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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. |
The First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Austin, TX The Unitarian Universalist Church holds as one ...
Read moreNew Mexico Conference of Churches Albuquerque, NM The New Mexico Conference of Churches (NMCC) ...
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Temple Beth El, Bloomfield Hills, MIJewish, Reform Movement Since 1997, the Ellin and Harold Lawson Youth ...
Read moreOrthodox 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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St. Ann’s Episcopal Church, Woodstock, IL Keeping water clean is a top priority for the Green Team at St. Ann’s Episcopal Church in Woodstock, IL. When members conducted a green audit to identify ways for the parish to become more environmentally responsible, they identified stormwater management as a key concern. Large concentrations of pollutants enter water systems in developed areas covered with impervious surfaces like roads and roofs. These surfaces don’t allow water to penetrate...
Read moreSanta Rosa, CA The Religious Campaign for Forest Conservation, based in Santa Rosa, California, is surrounded ...
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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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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.
Read moreBethel Christian Church Sideling Hill Creek Watershed, PA For people concerned about protecting the environment, the old adage, “All rivers lead to the sea,” ...
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Catholic Committee of Appalachia, WV The Catholic Committee of Appalachia produced "Climate Change: Our Faith Response,” a 10 minute DVD and accompanying study guide. This religious education program teaches the church’s social teaching principle of care for creation. The project was funded in part by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change. CCA offers spiritual and educational opportunities such as the “Pilgrimage to the Holy Land of Appalachia,” religious ...
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First Grace United Methodist Church, New Orleans, LA The people of First Grace UMC of New Orleans, LA, know first hand the devastation caused by severe storm events. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed First UMC of New Orleans and Grace UMC. When the churches merged to form First Grace UMC 13 months later, sustainability became a top priority. “One of the most at-risk cities for the effects of global warming is New Orleans, and one...
Read more![[Intergenerational] Family Fun on the Farm](http://www.nrpe.org/modules/mod_news_pro_gk4/cache/stories.profiles.A_28_01_dava_annansp_181.jpg)
Taste of Adamah at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, Falls Village, CT Dava Schub was looking for something to do with her 6-year old niece and 4-year old nephew that did not involve a lot of bells and whistles. These New York City kids were over-stimulated to begin with, so she wanted an activity that would be more grounded and centered, and perhaps more quiet, but also exciting for them. Having met Adam Berman, ...
Read moreEnglewood Presbyterian Church, Homewood, AL Presbyterians promoting curbside recycling in Homewood, AL are working with the city to increase awareness. Englewood Presbyterian Church members felt that they city needed to do more to promote recycling. They set up a meeting with Homewood Mayor Barry McCulley and managers from the city’s recycling contractor, Allied Waste, to discuss its promotion of the curbside residential recycling program. Through their discussions, they learned that the city’s agreement...
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Canfei Nesharim, New York, NY and National Canfei Nesharim (“the Wings of Eagles”) partnered with Orthodox synagogues across the United States to include environmental teachings in the Jewish festival holidays of Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret during the Fall of 2008. Canfei Nesharim is an organization that provides traditional Jewish resources about the importance of protecting the environment. On Sukkot, Jews celebrate water through the Simchat Beit Hashoeva (Celebration of the Water Drawing Ceremony). On Shemini Atzeret,...
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