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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 distinctive 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. |
First 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.
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Robert Saligman Middle School, Melrose Park, PAJewish, Conservative Movement Robert Saligman Middle School is part of a larger educational community, the Perelman Jewish Day School. The campus is shared not only with the other Perelman schools (a Jewish nursery school, day school and high school) but is also the home of Gratz College and the Auerbach Central Agency for Jewish Education, institutions which train thousands of Jewish educators. This center of learning and growth was ideally suited to be the pilot site...
Read moreGeorgetown Gospel Chapel Seattle, WA Georgetown Gospel Chapel is a small Full Gospel congregation that sits in the heart of Seattle’s ...
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Temple Beth HatfilohOlympia, Washington Mission Statement for Youth Education: “Our mission is to instill in our children and parents a positive Jewish identity, an appreciation of Jewish beliefs and practices, and a desire to make the world a better place through tzedakah (righteous giving) and Tikkun Olam (fixing the world)." Temple Beth Hatfiloh is a 160 member-household congregation dedicated to fulfilling the spiritual, educational, social and cultural needs of Jews in the South Puget Sound region. Their membership is made up people who...
Read moreAu Sable Institute of Environmental Studies Grand Rapids, MI A partnership in missions is flourishing on the ...
Read moreAt St. Paul’s Church, making the switch to solar power was a win-win situation. Not only did it provide immediate benefits to the environment, in the long run, it will save the congregation a great deal of money. In 2006, the environmental committee at St. Paul’s opted to create a limited liability company, with the intention of taking advantage of tax benefits. Sonlight Solar LLC (as the company came to be called) paid for about half of the startup costs....
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 watts has a CFL equivalent—even candelabra...
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Adamah Fellowship Program at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, Falls Village, CT Beginning in the 1990’s, Zelig Golden became interested in community agriculture and dreamed about farming through experiences he’d had on farms in Idaho and South America. In 1998 he became the first program director of the Northwest Jewish Environment Project in Seattle, Washington (a COEJL affiliate), which drew connections between Judaism and environmental protection. Some of his training to undertake this task came from Adam Berman, Executive Director of...
Read moreSt. John Fisher Chapel University ParishEarth Care Ministry Troy, MI The Earth Care ministry...
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Michigan Catholic Rural Life Coalition (MCRLC) Alma, MI The MCRLC is a grassroots group consisting of ...
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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 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...
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Temple Beth El, Bloomfield Hills, MIJewish, Reform Movement Since 1997, the Ellin and Harold Lawson Youth ...
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Church of St. Joan of Arc Parish Center Minneapolis, MN In 1997, the Church of St. Joan of Arc formed an Eco-Spirituality ...
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