconstructionist Community, Evanston, IL CONGRATULATIONS TO JRC for receiving LEED Platinum Certification in October 2008 – giving them the status of the greenest synagogue on the planet! [Compiled from Rabbi Brant Rosen’s Blog] Rabbi Rosen: “Our decision to achieve a gold or platinum LEED rating required careful consideration of sustainable strategies and a comprehensive, holistic approach to the building design. The design of our synagogue included sustainable components such as reclaimed, recycled and rapidly...
Read moreLakeland 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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Imago Dei Community, Portland, OR Adapted from an article, “Restoring the Scandal of Christmas” by Rick McKinley, in the Fall 2007 issue of Creation Care magazine. Imago Dei Community began meeting weekly in 2000 for worship, teaching and gathering in community to develop their core group. As of 2008, an average of 1400 people attend Imago Dei every Sunday. Many of those people are active in serving the city of Portland, OR in one of their...
Read more![[Intergenerational] Family Fun on the Farm](http://www.nrpe.org/modules/mod_news_pro_gk4/cache/stories.profiles.A_28_01_dava_annansp_181.jpg)
Taste of Adamah at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, Falls Village, CT Dava Schub was looking for something to do with her 6-year old niece and 4-year old nephew that did not involve a lot of bells and whistles. These New York City kids were over-stimulated to begin with, so she wanted an activity that would be more grounded and centered, and perhaps more quiet, but also exciting for them. Having met Adam Berman, ...
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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, ...
Read moreTrinity Vineyard, Atlanta, GA A version of this article by Jason Chatraw originally appeared in the Summer 2007 issue of Creation Care magazine. Eureka! Get[ting] Out - Inner City Youth Embrace Creation Over Baseball As the groundswell of support continues to grow for incorporating creation care into the life of church ministry, ways to approach teaching good stewardship and an appreciation for God’s creation may vary vastly. There are simple, obvious ways—and then there are ways you...
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Fermi Project, Suwanee, GA Adapted from an article, “From Nightmare to Dream Come True” by Jeff Shinaberger, in the Summer 2007 issue of Creation Care magazine. Like many Biblical inspirations, this story begins with a dream, or moreover, a nightmare. Jeff Shinaberger dreamt of a boy, about eight years old, four feet tall, no shirt, wearing only ripped up mud-stained pants, with an extended belly. He watched the boy dip a glass into a filthy puddle...
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