Engaged Organizations: Jewish Food Movement: Hazon

Picture courtesy of hazon.org

Hazon, which means vision, is an organization that works to create a healthier and more sustainable Jewish community. They do so through three effective changes: transformative experiences, thought-leadership, and capacity building. They are all intensive multi-day retreats or workshops that encourage people to make a difference in the world, and in the process enable them to renew their Jewish journeys. To learn more about the Jewish Food Movement and Hazon, click here.

Season of Creation

Picture courtesy of seasonofcreation.com

The Season of Creation is an optional season for the church year. For the most part, the seasons of the church follow Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, and Easter and the remainder of the year encompasses Pentecost Season. The Season of Creation, also known as “Creation Time,” can be celebrated at different points in the church year. The purpose is to help turn the attention  of religious followers to their relationship with God and all of creation and to strengthen the relationship with God through his creation.To watch a video introducing the Season of Creation, click here. To read more and visit different resources offered by the Let All Creation Praise website, click here.

Earth Day 2017 – Environmental Justice with Indigenous Peoples

Picture courtesy of creationjustice.org.

Creation Justice Ministries is celebrating Earth Day 2017 by focusing on environmental justice with indigenous people. They believe that the Christian communities living in the United States have an important role to play in developing relationships of solidarity with indigenous people. They will be offering sermon preparation resources, hymn suggestion, Christian education ideas, action opportunities, and more. They also note that these resources will be helpful to Indigenous People Day which is October 9, 2017. To read more about Creation Justice Ministries, click here. To access these Earth Day resources, click here.

2017 Faith Climate Action Guide

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Interfaith Power&Light has created a 2017 Faith Climate Action Guide. This guide lists easy ways everyone can get involved and help advocate for the health of our environment. To view the action guide, click here.

Engaged Organizations: The National Wildlife Federation: Sacred Grounds

Picture courtesy of nwf.org

For over 40 years, The National Wildlife Federation has been assisting congregations and faith-based organizations in creating wildlife friendly yards and landscapes through their program Sacred Grounds. Sacred Grounds was created to give people of all faiths the opportunity to connect with nature at their place of worship. They do so by offering an online certification process about proper gardening and other tips to connect with nature. To learn more about this program and the National Wildlife Federation’s work, click here.

The National Caretakers of God’s Creation Conference

Picture courtesy of umccreationcare.org

The National Caretakers of God’s Creation Conference has moved this year from Ohio to the DC suburbs so that members of Caretakers can participate in the National Climate Justice March on the US Capital Mall on April 29th. The Caretakers conference is on April 28th and includes inspiring worship, keynote speakers and workshops to help with work on climate justice and developing greener churches. The conference will be a day of inspiration, education and preparation. It begins with worship, including a message of hope brought by United Methodist Bishop C. Joseph Sprague, will include major addresses by Rev. Fletcher Harper, Rev. Jenny Phillips, and will conclude with worship and communion with sermons by Bill McKibben and Michelle Roberts. To learn more and see a specific agenda, click here.

Earth Day 2017: Know the Creator through Creation

Picture courtesy of catholicclimatecovenant.org

The Catholic Climate Covenant has produced Know the Creator through Creation, an educational program to help celebrate Earth Day. This is the second year they have offered this resource that includes prayers, scripture readings, videos, discussion questions, and suggested activities to help teach about climate change. Their goal is to increase climate literacy and assist Catholics in embracing their call to care for creation. There are three different age specific programs between 30 minutes to an hour long. To learn more or download these programs, click here.

Eco Stewards Program

 

Picture courtesy of ecostewardsprogram.com

The Eco-Stewards Program is a grassroots community that shapes young adult leaders through place-based experiences that connect faith and the environment. They are looking for young adults with an interest in faith and the environment to join and explore this year’s theme of Water is Life: Journeying Towards Justice on the James River. The program is held in Richmond, Virginia, from June 5 -10. Applications are due by March 15, and the cost which includes means, housing, and transportation is $375. If you are interested, click here to visit their website and learn more.

Engaged Organizations: The General Board of Church and Society

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umc-gbcs.org

The General Board of Church and Society (GBCS) is one of four international general program boards of The United Methodist Church. They are defined by its five areas of ministry: Public Witness, Advocacy Administration, Ministry of Resourcing Congregational Life, United Nations Ministry, and Communications. Their website contains ways to get connected, topics to explore, and ways to take action. To access their website click here.

GreenSpot and St. Mary School

Picture courtesy columbus.gov/greenspot/

GreenSpot was founded in 2008 by former Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman as a place where people of the city can go to learn how to live, work, and commit to being green. Becoming certified as A GreenSpot is open to anyone from households, to businesses, to community groups. There are a list of commitments that must be made depending on the type of organization, but once they are met the application process can begin.

Recently, on January 30th, Columbus St.Mary School became a GreenSpot. The conversation first started in October of 2016 with Rebecca Mellino and the GreenSpot program. Between October of 2016 and January of 2017, members of GreenSpot, and Jerry Freewalt, head of the Catholic Creation Care team, came and spoke to the students about the program. Once the students became engaged and excited about the program, the school has had no difficulties keeping up with the responsibilities.

The students recycle and compost after breakfast and lunch. They rotate during recess and walk through the halls collecting the recyclables into bigger recycling bins. It is more than just the students that have gotten involved though. Teachers were given information on how to teach the different grade levels on how being green related to each of the students. Additionally, the staff members take turns delivering the recycled materials from the school to a drop off at Kroger about four times a week. Parents play an essential role as well, as they pitched in to buy small recycling bins for the classrooms and bigger bins for the cafeteria. The school also has plans to start a garden next to their building. Once it is built, they will have Boy Scouts, 4-H groups, and Night to Columbus to help care and maintain for the garden.

Christina Hickey is an art teacher at the school who is also in charge of marketing. She spearheaded the GreenSpot program and got staff members and students involved. The school’s student council is comprised of 4th through 8th graders that meet once or twice a month to talk and help out with recycling. Stepheny and Stephen are 6th grade student council members at St.Mary school who both recycle and compost at home. When interviewed, they both stated that they’re excited about the garden that is going to planted next to their school. Rose, a 4th grade student council member, was asked what it means to care for God’s creation and responded by saying “It’s really important. He made this for us. I don’t think we should trash it. I think we should cherish it.” Along with making the school a greener place, this program has made lasting impacts on students as well. Eayual, an 8th grade student council member that helps out every day stated that everyone should “think of the Earth as your life, take care of our life and don’t slowly destroy it.” He plans on attending Bishop Hartley high school where he aims to get students involved in recycling and caring for the Earth there as well.

To learn more about GreenSpot and their goals and purposes, click here. Additionally, Christina Hickey who lead the GreenSpot initiative at St.Mary School can be reached at chickey@cdeducation.org for information on how to implement this program. To keep updated on St.Mary School and GreenSpot, follow their Twitter accounts at @stmaryschoolgv and @greenspotcbus.