greening resources

Introduction
Earth Ministry invites any congregation to engage in this program. For those outside of the Northwest, we are unable to provide in-person staff support, but are available by phone and email. For all congregations, we are delighted to post your accomplishments on our web site.

As people within congregations work to foster an awareness of the value of God’s creation, and develop acts of care that reflect this awareness, Earth Ministry provides helpful tools for this important work. The Greening Congregations process offers a partnership with Earth Ministry and a flexible strategy for engaging congregation members in creation-care efforts. The process also provides means for envisioning and celebrating the “greening” of a variety of congregational dimensions.

Earth Ministry is aware that one size very rarely “fits all,” so we suggest that all Greening Congregations Partners adapt the following process to meet their congregations’ needs. If helpful, Earth Ministry staff will work with groups and congregations to shape a strategy that best suits these needs.

Membership and Benefits of Becoming a Greening Congregations Partner

One way to begin the greening process is to become a Congregational Member of Earth Ministry. Congregational Membership starts at $250 a year and includes:

A free copy of the Greening Congregations Handbook
Additional greening resources not included in the handbook, e.g. sample annual plans and additional success stories
Staff consultation with your congregation's greening group
Priority for scheduling speaking and preaching
A profile of your congregation on our website (see below)

Once you have completed the steps outlined below to become a Greening Congregation, you will also receive a Greening Congregations Banner at our annual Celebration of St. Francis held in October.

If you are interested in the greening process and want to know more, please email Kaitlin Torgerson or call 206-632-2426.

(1) Bring together a congregational creation-awareness/care group. Groups may consist of two or three individuals, a larger ad hoc group, concerned friends who meet on an ongoing basis, or an entire congregation.

(2) Your group decides whether or not to become a Greening Congregations Partner, and then contacts Earth Ministry to become a Congregational Member.

(3) Develop a mission statement to guide your group’s vision and ongoing efforts. Such a statement should serve as a touchstone for how your group envisions fostering creation awareness and care in the congregation.

(4) Write a summary of past activities, if applicable. This summary serves as both a record of your past accomplishments and a chance to celebrate what you have already done.

(5) Develop an annual plan that brings your mission statement to life. Each year’s plan should be manageable in scope and viewed as one piece in an ongoing, year-by-year effort.

(6) Your group and congregation members carry out the annual plan. This is the most exciting part of the process! Earth Ministry’s Greening Congregations Handbook is chock-full of resources and tools to help bring your plan to life.

(7) Your group evaluates how they did in carrying out the annual plan. This is a self-evaluation process for your group to appreciate its accomplishments and look at areas of desired growth.

(8) Your group and Earth Ministry celebrates your annual accomplishments. In addition to any celebration within your group or congregation, Earth Ministry will annually (in October) honor Greening Congregations Partners at our Celebration of St. Francis.

(9) Your group develops a new annual plan based on your mission statement, and then follows the Greening Congregations process (steps 5-7) again. Your group reconvenes and revisits its mission statement to shape a new annual plan for the coming year.

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Sacred Earth Ministry Team, Bethany United Church of Christ, Seattle (WA) Part of Bethany UCC's mission statement reads, "We are called to honor creation and build relationships with the created world that are life-giving and justice-producing. We are called to share our vision with other so we can make a reality this vision of justice and peace for the whole web of life." One example of the efforts to fulfill this mission, the Sacred Earth Ministry Team has led the revitalization of Bethany Garden. Once a City of Seattle Pea Patch, the organic garden was underutilized and not well maintained. Now the site features a children's garden, Food Bank garden, and members of the Bethany and Beacon Hill community nurture garden plots there.

Earth Corps Group, East Shore Unitarian Church, Bellevue (WA)
East Shore strives to live by the Unitarian Universalist principle: “to affirm and promote … respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.” In keeping with this principle, this past April a group from the church helped to organize, then marched and demonstrated in, the “Earthwalk” event in Seattle. Also in April, the church held their annual Earth Day service with a special presentation on the Earth Charter and conducted another service in August with testimonials from dedicated activists in the church on what they do and why they do it. On an on-going basis, they serve shade-grown/organic coffee at all services and functions and sell energy-efficient, Compact Florescent light bulbs one Sunday per month. The church is also currently helping to plan a lecture and weekend workshop with Joanna Macy for March 2003.

Greening Congregations Task Force, Fairwood Community United Methodist Church, Renton (WA)
The work of Fairwood’s Greening Congregations Task Force spreads into almost every nook and cranny of the churches life: from hikes, to worship services, to a bike-and-walk to church Sunday, to doing an energy-efficiency survey with every member in the congregation, to rolling up their sleeves to help restore local watersheds.

Fauntleroy United Church of Christ, Seattle (WA)
Fauntleroy's dedication to creation care has encompassed making earth-friendly choices on the road, at the table, and in the home. Some of their crowing achievements include a Care More, Car Less Sunday where more than 100 people carpooled, walked, used the bus or biked to church; supporting sustainable agriculture by purchasing food from a local, organic farmer; a Food and Faith Sunday, including switching to Fair Trade, shade-grown, organic coffee; participating in the April 2007 Step It Up March for climate change solutions, cosponsored by Earth Ministry; and promoting less toxic home and yard maintenance. To top it off, Fauntleroy is exploring faith and environment classes as part of the church's adult education program.

First Congregational United Church of Christ, Everett (WA)
First Congregational now has a creation-care covenant that the entire congregation has signed and “owns.” Their “Creation Keepers” group has helped to design an Earth Day worship service, done tree plantings, supported the Heifer Project, and promoted shade grown coffee.

Georgetown Gospel Chapel, Seattle (WA)
The Chapel sits as an oasis in the industrial core of Seattle with its vegetable and flower gardens that nourish both human and other-creature neighbors. Among the many ways in which the Chapel works to (quote) “replenish the earth” is through their concrete actions to confront global warming – a dedication that won them an EPA Energy Star award for excellence in energy efficiency in 1999.

Langley United Methodist Church, Langley (WA)
In 1993 Langley UMC passed a congregational statement declaring, “Our purpose is to affirm that all God’s creation is sacred and to rediscover our interconnections with that creation in ways that will protect and heal the environment.” After over ten years of building relationships around this mission, and many efforts to live it out, Langley now has a “covenant group” – and the blessing of the entire congregation – to actively shape congregational life around this mission.

Magnolia United Church of Christ, Seattle (WA)
As part of a goal-setting process, Magnolia UCC chose three areas of focus: education and youth, caring for creation, and stewardship of facilities. Sunday school themes reflect the church's dedication to environmental stewardship. The weekly newsletter contains "greening tips". They have facilities-wide requirements for energy efficiency, including requiring compliance from wedding planners and other outside uses of the building. Members also hold an annual "care fair" to inspire the wider congregation with new environmental ideas.

Creation-Care Action Group from Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ, Seattle (WA)
Plymouth is one of Seattle’s most prominent churches – largely due to the fact that the congregation actively participates in helping to bring about social and environmental justice (their tireless work to help eliminate homelessness in Seattle, is but one example). As another example, they have been one of the congregations most dedicated to restoring the health of the Duwamish River. Their ongoing involvement in especially helping to restore Hamm Creek has been a blessing to the salmon that annually return there, as well as surrounding human communities for whom this SuperFund site is their backyard. Plymouth is also known throughout the community for its vibrant worship life. The Creation Care Action Group has helped to infuse worship with a creation-honoring focus. Their Earth Day worship service in 2002 was a magnificent example of this: this intergenerational service was filled with dance, earth-care readings from children, forums with local environmental leaders, a car-free emphasis, creation-celebrating music, advocacy opportunities, and even a plant exchange.

Richmond Beach Congregational United Church of Christ, Shorelin (WA)
Richmond Beach UCC added an important phrase to their Congregational Covenant as a Community of Faith, "We strive to live in harmony with nature, respecting and honoring the gifts of God's creation." Because of this growing commitment, they have chosen to carry out several activities that make their congregation green. They have brought creation care as a theme into their worship services. They have implemented recycling and developed an education plan for all facility users. They reduce the use of excess paper and books in their children's education program. Every November, they hold a Gentle Giving Fair focusing on Fair Trade and environmentally-friendly gifts for the holidays. Additionally, they publish a quarterly newsletter, One World, to give congregants earth-friendly tips and ideas.

Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church, Seattle (WA)
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church has successfully woven creation-awareness and care into their existing ministries. When members of their Palestinian sister church visited, St. Andrew's Environmental Group led a meditative day hike on Mount Rainier. St. Andrew’s incorporated locally-grown, organic food into their monthly “Jubilee Dinner” – attended by about 150 people per month) who hunger for community and other for basic human needs. St. Andrews members have also been very active in a number of eco-justice issues throughout the years, while never forgetting to holistically incorporate these issues into their worship life together.

Ecology/Spirituality Group, St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, Seattle (WA)
As an example of their greening vision and work, St. Mark’s Cathedral included “care for creation” goals in the cathedral’s strategic plan, so that such care is incorporated in the vision for the cathedral’s life over the next decade. The group also initiated two study groups using Earth Ministry’s publication Simpler Living: Compassionate Life and sponsored a six-part series titled “The Global Economy, Justice, and You.” On Earth Day 2002 the group, along with the cathedral’s Garden Volunteers and youth, worked to clean up the “greenbelt” that adjoins the cathedral.

Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, Seattle (WA)
Folks at St. Paul’s Episcopal have also engaged in creation-care for many years. Their ongoing work includes important “household-keeping” efforts such as: serving and promoting organic, fair-trade, shade-grown coffee; using of china cups and plates and cloth napkins; initiating a comprehensive recycling program; and creating a “green space” within the church for all members to learn about the most current environmental resources and events. The church has also undergone a comprehensive energy audit with Seattle City Light – the resulting retrofits puts the congregation on a path for greater energy efficiency and reduction of their contribution to global warming. The church, which is located blocks from the Seattle Center, also deconstructed one of their large parish buildings and replaced it with a new green space – a new urban oasis.

Seattle First Baptist Church, Seattle (WA)
For many years, Seattle First Baptist members have embodied the following mission: “We are called to open our eyes to the profound mystery of God’s creation and to vision for ourselves and others a new world in which nature is reclaimed, nurtured, and celebrated for future generations. We pledge ourselves to seek and follow ways to live lightly, with love and respect, for this precious earth, our home.” Such light, loving, and respectful living has taken the form of adopting a portion of Thorton Creek and spending Saturdays clearing out invasive plants. Some members also spend their Saturdays cleaning up a portion of their most immediate neighborhood on Capitol Hill. These Partners help to provide support and funding for the Duwamish People as they preserve their own cultural and ecological heritage; host community gatherings with visionaries like Terry Tempest Williams and Wendell Berry; host environmental fairs, retreats, and educational series; and so much more.

Snoqualmie United Methodist Church, Snoqualmie (WA)
If you were to visit Snoqualmie UMC, a couple of things would stand out to you. First, their explicit curricula expresses a rich ecological ethic in both education and worship. Both children and adults use creation-oriented curriculum. Second, their implicit curricula - what you see in their pea-patch; in their commercial-grade dishwasher that allows them to use china at all functions instead of paper or plastic; their use of Fair Trade, organic coffee; and so on - also expresses their worldview that caring for people is integrally connected to caring for all of God's creation.

Suquamish Community Congregational United Church of Christ, Suquamish (WA)
For many years the church has included the following words in their mission statement: “As stewards, we are called to be a caring people, living in harmony with the environment, respecting and honoring the gifts of God’s creation.” The church’s Colleague was initially drawn to the church because of this statement. Now as a member, the Colleague helps to foster creation-care through meditative hikes, worship opportunities, energy efficiency measures, and much more.

University Congregational has brought creation-care into many aspects of their church life including participating in several ecological restoration projects, bringing earth-friendly decisions to the process of renovating the church building, incorporating earth elements into the Sanctuary, starting a CSA project, and integrating creation-care into their Sunday school curriculum.

University Lutheran Church, ELCA, Seattle (WA)
University has a long history of efforts like serving Fair Trade/shade grown/organic coffee; public advocacy for clean, renewable energy; and going to lengths to improve their energy efficiency. Who are these good people, and why do they do what they do? In their own words: “We are young and old. We are multi-racial. We strive to be faithful stewards of God’s creation, to care for our neighbors, and to work for justice and peace in our community and in the world.” And in striving to be faithful stewards, folks at University Lutheran do a really good job of having fun along the way. For example, in 2004 they hosted a festive, intergenerational “Celebration of the Earth” with song and dance, exhibits of arts and crafts, and Rain Forest refreshments. (University Lutheran is located at 1604 NE 50th St., Seattle, 98105; phone: [206] 525-7074.

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We, like many people today, sometimes use the word “green” to describe efforts that promote respect and compassion for all creation. Over the years we’ve fostered relationships with individuals and congregations who try to embody such respect and compassion. Inspired by their witness, we chose to use the word “greening” in the title of the handbook. We also chose it because “greening” connotes nourishment and healing, new vitality and growth, and longevity, which permeate all of God’s creation. Such nourishing vitality can permeate congregations as well.

The color green springs up time and again throughout Jewish and Christian traditions. For example, the twenty-third Psalm sings of “green pastures” that offer a healing respite for the soul. The book of Daniel uses the color green to help describe a tree that feeds “all living beings.” Daniel 4:10-12 reads:

Similar imagery can be found in verses like Revelation 22:1-2 that describes a verdant tree that bears abundant fruit and leaves that “are for the healing of the nations.” Congregations can be like green pastures and verdant trees. They do so when they help to nourish and heal people who are hungry, sick, and marginalized. Congregations can also extend their nourishing gifts to God’s broader creation – to “all living beings” God declares “very good,” indeed (Genesis 1:31). By extending their circle of compassion to encompass all creation, “greening congregations” can address the foundations of injustice: those root causes of hunger and violence that most directly impact the “least of these” (human and non-human).

Along the same lines, the color green signifies growth, new vitality, and strength throughout these religious traditions. For example, congregations that follow the Christian liturgical calendar, dress their sanctuaries in green (alter cloths, banners, etc.) during the two seasons that follow Epiphany and Pentecost. These seasons offer people times to “grow in their understanding” of Jesus’ ministry and what it means to be a mature community of faith. Another wonderful example of how green signifies growth comes from Hildegard of Bingen, who lived in the twelfth century in Germany’s lush Rhineland valley. Influenced by the richly fertile world around her, she invented a word, viriditas, which means, “having the quality of greenness, freshness, blooming, newness.” Or as Matthew Fox simply puts it, viriditas means, “greening power.” (Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen, Bear & Company, 1985.) For Hildegard, the source of greening power was the Divine – whom she described as “all verdant greening, all creativity” (she even referred to Christ as “the green man” in one of her operas). She believed that God “showered” all creation (including humankind) “with greening refreshment, the vitality to bear fruit.” She wrote, “The earth sweats germinating power from its very pores.” When parts of creation, people, or even institutions grew “shriveled and wilted,” she believed that they needed to be refreshed by God’s viriditas. As congregations open themselves to an awareness of God’s presence (and viriditas) throughout all creation, they can be refreshed and strengthened in ways never imagined. A greening congregation welcomes the opportunity for such refreshment and, in doing so, gains vitality to share God’s greening power with others.

The color green can also signify longevity and ongoing, steady growth. Consider evergreen trees. Until they die, they never stop “greening” – they are ever-green. Jeremiah 15:7-8 plays upon this evergreen imagery:

When strongly rooted in its source of life, such a tree enjoys sustained growth over time. Rather than growing in rapid spurts and then dying back, this evergreen maintains steady growth which it displays in its leaves and abundant fruit. Congregations can be like this tree. Rather than producing healing leaves and nourishing fruits only once every few years, they can do so on an ongoing basis. Greening congregations can view their creation-honoring work as more than ad hoc efforts. In time, they will be able to see an awareness of, and care for, God’s creation grow incrementally throughout the congregation’s life.

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This portion of our web site seeks to help congregational organizers reclaim these greening metaphors and integrate them into the lives of their congregations. Never has there been such an urgent need for such work. Industrialized cultures are currently on a rapidly accelerating course that undermines the very foundations of life: land, water, air, climate, human communities, and other species. When one looks at the long history of this course (especially with the Enlightenment and the rise of the Industrial Revolution), one discovers a worldview that separates humankind from the rest of creation – a separation that actually pits humans against everything else that lives, moves, and has being. Religions both shape and are shaped by their cultural contexts. Religions in industrial cultures have not been immune to either condoning or being influenced by this human/creation split. Today, many faith groups continue to promote an irreconcilable human/creation split as they march in lock step with their cultures. This divisive worldview, we believe, is an aberration of Jewish and Christian traditions.

When congregations begin to reclaim their traditions’ greening “roots,” they can help to stem the tide of such destruction. At the same time, they may discover a new vitality emerging from their own faith traditions. Congregations can bring the wisdom and vision of their ancient traditions to bear on the most urgent issues of the day. In so doing, they unveil God’s viriditas – greening, renewing power – to a world that deeply thirsts for it.

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For congregational organizers (individuals and groups) who strive to bring a creation-awareness/care focus to a congregation's life, the following links will take you to various ideas and resources categorized by "dimensions" of congregational life. The format of this list coincides with the Annual Plan Worksheet for Greening Congregations. While this is not a complete compilation of ideas and resources, we hope that it will spark your imagination and aid your research.

Click on any of the following to go directly to the dimension on which you’d like to focus:

Your Congregation | Greening Resources

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