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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. |
A TAPESTRY OF ENGAGEMENT Across the nation, wherever they live, work, and worship, people of faith have established diverse initiatives to care for God’s creation.
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By Audubon International St. Mark Presbyterian Church, Newport Beach, CA When St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, CA began planning to build a new church, members wanted to strengthen their environmental stewardship and witness through the building itself. After becoming the first church ever to enroll in the Audubon International Signature Building program and meeting its standards, Audubon International dubbed St. Mark “The Greenest New Church in America” (N. Richardson, Stewardship News, Vol. 10,...
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...
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.
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Kern Road Mennonite Church, South Bend, IN Kern Road Mennonite Church in South Bend, IN, has built a summer Sunday tradition on biking to church. A few families of cycling enthusiasts started the practice by simply picking some Sundays to bike to church and letting others know about it. Soon other families joined them, and now up to a dozen families participate.
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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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The Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Los Angeles, CAJewish, Reform Movement The Wilshire Boulevard Temple kicked off its first ...
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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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Sylvania United Church of Christ, Sylvania, OH Members of Sylvania United Church of Christ (UCC) in Sylvania, OH are saving more than 84,000 pounds of CO2 emissions each year through conservation efforts. The building itself has a passive solar design that uses a hillside to maintain a constant temperature in certain parts of the building. The church recently added to its energy savings by installing a photovoltaic array (solar panels) on its roof. The...
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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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Boston, MA — Boston COEJL, coordinated by Susie Davidson and Amelia Geggel, began a statewide “Pledge to Green" synagogues in Massachusetts. The Pledge, a nonbinding promise to practice more environmentally-conscious measures, is viewable on BostonCOEJL.org, which will post progress reports of individual synagogues. Over 15 Boston-area synagogues have signed on to the pledge. Boston COEJL members, who are available for consultations and Basics of Greening talks for children and adults, have also posted a Green Guide for Massachusetts Synagogues, with information...
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JustFaith, IL and National JustFaith Ministries offersan important education and faith formation study, Creation Cries for Justice, Climate Change: Impact and Response. In conjunction with the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change, JustFaith provides this eight-week curriculum containing faith and science resources that address climate change in solidarity with the poor and for use by faith communities. Rooted in Catholic social teaching and informed by the Bishops’ statement, Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence...
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...
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Calvary United Methodist Church Annapolis, MD The mission of Calvary United Methodist Church in...
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