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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. |

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...
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Michigan Catholic Rural Life Coalition (MCRLC) Alma, MI The MCRLC is a grassroots group consisting of ...
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Interfaith San Ramon Valley San Ramon, CA In May 2003, the suffering of an indigenous people half a world away led a group of Californian pastors ...
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Reformed Church of New Paltz New Paltz, New York Sometimes, just one day isn't enough. In April 2004, the Reformed Church of New Paltz, spearheaded by their Caring for Creation Committee, spent a week celebrating Earth Day. The week's events began Wednesday and Thursday with...
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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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Temple Beth El, Bloomfield Hills, MIJewish, Reform Movement Since 1997, the Ellin and Harold Lawson Youth ...
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...
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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Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore Jewish, Non-denominational The Owings Mills campus of the Jewish Community Center has within its ...
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 moreFirst Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY It’s a green oasis in the gritty city—a restful “Peace Garden” on the grounds of The First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, NY. The building of this garden along with other efforts of the congregations active “Green Team” have helped the congregation expand its understanding of the “priesthood of all believers” to include the “priesthood of all living things” according to associate pastor Rev. Beth Waltemath.
Read moreRestoring Eden/Christian Colleges, West Virginia A version of this article By Peter Illyn originally appeared in the Summer 2008 issue of Creation Care magazine. New Generation Bears Witness to Appalachian Destruction Not many students go on spring Break hoping to get their hearts broken. But when ten students representing seven states and three Christian colleges stood on an Appalachian ridge and stared at the barren remains of a mountaintop dynamited out of existence, their hearts...
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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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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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