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134 items

  • The Importance of Water to Faith Communities, and How to Conserve it!

    The Ohio Interfaith Power and Light provides information on the spiritual importance of water, along with a teaching activity for the topic. The attached also includes tips on how to help your congregation conserve water.

  • Saving Buffalo Reef

    This 11-minute video, by the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC), informs the viewer of the natural, cultural, and economic importance of Buffalo Reef. This reef is located off the Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan, in Lake Superior. Buffalo Reef is currently under ecological distress due to local mining activities. Current Tribal, State, Federal, and Academic efforts are underway to help restore this significant environmental feature, as documented in this video.

  • Profile: John Hill

    John Hill is a member of the General Board of Church and Society (GBSC) for The United Methodist Church. His work there includes overseeing their advocacy and organizing department. He also directs the economic and environmental justice program work. Having previously worked as a lobbyist in the private sector, John soon realized the difficulty of integrating faith into his occupation. Since joining The United Methodist Church in 2002, John enjoys the opportunities he has to work with individuals in ways that allow them to integrate faith more fully into their daily lives.

    One example of John's passion projects, building a green roof for the United Methodist agency, can be found here https://www.umc.org/en/content/green-roof-reflects-united-methodist-care-for-earth. John discusses how this type of project is a way to show the organization's faith in action, serving as environmental stewards that can be seen by many throughout the D.C. area. In addition, their administration has switched to 100 percent renewable energy and installed water bottle fillers to reduce waste.

  • Profile: Shantha Ready Alonso

    Shantha Ready Alonso serves as Executive Director of Creation Justice Ministries. Since the start of her appointment in 2015, Shantha has prioritized racial-ethnic equity in support of protecting, restoring, and more rightly sharing God's creation. Shantha's work has appeared in The Hill, the Colorado Gazette, The Day, Sojourners, Patheos, and Justice Unbound. She has also been interviewed by NPR, Religion News Service, U.S. Catholic, and various podcasts.

    Shantha has taken the initiative to arranged numerous stakeholder meetings between people of faith and policymakers. She has testified before the US Environmental Protection Agency, the US Department of Interior, and the White House Office of Management and Budget. Shantha is listed among the 2018 “Grist 50 Fixers," an annual list of emerging leaders from across the U.S. who are working on fresh, real-world solutions to our world’s biggest challenges.

  • Engaged Organizations: Friends Committee on National Legislation

    The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) was founded in 1943 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). FCNL is a nonpartisan organization that seeks to live their lives based on values of integrity, simplicity, and peace as they build relationships across political divides to move policies forward. FCNL is comprised of an expert team of lobbyists on Capitol Hill who work with a grassroots network of tens of thousands of people across the country. They lobby Congress and the administration in order to advance peace, justice, opportunity, and environmental stewardship.

  • Engaged Organizations: St. Vincent de Paul School, Mt. Vernon, OH

    Creation care work at St Vincent de Paul School, Mt. Vernon, began in 2006 when the school received funding from the Knights of Columbus to purchase a dishwasher for their kitchen. Following this, the school began participating in the Hope Now program – an organization that provides used old donated doors to build tables. The school provides transportation to their annual K-6 field trip to The Brown Family Environmental Center at Kenyon College and their annual 5th grade summer camp through Lutheran Outdoor Ministries in Ohio (students take turns weighing food waste). Additional sustainability projects include collaboration with the parish and the local community. The school participated in an all-parish project through the Green Tree Plastics company’s A Bench for Caps sustainability program (students collected and sorted bottle caps in exchange for three benches). The school plans to create a grotto area using their three recycled benches. In order to foster green living and healthy community-school relations, the school provided planter flowers to local businesses.

    Administrators at St. Vincent de Paul acknowledge the importance of maintaining social justice programs in accordance with Laudato Si's urgent message to care for the poor. Students from Beth’s Robinson's 6th grade social studies classes participate in a demographics project. Each year students select one continent, usually Africa, to learn more about the conditions of poverty. The class then raises money through various fundraisers and donate to parts of the continent through Catholic Relief Services. An upcoming project includes having students sew plastic bags together to create tarps to be donated to homeless shelters in the area.

  • Engaged Organizations: Trinity Catholic Elementary School, Columbus, OH

    Creation care work at Trinity Catholic (see link below) began when one teacher there took the initiative to organize student gardening activities on school grounds. Following her retirement, the school subsequently began an annual Earth Day project in which students pick up trash around the school and surrounding area. Additional creation care projects were added over time. As a means to support social justice issues in accordance with Laudato Si' principles, the school contributes to food pantries on a regular basis. The proceeds from the monthly cereal mornings are designated to various local charities as well. As a way to physically demonstrate to students how much food is wasted in a typical day, students could weigh and record the wasted food from the cafeteria over a two-week period.

    Years ago, one of the technology instructors had received a small grant from a computer company, which was designed to have students complete various environmentally based activities in a contest format. At the end of the contest, the class had accumulated enough points to receive two computer cameras. Additional events and projects includes 4th and 5th grader participation in a 5-day environmental camp "Messages of the Earth" at the Stratford Ecological Center (see link below), two water fountains updated to accommodate individuals with disabilities, design of the water fountains to fill water bottles, and lights throughout the school buildings switched out to LED lights through the Diocesan grant program.

  • Engaged Organizations: Catholic Diocese of Columbus, OH Development and Planning

    Andrea Pannell, Episcopal Moderator for the Columbus Catholic Diocese, has been instrumental in the progress of creation care work within the office of development and planning. She views part of her job as to "plant seeds" whenever possible. The Bishop Pastoral Council, comprised of representatives from deaneries within the metro area, attend periodic meetings to address critical creation care issues. One project takes place at Andrea's own parish, St. Dominic’s Church, in the Mt. Vernon neighborhood of Columbus. They had maintained a vegetable garden to provide food for those in the area, some of whom rely on walking to get their groceries. The garden continues to be the only place for some locals to receive fresh food, as the area is considered to be a food desert. The development office was also key in linking the diocese's 150th anniversary and Laudato Si' with their tree planting initiative, as well as connecting the themes of the anniversary with salient points of Laudato Si'. Additional plans for further connections with development, planning and stewardship are still in the works.

  • Engaged Organizations: Orita's Cross Freedom School

    The mission of Orita's Cross Freedom School is to cultivate student's natural sense of curiosity and skills to become agents of change within their community. They are a solution-oriented group, addressing pressing societal issues such as racism, gentrification, gender inequality, and the prison industrial complex. Some ways that the school promotes learning through doing includes civic engagement demonstrations, mentoring, and cultural awareness programs.

  • Engaged Organizations: Black Church Food Security Network

    The Black Church Food Security Network strives to provide fresh produce to historically Africa American churches within the Baltimore Metro area. Their popup farm stands provide convenience to the public as they are able to set up during times when congregation members typically gather. Ideally, members will either start their own gardens on site or expand ones that they currently maintain. Often, the farmers or urban growers will offer to lead bible studies and include food security issues as part of the sessions.

  • Engaged Organizations: National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Programs

    The National Council of Churches (NCC) discuss their work through their eco-justice programs on their website:

    "The National Council of Churches has been a prophetic voice for justice and peace for its entire existence. In recent years, the NCC has been involved in a diverse range of issues such as poverty alleviation, protecting the environment, racial justice, and responding to the particular concerns of women. The NCC continues to remain engaged in these areas; however the primary program work in some cases has been spun off to new organizations that continue to bring the ecumenical community together to struggle for justice."

  • Engaged Organizations: Web of Creation

    The Web of Creation website discuss their organization aim and services that they provide:

    "The Web of Creation was established to foster the movement for personal and social transformation to a just and sustainable world from religious perspectives. To that end, the information at this site will:

    -Connect you with ideas, resources and strategies for doing eco-justice
    -Inform, inspire, encourage, educate you about eco-justice
    -Support you in your efforts to live, work and pray in ways that promote eco-justice

    The Web of Creation has also been developed to provide information and connections for theology students interested in environmental ministry."

  • Bloomberg Business Posts Infographic to Show “What’s Really Warming the World?”

    Occasionally, an outstanding graphic emerges to help us understand some of the complexities of climate science, such as this recent series of graphs published by Bloomberg Business. If you have wondered how all the various factors and forcings involved in global warming interact, these infographics based on data from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies are very helpful.

  • Living the Laudato Si'

    Pope Francis encourages all people to take to heart what is written in the Laudato Si' encyclical. The Catholic Multicultural Center in Madison, Wisconsin has strived to live out the message of Laudato Si' even prior its release. This community seeks to live as stewards of the environment and care for their less fortunate neighbors. Some examples of how they are achieving their goals include installing solar panels to cut costs and reinvest the money in charitable programs and running a local food garden. Members of this community have also helped to install rain gardens and find innovative ways of serving their neighbors. These activities help to bring people closer together as well as care for the planet.

  • Muslims and Water Conservation

    The United Nations recognizes World Water Day on March 22. The Muslim community is taking this message to heart with discussions of water conservation. The following excerpt provides a brief summary of the Muslim khutbah with regard to the topic of water scarcity:

    "The purpose of today’s khutbah is to remind us that the conservation of water and more broadly environmental consciousness should be an integral part of what it means to be a conscientious Muslim. An environmentally conscious Muslim is someone who lives in reverence and harmony with nature and uses water and all other natural resources frugally and sparingly."

  • Water Shield

    Water Shield is a program hosted by GreenFaith that helps congregations learn how to conserve water as well as maintain high water quality. This program promotes stewardship, and can help gain a community recognition for their efforts in the environmental awareness world. Water Shield is an eco-merit badge that is bestowed upon faith-based institutions that have taken steps to conserve water, protect water quality, and mobilize its members and community to do the same at home.

  • Changing the Columbia River Treaty

    Many groups, including faith communities, have called for a restructuring of the Columbia River Treaty. The original treaty was written in 1964, and has become outdated. The people calling for the change want the river to be valued for its ecosystem services that were not included in the original treaty.

  • World Help Providing Water for Kirinda, Uganda

    World Help, a Christian organization, is raising money to provide clean drinking water to the people of Kirinda, Uganda. They are attempting to fund three major projects, a water well, piping, and irrigation. The lack of clean sources of water for the people who live here is causing diseases and additional hardships.

  • A Sermon for World Water Day

    Susan Barnett, founder of Faiths for Safe Water, brings attention to World Water Day by highlighting award-winning filmmaker and photographer, Haik Kocharian. Haik recently releasing, “Blessed by Water,” showing rare images of water in tradition, ceremony and spirituality as celebrated by the Christian Orthodox community in Ethiopia. Susan continues to discuss the concerns of clean water worldwide: 663 million men, women and children are forced to drink low quality water; and one third of the world's population don’t even have the dignity and safety of toilets. The article concludes by encouraging church leaders to use their collective voices to advocate for increased access to safe water and sanitation in order to improve global health, nutrition, poverty, gender equality, food security, human security, and peace.

  • World Water Day Synopsis

    The United Nations and the global community in general recognize World Water Day as a reminder that much of the world faces a global water, sanitation and hygiene crisis. 663 million people—comprising mostly the poorest and most marginalized in the world—live without access to safe drinking water. In addition 2.4 billion people lack access to improved sanitation. The article suggests various ways that individuals can contribute to improving the water conditions in these areas.

  • OSU Prepares to Host Earthkeeping Summit on Sept. 24, 2016

    On Saturday, September 24, 2016 The School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR) will co-host the 2016 Earthkeeping Summit with Ohio Interfaith Power and Light, the Methodist Theological School in Ohio, and multiple community and university partners. The Summit provides resources and inspiration for the creation care work of Ohio faith communities, and will be held at the Nationwide 4-H Center on OSU’s Columbus campus. Keynote speaker, Dr. Melanie L. Harris of Texas Christian University, will address the Summit’s themes of hope and renewal in environmental justice work, and panels and workshops will follow to highlight current examples of creation care work across Ohio faith communities.

  • Seven Congregations of Dominican Women Collaborate to Offer Sept. 10 Earth Stewardship Program in Columbus

    The Dominican Alliance Eco-Justice Committee is offering "Falling in Love with Earth Again" from 9:00am-3:00pm on Saturday, September 10 at the Martin de Porress Center in Columbus, OH. In the words of the organizers, the program will provide various avenues to “remind us of who we are as a part of this living Earth and renew our embodied human selves. Spend time with others pondering, celebrating, and creating your loving connection with Earth.”

  • WATERSHED: Replenishing Water Values for a Thirsty World

    This site highlights the reports and videos and resources gathered to address world water resources, sponsored by the Vatican and many other partners.

  • Christian Communities Respond to Trump’s Executive Order

    President Trump signed an executive order on March 28 directing the EPA to review the Clean Power Plan. This executive order has the possibility to dismantle important climate change protections and fails to offer an alternative plan to protect our air quality and climate stability. Many Christian communities have responded to this action and made official statements on their thoughts and about protecting the Earth.

  • Episcopal Diocese of Ohio: Bellwether Farm

    Bellwether farm is a new camp and education center of the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio. It is meant to provide leadership development and teachings through sustainable farming, food production, and care of the environment. It is located in Wakeman Ohio, with the goals of informing, inspiring, and empowering leaders for a sustainable future. The buildings are models of green technology featuring passive buildings, renewable energy, and water reclamation systems.