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12 items

  • Congregational Profile: St Francis of Assisi parish Creation Care Team, Columbus, OH

    When St. Francis of Assisi’s Creation Care Team volunteered to take responsibility for caring for the church’s flower and vegetable gardens in the summer of 2018 it faced a challenge: how to dispose of yard waste in a responsible manner. The parish did not have resources to hire a vendor to appropriately dispose of leaves and garden debris and hauling it away in our private cars while possible would take extra time. The Team members did know though that we did not want to continue to toss the yard waste in the trash, which is what had previously been done.
     
    Luckily a solution was at hand: a new member of our parish and our Creation Care Team—Todd Marti-- serves as one of the “garden stewards” at Upper Arlington Lutheran Church’s community garden at Mill Run. Todd volunteered to haul away the yard waste from St. Francis and add it to the compost bins at the community garden. So St. Francis’ yard waste helps grow food that when harvested feeds hungry families through Neighbors (SON) Ministries’ Hilliard Free Lunch Summer Camp for Kids program, the Hilltop, Mid-Ohio Food Bank, and through Faith Mission-- a win for all involved.

  • Profile: Todd Marti

    Todd Marti, a parishioner at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Columbus, serves as a “garden steward” for the community garden located on the grounds of the Upper Arlington Lutheran Church at Mill Run. Todd’s garden stewardship is a clear reflection of his care for creation and his fellow man. Each year vegetables are planted on two-thirds of the 12,500 square feet garden. When the tomatoes, beets, squash, lettuce and other vegetables are harvested they are donated to the Hilliard Free Lunch Summer Camp for Kids, and Mid-Ohio Food Bank partner pantries. On average 10,000 pounds of produce is harvested and donated annually. Over the life of the garden 130,000 plus pounds of produce have been donated. The recipient of the Franklin Park conservatory Growing to Green Gardener of the Year Award in 2012, Todd utilizes innovative gardening practices such as companion planting and sequencing of multiple crops to enhance output. The garden helps preserve God’s creation by composting food waste and coffee grounds from local coffee shops and restaurants. Yard waste is also composed including that generated by St. Francis of Assisi from its flower and vegetable gardens.

    When he is not working in the community garden—which he is every Saturday from spring until mid-November--or recruiting volunteers to help with weeding, planting and harvesting, Todd can be found at his day job as an Assistant Attorney General for State of Ohio.

  • Shepherd's Corner volunteer opportunities

    Shepherd's Corner offers volunteer opportunities for both individuals and groups as indicated on their website:

    "Volunteer With Us
    Volunteer opportunities at Shepherd’s Corner are as abundant as the fruits of the earth. We invite individuals and groups to share in our ministry of caring for the land. All sorts of skills are needed or come to learn some new ones. One time visits, work on special projects, or regularly scheduled participation are welcome.

    Group Projects
    Groups are invited for a half day of service on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. We ask for one adult per 10 youth under 18 years.

    Individual Volunteers
    Come for a weekly or monthly time or fill in as needed. Individuals will need to complete our volunteer application. The application is the last to pages of the preceding link. We will ask individuals for background screening since we often have minors present. Volunteers must be age 13 or older; volunteers for animal chores must be age 18 or older."

  • Five Years After Speaking Out on Climate Change, Pope Francis Sounds an Urgent Alarm

    This article covers Pope Francis's reaction to the world governments responses to climate change. The Pope writes to unite people through religion in an effort to bring awareness to the movement. The article details how the church is divesting in fossil fuel companies. The article also focuses on the political divide and how it affects people's views on the climate crisis.

  • Profile: Jerry Freewalt

    Jerry Freewalt is Director of the Office for Social Concerns of the Catholic Diocese of Columbus, Ohio. In this capacity, he serves as an educator and advocate to further the understanding of the Church’s social justice teachings. Jerry joined the office in 1995 as the respect life coordinator. Jerry also administers the respect life program, parish social ministry, rural life, jail and prison ministry, advocacy for persons with disabilities, and other education and advocacy efforts.

  • Let's Talk Faith and Climate: Communication Guidance for Faith Leaders

    Let's Talk Faith and Climate: Communication Guidance for Faith Leaders is designed to be useful to both experienced and novice climate change and faith communicators. This guide synthesizes the latest academic research and message testing on climate communications from across the social sciences into a practical guide to support meaningful discussions on climate change and faith among individuals and groups.

    This guide offers tips on how to initiate new conversations with the faithful, how to create one’s own successful, value-based messages, and how to utilize specific wording that has been tested for its ability to bring people together regarding climate issues. Additionally, this document provides guidance on how to more deeply integrate creation care concerns into one’s own organization, ministry, or denomination.

    This, along with the many resources offered by ecoAmerica’s
    Blessed Tomorrow program, will allow faith leaders to become as adept at talking about climate change as they are at inspiring others to act on behalf of our shared future.

  • Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach

    The Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach (CCAO) was founded in 1985 as the national advocacy office for the Missionary Society of St. Columban in the United States.

    CCAO serves as the line of communication between Columban missionaries on the ground and policy-makers in Washington, D.C.​ Their mission is to work towards a more just, peaceful, and environmentally sustainable world by engaging in the political process guided by our faith and the Gospel.​ They work for structural change for the poor and marginalized populations Columbans serve around the world. Moreover, they advocate for policies and structures that bring society and the world into the right relationships with all of God’s Creation.

    CCAO follows Catholic Social Teaching as their lens to engage in legislative advocacy and community engagement.

  • Laudato Si’ Gardens in Schools and Institutions across Italy

    The Living Chapel is expanding outreach for Laudato Si' Gardens to spaces managed by schools, governmental and non-governmental organizations encouraging participation in caring for our common home by supplying indigenous young plant species to various regions. This project distributes young plants throughout Italy for the recovery of degraded areas.

    Outside Italy, Laudato Si’ Gardens shared a Four Element Package that symbolizes Air, Earth, Water, and Fire.

  • The Living Chapel

    The Living Chapel holds the sacrality of life at its core. It embodies a call to hope: a hope for a world in which the sacrality of life is truly recognized and felt by every being to give rise to a kinder, more compassionate, more peaceful life.

    In partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Plant for the Planet, and the Global Catholic Climate Movement, the Living Chapel will join the UN Environmental Programme's One Trillion Tree Movement, inspiring the public to reconnect with nature and providing a vehicle for intercultural and interfaith collaboration to restore our common home through the creation of Laudato Si' Gardens and Living Sacred Spaces.

  • Laudato Si' Action Platform

    The Laudato Si' Action Platform is a collaboration between the Vatican, an international coalition of Catholic organizations, and "all people of good will." Rooted in the strengths and realities of communities around the world, the platform takes a group-up approach to empower all to take "decisive action, here and now" as we journey towards a better future together.

    The platform offers:
    - Laudato Si Plans for institutions, communities, and families to use and implement their response to Laudato Si'
    - A process-oriented approach
    - Practical guidance on actions that help build a better future through the Laudato Si’ Goals
    - Recognition of progress

  • St. Francis of Assissi Novena

    This novena from the autumn of 2022 contains nine days of prayers to St. Francis of Assissi.

    "Though he chose not to be ordained a priest, St. Francis is one of the most revered saints of the church. The great respect accorded to St. Francis is primarily due to his life of service, insistence on the practice of absolute poverty, and great humility. He founded the Order of the Friars Minor, co-founded the Poor Clares, and the Order of St. Francis...He is renowned for his love of animals, the environment, and his desire for peace."

  • Nativities and the Natural World

    Housed at the University of Dayton Roesch Library Building, this exhibit is available Nov. 20, 2023 through Jan. 12, 2024.

    "Explore the intersection of Christmas and nature through the Marian Library’s Nativity sets, artwork and more. In this exhibit, artists incorporate plants and animals from around the world into the Christmas story. Gourds, straw, wood, mother-of-pearl and beeswax are among the materials used to create Nativity sets that reflect the natural world in which Christ was born."