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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. |
Orthodox Fellowship of the Transfiguration Santa Rosa, California Mention of God's gift of creation has long been a part of Orthodox liturgies, and the primary spiritual leader for the Orthodox Church worldwide, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, is often referred to as the "Green Patriarch." Thus, Orthodox members of the Eco-Justice Working Group of the National Council of Churches and others felt it was high time to have a national organization for Orthodox scholarship,...
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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...
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St. Thomas More Campus Ministry Syracuse, NY In October 2003, St. Thomas More Campus Ministry ...
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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...
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Grace Episcopal Church, Bainbridge Island, WA A one-time Carless Sunday event at Grace Episcopal Church in Bainbridge Island, WA, has grown into a long-term program that is raising awareness about global warming. Inspired by Earth Ministry’s “On the Road” program, the church sponsored its first Carless Sunday April 2007. Organizers created a large map of the island, divided it into zones, and created lists of parishioners in each zone. They hung it in the...
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Episcopal Church of St. Paul and St. James, New Haven, CT “Zero food-mile tomatoes for Christ!” That’s how Josh Hill, a 2007 NCC Eco-Justice Fellow, describes the gardening project organized by the 20s/30s group at the Episcopal Church of St. Paul and St. James in New Haven, CT. The young adults are growing organic tomatoes as well as organic basil in pots in the church parking lot. The wife of one of the rectors germinated...
Read moreSt. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church Yarmouth, ME “Becoming a beacon of environmental stewardship has truly been the sum of many small, enduring, ...
Read moreEvangelical Environmental NetworkAustin, TX - Washington, D.C. In 2003, the Rev. Jim Ball, Executive Director ...
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First English Lutheran Church Columbus, OH First English Lutheran Church has been in the creation care business for the past 20 years. ...
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Adamah Fellowship Program at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, Falls Village, CT Aitan Mizrahi always knew he wanted a profession that was based on do-it-yourself, off-the-grid skills, and he wanted his line of work to be in line with a Jewish way of life. He was in his mid-20s when he found the perfect opportunity to combine Jewish text and teachings with practical thought and hands-on agricultural experience. Adamah: The Jewish Environmental Fellowship (Adamah) at...
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National Catholic Rural Life Conference Des Moines, IA Educating farm workers in Yakima Valley, Washington ...
Read moreBaptist General Convention of Texas The "colonia," or neighborhood, of Anapera, Mexico, lies three miles south of El Paso, Texas. This community has 20,000 residents; they are the poorest of the poor, living without water, sanitation and healthcare. Many are hungry. The desert community is blighted by unlimited trash dumping, chemical contamination and untreated sewage, which cause serious illness and reduce the quality of life for its residents.
Read moreCanfei Nesharim, New York, NY Jewish, Orthodox The 19th-century scholar, Rabbi Samuel Rafael ...
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Congregation Bet Haverim, Atlanta, Georgia Jewish, Reconstructionist Movement Congregation Bet Haverim’s “One ...
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