Food, Farms, Gardens

GreenHeart Education: Graces and Prayers for the Earth

Picture courtesy of greenhearted.org

GreenHeart Education is an organization that focuses on transformative education for sustainability. They offer a page of prayers for the earth that come from different cultures and religions around the world.  You are able to download the entire list or write your own. To read all the prayers, click here.

They also believe that saying grace together at mealtimes is an excellent way to practice gratitude and grow closer together as a family or as a class, in a way that teaches children where their food comes from. To read these graces, click here.

Getting Ready for Earth Day

Picture courtesy of godspacelight.com

Godspace has created a list of resources that are helpful when preparing for Earth Day. There is a list of books related to creation and gardening, garden liturgy, and other web pages that contain Earth Day resources related to different faiths and spirituality. Click here to read the full list.

Catholicism and Veganism Presentation

Picture courtesy pf columbusveg.org

On April 21st, the Columbus Veg Community is holding a Catholicism and Veganism presentation at the Columbus Metropolitan Library. The speaker, Madison Maholm, is a passionate Catholic Vegan who is a Worship Leader at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Grove City. In Madison’s presentation, she will speak about how religion impacts all areas of her life, including food.  There will be free vegan food provided, and a Q&A session after the presentation. To view the event, click here.

Becoming a CreatureKind Institution

Picture courtesy of becreaturekind.org

“Having compassion for others begs the question of who ‘the others’ are. The animals whom we farm are sentient beings and individuals in their own right, even when they are crowded together in barren cages or windowless sheds. They are surely – in their billions – ‘others’ who deserve and desperately need our compassion. I wish CreatureKind great influence in bringing compassion to these fellow-beings of ours.”

– Joyce D’Silva, Ambassador Emeritus,
Compassion in World Farming

CreatureKind is a Christian animal welfare group that works to help institutions improve their practice as it impacts farmed animals, with benefits for humans, animals, and the environment. Becoming a CreatureKind institution means committing to a cycle of reviewing current sourcing, setting goals for improved practice, and acting on them, together with engaging your community about the program. The program have two major goals: reduce consumption of animal products and obtain remaining animal products from higher welfare. To read more about how to become a CreatureKind organization, click here.

 

CreatureKind Church Course

Picture courtesy of becreaturekind.org

CreaturKind has created a 6-week course to help Christians think about what their faith means for animals. The course is free and is meant to assist churches in learning about animal welfare and how to care for animals faithfully. They aim to encourage Christians to consider what they believe about God’s creatures and how they might move toward living out those beliefs as members of the body of Christ. To read more or watch a short video about the course, click here.

CreatureKind

Picture courtesy of becreaturekind.org

CreatureKind is an organization that engages churches in new ways of thinking about animals. They encourage Christians to consider what they—as members of the body of Christ—believe about God’s creatures and how they might move toward living out those beliefs more fully. They also provide information, prompt discussion, share stories, and offer recommendations for flourishing as humans creatures without denying the flourishing of animal creatures. They work to inspire vegans, vegetarians, omnivores, farmers, fishers, and friends to learn from each other about how each to be the church that follows Christ into the reconciliation of all creatures. To read more about CreatureKind, click here.

EcoSikh Seed Plan

Picture courtesy of ecosikh.org

The EcoSikh Seed Plan is 5 year plan to cultivate practices, inspire on-the-ground action, address issues all communities face, and celebrate the ways in which being Sikh is being green. To read the entire Seed Plan, click here.

Compost Tumbling Towards Caring for God’s Creation

Picture courtesy of creationcare.org

This article from the Evangelical Environmental Network discusses how a family found a meaningful way to care for God’s creation. Cara Fleischer, a Creation Care leader at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Florida, wrote the article to share her journey with composting and offers tips on how to make it easier. To read the entire article, click here.

Tips and Resources for Eco-Friendly Landscaping

Picture courtesy of greenfaith.org

Picture courtesy of greenfaith.org

GreenFaith has created a resource for grounds maintenance that has tips on how to consider the environment while landscaping. The article offers guidelines on pest management, turf maintenance, cultural practices, and irrigation tips. To read the entire post, click here.