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October 2006
It's Time to Start Talking About Food and Farming
Debate on what may be the most important U.S. conservation legistlation of the next few years is heating up. This fall, winter, and spring is a critical time for shaping the 2007 Farm Bill and many faith groups have a lot to say about how U.S. farm policy needs to change. Click here to take a look at a new web section on Food and Farming and expect to see a whole lot more on this topic coming soon, including a worship resource for Thanksgiving! For more information click here for some resources from our good friends at the National Catholic Rural Life Conference.
Climate Change Film "The Great Warming" Issues Call to Action Statement
A new film produced by Stonehaven Productions, The Great Warming, has recently released a Call to Action Statement calling our nation to take immediate steps to address climate change. The list of signatories represent a diverse group of religious, environmental, entertainment, corporate and political leaders. This film has wonderful resources to help you use it your churches or synagogues. The Great Warming will be released nationwide by Regal Cinema on Nov. 3rd in the Top 50 U.S. Markets.
Starting the Conversation
NCC wants to remind you of our recent publication, Opening the Letter: A Congregational Guide to God’s Earth is Sacred. This guide is for pastors, eco-justice coordinators, and religious educators looking for a resource to talk with parishioners about the environment. This guidebook is based on the ecumenical open letter, “God’s Earth is Sacred.” Participants are encouraged to open their eyes, ears, and hearts to God’s Creation over the course of this four week seminar.
Green Gathering in Baltimore
The Committee on the Environment of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland is hosting their annual Green Gathering at Cathedral Church of the Incarnation on Saturday Oct. 28 from 9:30 am to 2:00 pm. The theme for the gathering is "Global Warming: A Hot Button for Our Church." Everyone is welcome. For more information contact Paulette Hammond at phamm001@earthlink.net
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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Bright Ideas for Reducing Utility Bills and Caring for Creation
Churches engage in a plethora of ministries each week inside their doors. Powering – lighting, heating, and housing – these activities comes at a cost to a church’s bottom line and negatively impacts the environment and human health. The National Council of Churches just released a report called Bottom Line Ministries that Matter: Congregational Stewardship with Energy Efficiency and Clean Energy Technologies that outlines how congregations can save money at the same time as reducing carbon emissions that lead to global warming. The report promotes moral and financial stewardship while benefiting creation and delivering justice.
In the report you will read examples of how churches successfully saved $8,000-$16,000 each year using energy efficient technologies. Download your copy of the report here (sign up for the network to download the full report).
Simple Actions Make a Big Difference
Become an Adamah Congregation and Accept the November Challenge - Coffee the Right Way!
 You are invited to join with other congregations and households around the country to magnify the impact of your actions to care for creation. Sign up to receive e-mail action challenges as a part of the Adamah Congregations program. With many households, families, and churches making small changes each month, we can make a BIG IMPACT on God's creation.
The November challenge focuses on "Coffee the Right Way," meaning coffee that is fairly traded, organic, and shade-grown. To learn more about "Coffee the Right Way" click here.
Notes From the Field
Maryland Parish Planning Community Garden - Can You Help By Sharing Ideas or Experiences?
After growing pumpkins and sunflowers this year, St. Mark's Episcopal of Lappans, MD would like to use a piece of land on their property that has been farmed for over 100 years to start a community vegetable garden says their rector Rev. Anne Weatherton. They also plan to include a outdoor meditation area (perhaps including a labyrinth) and keep it handicap accessible. They are looking for ideas of where to look for funding for a project such as this, or for pointers on USDA grants. Has your church or organization done something similar or found funds for this type of project? If you have any ideas, wisdom, or pointers for this parish, please let Karen Galles know (kgalles@ncccusa.org) and we will put you in touch with St. Mark's.
Blessing of the Animals in Beloit, Wisconsin
 Neddy Astudillo, an Eco-Justice fellow for the NCC and a Presbyterian pastor led her congregation in San Francis Francis of Assisi Sunday on October 8. Neddy, pictured at right, invited parishoners to bring their pets to church for a special blessing.
Mass. Council of Churches Sponsors Environmental Fellows in Churches of Color in Greater Boston
Six fellows of the Healthy Environment Leadership Program (HELP) are serving congregations of color in the Greater Boston area. Their charge is to help the communities in which they work get health, make safer choices, and advocate for just public policies. These fellows tackle all kinds of environmental health and justice issues from toxic cleaning products and the dangers of PVC plastics for children, to communities of color being overburdened with environmental hazards. Read an article about HELP fellows in the Massachusetts Council of Churches newsletter.
Click here to e-mail us your "Notes From the Field!"
Interfaith Climate and Energy Campaign Seeks National Campaign Organizer
The Interfaith Climate and Energy Campaign (ICEC) is looking for a new coordinator! Based out of the NCC Washington, DC office, the ideal candidate is an experienced campaign organized with a knowledge of climate issues and a desire to work in the faith community. For the full job announcement, click here. You may have to scroll to find the ICEC posting.
Land Stewardship Program Focuses on Wilderness in 2006-2007
Wilderness and wild landscapes are deeply woven into Christianity and many other faith traditions. They were central to the spiritual journeys of Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad and in the creation stories of many cultures. Today, public lands are important to many of us as a venue for peaceful reflection and reconnecting with the Creator. They also embody ideals important to many faith traditions: equitable sharing of resources, consideration of the common good, and stewardship of God’s creation. Amid cities and highways, public lands serve to connect natural ecosystems - offering sanctuary for humans and wildlife and leaving space for natural cycles.
The National Council of Churches has selected wilderness protection as one of its top-priority issues for 2006 and 2007. For more information about programs, resources, and opportunities for wilderness ministry or advocacy in your church or community, click here. Soon, an 8-page theological study guide: Out of the Wilderness: Building Christian Faith and Keeping God’s Creation, will be available for download from the NCC Eco-Justice Network.
From the Desk of...
Karen Galles, Eco-Justice Program Associate Director
It's hard to believe that I survived nine months at this job without a Bible in my office. I could have brought my own Bible in months ago, but many summers leading high adventure canoe trips at a Bible camp left it sun-faded, waterlogged, and smudged with dirt and ash from the campfires. It seemed to shabby for the National Council of Churches.
Two weeks ago, I finally placed an order for a Bible for my office. I decided on the same NRSV study Bible that I have at home. It arrived yesterday with clean, crisp pages, unwarped by the occasional and unintentional dip in a northern Minnesota river. They smell like a bookstore instead of a mixture of lake water and firewood and dirt. In my inspection, I haven't found a single stray grass bookmark still hiding between the pages as a remnant of a long ago Bible study. It's missing the voices of the campers that made those journeys with me who taught me so much. It's missing the wisdom of the river, the forest, and the northern Minnesota air - the wisdom of creation, the cumulative wisdom of all the experiences that led me to this work in the first place.
I can't help but think after all this time that for me, Eco-Justice is in the pages of that Bible and this new one might not ever measure up. Or, maybe (more optomistically) that I should put this new one in my backpack when I hike Old Rag this weekend so that I can take it out and bathe it in some Shenandoah dirt and begin building an Eco-Justice relationship with this new friend.
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly..." Colossians 3:16a
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