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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 distinctive 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. |
Beginning from its founding in the 1980's, Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation has been a leader in the world of green congregations. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, members of Adat Shalom, led by Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb, place an emphasis on low ecological impact and a commitment to combating environmental degradation. The middot (values of the Jewish faith) teach a lesson of respect for Creation and care for fellow human beings, tenets that the Adat Shalom congregation has embraced with zeal. Beginning...
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Archdiocese of Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA In the crowded metropolis of Los Angeles sprawling ...
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University Baptist Church Seattle, WA University Baptist Church is a small congregation in Seattle that considers creation care part of its Christian witness. On Pentecost Sunday in 2004, the congregation decided to celebrate the Holy Spirit’s blowing throughout God’s creation in a special way: Drive-Less Sunday. For a month leading up to Pentecost, bulletin announcements and verbal announcements were often heard to encourage a day to walk, bus, carpool, or bike to church on...
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Diocese of Joliet, IL Article by Mark Indreika taken from Catholic Explorer 7/23/2008 As the Catholic Church continues to raise its voice in defense of the environment, people across the Diocese of Joliet are heeding the call, participating in educational programs and implementing new, environmentally friendly technologies. Education JustFaith was a series of workshops in the Diocese of Joliet, a 30-week program on Catholic social teaching. Maribeth Meaux, coordinator of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development in...
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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,...
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Benedictine Women of Madison, Madison, WI The monastic community of the Holy Wisdom Monastery in Madison, WI have been hearing and practicing a lot concerning stability: Their new strategic plan focuses on growing their community in ways that will bring stability and strength to the work of the sisters; Ecumenical Board member Judith Rock claims stability is more countercultural today than celibacy; and a local environmental expert noted that the root system of prairies like the one stewarded at their monastery...
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Temple Isaiah, Los Angeles, CA Jewish, Reform Movement Temple Isaiah has been a part of COEJL ...
Read moreLimestone Presbyterian Church in Wilmington Delaware was blessed with co-pastors Bruce and Carolyn Gillette in 2004. Since then, the church has been leading the area in faith-based environmental work, completing a number of projects dedicated to caring for God’s creation. The first thing you might notice about the church is the 180 solar panels on the roof. Reverend Bruce Gillette has been environmentally-conscientious before he participated in the first Earth Day in 1970. Looking for ways to produce cleaner, greener energy,...
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Racial Justice Ministries, Justice and Witness Ministries United Church of Christ When many church members go to Mexico, it is often on a mission trip to build churches or houses, ...
Read moreSt. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church Yarmouth, ME “Becoming a beacon of environmental stewardship has truly been the sum of many small, enduring, ...
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Catholic Diocese of RichmondEcological Working Group St. Paul, VA Educating congregants about the...
Read moreMaryland 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...
Read moreMark Cerbone, Buffalo, NY A version of this article by Tricia O’Connor Elisara originally appeared in the Spring 2008 issue of Creation Care magazine. Toxic fumes turned Mark Cerbone into a vigilante when his eldest daughter Sage began attending public school in Buffalo, NY.
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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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