Environmental Stewardship Ministry Project

Door Creek Church
Madison, WI
Evangelical Free Church in America

When the leadership of Door Creek Church in Madison, Wisconsin, chose the site for their new church building, they may not have intended to become role models for environmental stewardship. Nine months after the first worship service at their new location, however, 20 members of the church including ecologists, environmentalists, landscape architects, and avid hobby gardeners saw both a problem and an opportunity for spiritual and ecological transformation.

What was the problem? The church itself was one of the first buildings to be completed in the new subdivision, situated at the top of a hill near a major intersection, and surrounded by 35 acres including a 4.6 acre steep-sided detention pond. The pond collects water from the majority of the Door Creek Church property and functions to filter and retain water during heavy rain events, thus protecting the downhill properties. Due to continuing construction in the neighborhood, however, the detention pond has served primarily as a reservoir for construction debris and other trash, making it environmentally dysfunctional as well as an eyesore. In addition, the steep embankment and mowed turf around the edges of the pond contributed to significant erosion and siltation of the pond.

When the group formed, the primary intention was to use a conservation stewardship approach to landscape restoration for the detention pond. The group began a bi-weekly study of Earth-Wise by Calvin B. DeWitt, a Christian and professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prof. DeWitt is also based in Madison, and took time to meet with the group, providing opportunities for additional encouragement and insight. Out of these bi-weekly meetings, the group adopted a mission statement, ministry plan, and landscape plan, which found favor with the Pastor, church governing body, and the Deacons who had oversight of the church property.

The landscape plan began with small steps, to be taken over several years, transforming the area into a beautiful pond with native prairie plants on its banks and planting canopy and ornamental understory trees typical of a prairie savannah. They collected loads of trash and debris from the site, lightly graded the slopes to create a planting bed conducive to seeding, did a controlled burn, and selected appropriate pond and prairie plants. On the first planting day, they had over 60 participants from the church and neighborhood! To help fund the effort the group instituted a memorial fund through which individuals could purchase and plant trees around the pond, placing a boulder inscribed with scripture beside the memorial tree.