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Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life
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US Conference of Catholic Bishops
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National Religious Partnership for the Environment
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National Council of Churches of Christ
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Evangelical Environmental Network
God said: This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations.(Gen 9:12)

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.

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Events: Jewish Energy Covenant Campaign

Jewish Energy Covenant Campaign Signing

50 Jewish leaders commit to reduce energy use, advocate for energy security: leaders across the political and religious spectrum celebrate Tu B'shvat by setting goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 14% by 2014.  Read the declaration...  List of signatories...

Events: Calling All Scholars!

Catholic Climate Covenant: Care for Creation. Care for the Poor.
The Catholic Coalition on Climate Change, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Catholic University of America, and CUA's Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies are cosponsoring a scholars' conference to explore the implications of recent papal teaching, particularly that of Pope Benedict XVI, on creation, solidarity and environmental justice. Scholars across academic disciplines (especially from theology, religious studies, philosophy, and economics, as well as public health, history, biology and other sciences) are encouraged to submit proposals for papers addressing the implications of Pope Benedict XVI's ecological vision, particularly for the Catholic Church in the United States. Proposals are due March 31, 2012.
Call for papers...

Events: Upcoming NCCC Eco-Justice Events

  • Live Webcast: The Intersection of Poverty and the Environment. April 21 at 12:00pm ET.
    Learn more...

  • Interfaith Moral Action on Climate. April 21-27 in Washington DC and many other communities.
    Learn more...

  • Webinar: Healthy Aging for An Abundant Life. May 15, 2:00pm ET.
    Learn more & Register now...

  • Symposium: Religion and Environmental Stewardship. June 5-7 at Yale Divinity School. Register by May 1st, 2012.
    Register now...

  • Seminar: Food, Glorious Food: The Eucharist and Your Foodshed. June 18-24. New Mexico.
    Learn more...

Events: Global Day of Prayer

Evangelical Environmental Network
 
 
The 3rd Day of Prayer for Creation Care will be held Thursday April 26, 2012 and will be hosted in Washington DC. This year our prayers will be globally focused. Dr. Chris Wright of the Langham Partnership will be the keynote speaker. Save the date and be sure to join us in Washington DC. Registration is now open!


RECENT NEWS

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Habits of Creation

Catholic

Habits of Creation

Catholic Diocese of RichmondEcological Working Group St. Paul, VA Educating congregants about the...

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Endangered Species Protection

Evangelical

Endangered Species Protection

Noah Alliance, National A version of this article by Dorothy Boorse originally appeared in the Summer 2007 issue of Creation Care magazine. “Speaking Truth to Power” Noah Alliance helps keep endangered species afloat “Well,” said an insistent congressman. “Well, which is it, artificially help prairie chickens breed in my state or lose jobs” He didn’t wait for a response. “Chickens or jobs? Which? Which?” Gathering her thoughts as quickly as she could, Dorothy Boorse answered, “Well, congressman, I’ve...

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Green Burial

Catholic

Green Burial

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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Mainline Protestant

Wooded Church Property: Obstacle or Opportunity?

Maryland Presbyterian Church, Baltimore, MD Sometimes a church can’t see an outreach opportunity for the trees. That was the case for Maryland Presbyterian Church in the northern suburbs of Baltimore, MD. The church is surrounded by four acres of sloping woodland, populated by oaks and tulip poplars. Members once viewed the property’s wooded lot as a hindrance to ministry because it limited the church’s visibility in the neighborhood, but now the church is attracting...

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Evangelical

Digging Wells in Mexico

Baptist 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.

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Environmental Restoration

Catholic

Environmental Restoration

The Benedictine Women of Madison Middleton, WI Saint Benedict Center in Middleton, WI, is situated on 130 acres overlooks the northern shore of Lake ...

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Catholic Colleges, Universities Take Steps To Go Green CA, IN, MN

Catholic

Catholic Colleges, Universities Take Steps To Go Green CA, IN, MN

Article By Mandi Stirone taken from Catholic News Service Catholic colleges and universities are joining their public counterparts in pursuing green initiatives for their campuses using a variety of resources, offices and organizations. Students and school officials are tapping into Internet-based initiatives such as the Campus Greening Initiative at http://www.netimpact.org and Campus Climate Challenge, and they're also entering competitions such as RecycleMania, which promotes friendly competition among campuses to promote recycling efforts.  About 24 Catholic colleges and universities have also joined the...

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Recycling and Energy Savings

Jewish

Recycling and Energy Savings

Adat Shalom Synagogue Farmington Hills, Michigan Adat Shalom, a Conservative shul (synagogue) in Farmington Hills,...

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Mainline Protestant

From Lawn to Prairie

St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Stevens Point, WI Wisconsin was once covered with prairies—7.5 million acres of tall grass flowing into broad fields dotted with oaks and dappled with wildflowers. With just 13,000 acres left, St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Stevens Point, WI, is restoring prairie land on its own site and is teaching its congregation and community about environmental stewardship in the process.

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Kayam Farm at Pearlstone

Jewish

Kayam Farm at Pearlstone

Baltimore, MD Kayam Farm organically grows healthy food for the Pearlstone Conference & Retreat Center and greater Baltimore, Maryland community, while offering both Jewish and non-sectarian hands-on agricultural and environmental education. They hope to reconnect people with their food and with the earth, inspiring social and ecological responsibility in the Jewish community, greater Baltimore, and beyond. Kayam Farm’s 5 acres cultivates organically grown vegetables, culinary & medicinal herbs, fruit orchards, vineyards, berry & asparagus ...

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Jewish

Compendium of Sources on Halacha and the Environment

Canfei Nesharim, New York, NY Jewish, Orthodox The 19th-century scholar, Rabbi Samuel Rafael ...

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Mainline Protestant

Stream Clean-Up

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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Jewish

Communication With Policy Makers

This is a support document for the Jewish Stewardship Story, "Speaking Out for Children's Health," and is a sample legislative advocacy letter:   The California Interfaith Partnership for Children's Health and the Environment, California Interfaith, with Jewish participation [Besides focusing on public education, the California Interfaith Partnership for Children’s Health and the Environment facilitates communication with policy makers – through face-to-face meetings, letters, and calls. The following is an example of the type of letter facilitated by the Interfaith Partnership.]

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Protecting Old-Growth Forest

Jewish

Protecting Old-Growth Forest

Redwood Rabbis, Northern California Jewish, Non-denominational While many Jewish congregations may celebrate Tu B’shevat, the Jewish New Year of the Trees, with simple rituals of tree-planting or the eating of new fruits, nuts or wine, in 1997, the Redwoods Rabbis of Northern California took their observance of the holiday to a new level. As part of their ongoing advocacy to protect Headwaters Forest -- the last unprotected old growth redwood forest on the Pacific coast,...

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