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July 2006
The Immaculate Heart of Mary sisters were awarded a nationwide top ten green design award by the American Institute of Architects for the renovation of their 376,000 square foot Motherhouse. Features of the sustainable renovation include geothermal heating and cooling, natural light throughout the building, reused doors and windows, and marble bathroom partitions reinstalled as countertops. For more on the renovation, and other IHM sustainable community concepts, click here.
The Presbyterian Church (USA)'s 217th General Assembly in Birmingham, AL was carbon neutral, thanks to the efforts and investments of Presbyterians for Restoring Creation, and the Presbyterian Environmental Justice, Peacemaking, and Hunger programs. They worked with NativeEnergy to estimate the fossil fuel carbon outputs of the Assembly and then invested in two renewable energy projects, a wind farm in South Dakota, and a family farm methane project in Pennsylvania, that will displace dirty energy sources and keep carbon dioxide out of the air on behalf of PC(USA). Click here to read more.
A Rocha Rocky Mountain Retreat August 12-15 outside of Colorado Springs, CO "Be inspired and challenged by Alfredo Abreu (A Rocha Portugal) and Fred Van Dyke (A Rocha USA Board), share fellowship and stories, have your spirit restored, and make connections with folks who will continue to inspire you throughout the year." Click here for more information.
Middle Church: Reclaiming the Moral Values of the Faithful Majority from the Religious Right Robert Edgar, Simon and Shuster, 2006
Edgar, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches and former Congressman (D-PA), calls on the "middle church," people of faith who are centrists, somewhat deferential and largely silent, to return to the central message of Jesus' ministry—the imperative to love one's neighbor—and judge public policy by that measuring stick. This book will be released in September, but can be pre-ordered here.
The Season of Creation is a four Sunday celebration of God the Creator in September, prior to St. Francis of Assisi Day. The website is rich in worship resources (liturgies, readings, sermons, children's addresses) and background information including theological and spiritual reflections and general information on Earth Care.
Wrestling Until Dawn: The Fight for Biblical Justice in a Postmodern World John R. Preston, Spiritbrook Press, 2006
Preston uses the biblical story of Jacob's night long wrestling match as a metaphor for the struggle he has experienced in using traditional theology for meeting the challenges of our time. He contends that we must discover a new theological lens for developing an effective response to the call for justice and peace. His studies offer a deeper understanding of God's intent for the well being of all. Available for purchase here.
Eco-Justice
Working Group
Church
of the Brethren
Environmental
Justice Office of Presbyterian Church (USA)
Presbyterian
Washington Office
Episcopal
Ecological Network
Greek
Orthodox Church in America
Luthern
Earthkeeping Network of the Synods
Reformed
Church in America
United
Church of Christ
United
Methodist Board of Church and Society
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A
Fresh Look -- and You Could Be Part of It!
In the middle of June, we launched a stream-lined design of our
website that is easier for you to use. We’re still hard at
work to improve and add vital content to make the site indispensable
for your Eco-Justice ministry.
Every month we are going to “spotlight” an Eco-Justice
success story on our homepage, and it could be yours! Please, email
info@nccecojustice.org
if you or someone in your congregation has made an effort - big
or small - to:
- “Green” your congregation’s purchasing –
for example, organic or fair trade coffee, recycled paper, environmentally
friendly cleaning products, or compact fluorescent light bulbs.
- Offset your congregation’s carbon outputs, or reduce fossil
fuel consumption as a way of doing your part to combat global
warming.
- Clean-up waterways or roadways in your local community, or restore
compromised wildlife habitat.
Just send us a couple sentences about your project including a
picture. Be sure to include your name and e-mail/phone number and
your story could be in the Eco-Justice spotlight!
NEW
RESOURCE! Opening the Letter: A Congregational Guide to God’s
Earth Is Sacred
God's Earth is Sacred offers you a study and worship resource that
broadly and powerfully articulates the scriptural and theological
foundations of our call to care for God’s creation. In September
of 2004 top theologians created a statement in response to one of
the most harmful and insidious false gospels of our time: the notion
that care for God’s sacred, yet wounded, Earth should
not concern Christians. This resource provides opportunities
for educational forums to discuss and explore this ecumenical statement
on the environment. The guide has four study sessions centered on
different sections of God’s Earth Is Sacred, as well
as resources for worship, group building resources, and suggestions
for retreats. Click here
to read the letter. To download the congregational guide, click
here
to join the NCC Eco-Justice Network. Then, click on “download
resources” and choose “Opening the Letter: Theology
and Environment Resource.”
Latest
Revision of National Parks Management Plan Stresses Conservation
In late April, a group of five faith leaders including NCC’s
Brenda Girton-Mitchell, Associate General Secretary for Justice
and Advocacy and Christine Hoekenga, former NCC Western Lands Specialist,
as well as several members of the NCC Eco-Justice Working Group,
met with National Park Service officials to discuss objections to
a draft of Park System management plan that de-emphasized conservation,
resource protection, and preservation as the guiding management
principle of the Parks. We were invited to this meeting in response
to several thousand e-mails and faxes sent to the Park Service from
people of faith that expressed concerns about the new management
plan. The voices of the NCC, people of faith, and many other groups
were heard! On June 21, the Washington Post reported that a new
revision of the management plan stresses conservation ahead of recreation
and energy production. Congratulations to the Park Service for this
much improved draft, that will do much more to conserve and preserve
public lands, held in trust for all of us and belonging to God and
God alone. Also, congratulations to the many groups, including the
people of faith, that objected to the changes and held the Park
Service accountable for crafting a responsible management plan.
Click here
to read the National Parks Conservation Association's coverage of
this victory for conservation.
One
Year Later, the Gulf Coast Still Needs
Our Prayers and Our Action
August 29, 2006 marks the first anniversary
of the landfall of Hurricane Katrina, a natural disaster, combined
with man-made disaster, exposed gross injustices and brought the
Gulf Coast region to its knees. The NCC Eco-Justice Program continues
to be committed to delivering justice to God’s people of the
Gulf Coast, especially following our annual conference which took
place at Loyola University in New Orleans during the first part
of June. Almost 80% of participants participated in tours of devastated
areas that showcased unfathomable wreckage of entire neighborhoods
nine months (at that time) after the initial insult.
Take this anniversary as an opportunity to celebrate the work you
have done and to re-dedicate yourself or your congregation to helping
a region that is still very much in need. NCC has made new
litanies and prayers available to supplement the worship
resource Through
the Eye of a Hurricane: Rebuilding Just Communities. These
supplementary materials make the resource new to those who have
already used it, and more flexible for those who haven't. They allow
us all to acknowledge this somber occasion but to focus of the hope
inherent in the Christian tradition. Also, check out new
web resources that can help expand the conversation
to be more inclusive of other places where we experience environmental
injustice, including our own communities, as well as sample text
for a church newsletter or bulletin.
From
the Desk of...
Cassandra Carmichael,
Director, Eco-Justice Program
I could have pulled it up a month ago. It did indeed look like
a weed. And there is nothing that a gardener detests more than weeds.
Some people have said that a weed is the right plant in the wrong
place. All I know is that with a 20 x 20 foot patch of earth outside
my back door, I have little room for weeds. As a seasoned gardener
I had a plan--- spring perennials followed by summer perennials
sprinkled with the occasional annual to give the garden a little
splash. But a month ago, something made me pause before I yanked
this weed out by its roots. Maybe it was curiosity—what would
it turn into? Or maybe it was the swarm of mosquitoes that was nipping
at my ankles in the evening light. I let it be and went on vacation.
Several weeks later, I returned to the garden. And there it was,
the “weed.” A solitary sunflower in full bloom, standing
head and shoulders over the rudbeckia and cosmos with a butterfly
resting on its bright yellow petals. It made me smile, this “weed”
of my garden. It was a reminder to release my need to control the
garden and instead put it into the hands of the God of the garden
who inevitably surprises and amazes me.
“Into your hands I commend my spirit.” Luke
23:46
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