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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. |
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) Chicago, Illinois Seminarian Steve Jerbi says, “I chose LSTC ...
Read moreFirst 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.
Read moreWhat is EarthConnection? EarthConnection is a non-profit environmental learning center located in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was designed to provide an environmentally educational and reflective experience for both individuals and organizations, geared towards enhancing environmental stewardship and green practices. Organizations that EarthConnection works to “green” can include religious, educational, business and other organizations. The facility has hosted several summer greening institutes and over 14 different states have been represented at these institutes. The EarthConnection building itself is extremely energy efficient, and is sustainable...
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Dioceses of Iowa and the Iowa Catholic Conference Changing methods of swine production are raising many questions and concerns about the impacts ...
Read moreLimestone Presbyterian Church in Wilmington Delaware was blessed with co-pastors Bruce and Carolyn Gillette in 2004. Since then, the church has been leading the area in faith-based environmental work, completing a number of projects dedicated to caring for God’s creation. The first thing you might notice about the church is the 180 solar panels on the roof. Reverend Bruce Gillette has been environmentally-conscientious before he participated in the first Earth Day in 1970. Looking for ways to produce cleaner, greener energy,...
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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...
Read moreLutheran Church of the Reformation St. Louis Park, MN At first, church members were suspicious of pulling ...
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Diocese of Joliet, IL The University of St. Francis is one of the Catholic Universities leading the way when it comes to environmental stewardship. According to the university’s Greening of Campus mission statement: Greening, a philosophy rooted in Catholic Franciscanism, is a philosophy for life. The ultimate goal of Greening of the Campus is to cultivate among students, faculty, and staff a humble recognition that God made humanity the steward of creation, with personal responsibility...
Read moreThe United Methodist Church of Santa Cruz has started an initiative to build a new LEED Certified house of worship under the leadership of Pastor Michael Love. They have, through inspiration from the national level, begun to embrace the call to environmental stewardship. Efforts have been made to connect with other local organizations, and also to improve the congregation at the home church. The congregation hopes to protect and renew the environment with the use of the building. One goal is...
Read moreWashington, D.C. In early April 2004, Joe Sheldon, Professor of Biology and Environmental Science at Messiah ...
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...
Read morePracticing what we preach can be a challenge. For Temple Beth Israel (TBI), the move towards living out their values came in the form of sustainable living. In 2008, TBI finished construction on their six million dollar LEED rated synagogue in Eugene, Oregon. This 25,000 square foot sanctuary encompassed three design values important to TBI members: sustainability, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. Sustainability meant having a healthier indoor environment for the congregation. This required the building to have good mechanical...
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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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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...
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