Care for Creation Efforts
Care for Creation Efforts
Our ministries are rich and diverse in their efforts to live out the Gospel call to protect and preserve God’s creation. Peruse the educational and formative programs, advocacy efforts and direct service work going on in our local communities. Find shared efforts and camaraderie. Find inspiration for new ways to nurture the earth.
To add to the list, contact Fran Eskin-Royer in Holy Name Province’s Office for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation.
Efforts that form and inform us to better address the needs of people and/or creation
C4C: FRANCISCAN CARE FOR CREATION PROGRAM
- St. Bonaventure Parish
Paterson, N.J.
Program ran Wednesday evenings during Lent in 2011 and culminated with a group project around Earth Day.
Contact: Fr. Daniel Grigassy, OFM - St. Francis of Assisi Parish
Triangle, Va.
The parish assisted in the program's development by providing feedback about the pilot version, and ran the final product in the fall of 2011. The community also has used components of the program, including the Global Footprint tool and the first session of the program, within the parish and in staff development.
Contact: Fr. John O'Connor, OFM
“AND GOD SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD”/NATIONAL PARKS AMERICA’S BEST IDEAS -
FOUR-SESSION SENIOR ENRICHMENT PROGRAM
“VOLUNTARY SIMPLICITY” LEARNING CIRCLE
Five-week study circle based on a module from the Northwest Earth Institute that helped parishioners reflect on their consumer lives and find ways to simplify their life and spirit.
CARE FOR CREATION COMMITTEE
The St. Francis of Assisi Parish Care for Creation Committee, in accordance with God’s command and their responsibility as a GreenFaith Sanctuary, endeavors to model, educate, and advocate for the moral and faithful stewardship of God’s earth, never forgetting the kinship between all creation and the human person. They strive to promote communities focused on well-being, sustainable living, and waste reduction, while encouraging a renewal in the sacramental view of creation, which recognizes that through the gift of creation we may all encounter and grow closer to God. Activities include coordinating the parish’s annual St. Francis Earth Day, engaging in legislative advocacy, participating in a variety of awareness and educational initiatives, and more.
EARTH WEEK CELEBRATION
Week-long series of events at the parish’s school to bring grade-school children in closer contact with earth care activities.
EL RINCON VERDE - LA NUEVA EVANGELIZACION EN ACCION
(THE GREEN CORNER - THE NEW EVANGELIZATION IN ACTION)
FRANCISCAN SOLIDARITY EFFORTS AGAINST INDISCRIMINATE MINING IN CENTRAL AMERICA
St. Camillus Parish
Silver Spring, Md.
The issue of mining, especially in Central America, has become one of the top JPIC priorities within the worldwide Franciscan family. Resources to educate Holy Name Province ministries on this important focus include: “The Story of the Mining Threat in El Salvador,” a background piece on the subject; “Gold Mining and the Defense of Water in El Salvador,” a preliminary report from an international delegation to El Salvador (May 10-13, 2013); and a video of a SPANISH prayer service at St. Camillus on the topic, "Un servicio de oración y sanación de la Madre Terra y una vida abundante para todos sus” ("Prayer Service for the Protection of Earth and the People from Destructive Mining").
Contact: Fr. Jacek Orzechowski, OFM
GREEN FAITH
In 2012, New Jersey-based GreenFaith, an internationally recognized interfaith environmental coalition, accepted St. Francis of Assisi Parish into its certification program, the country’s first interfaith environmental certification program for houses of worship. St. Francis of Assisi Parish was the first house of worship in Virginia to enter this prestigious program. Churches, synagogues, mosques and temples gain recognition as environmental leaders when they receive GreenFaith certification by carrying out more than two dozen environmental activities over two years. From eco-themed worship services and religious education on the environment, to reducing consumption in their buildings and engaging in environmental justice advocacy, participants “green” their communities. When congregations complete the program, GreenFaith officially acknowledges them as religious environmental leaders. St. Francis of Assisi Parish was officially certified a “GreenFaith Sanctuary” and “faith-based environmental leader” in 2014.
THE GREEN CORNER - BULLETIN COLUMN
Efforts that use community organizing and/or dialogue with local and national officials to address the needs of people and/or creation
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SUPPORT
St. Camillus Parish
Silver Spring, Md.
St. Camillus’ Latino Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation Committee advocates for clean energy initiatives. On April 2012, the group rallied in Annapolis for Maryland to support Wind Energy. For a video of the gathering, click here.
Contact: Fr. Jacek Orzechowski, OFM
COMMUNITY ORGANIZING AROUND ENERGY ISSUES
FRANCISCAN SOLIDARITY EFFORTS AGAINST INDISCRIMINATE MINING IN CENTRAL AMERICA
St. Camillus Parish
Silver Spring, Md.
The issue of mining, especially in Central America, has become one of the top JPIC priorities within the worldwide Franciscan family. St. Camillus Parish collaborated on an advocacy effort with Franciscans in Central America, and more than 1,200 of the Silver Spring parishioners signed a petition calling for a prohibition of large-scale mining in El Salvador, defending that country and its people from threats posed by the many large-scale mining projects located along the borders with Guatemala and Honduras. The petition also called for declaring water as a human right and enacting legislation to benefit public interest and sustainability. Further, St. Camillus’ Spanish-speaking Secular Franciscan community reached out to the Capuchin Sacred Heart Parish in Washington, D.C. and got an additional 900 signatures on the petition. In Feb. 2014, the two parishes were considering forming a joint delegation to deliver the petition to public officials in Washington, D.C. representing the government of El Salvador. The group hopes to deliver the petition as an anticipated encyclical focused on ecological issues is released.
Contact: Fr. Jacek Orzechowski, OFM
Efforts that work to address the immediate needs of people and/or creation
BEACH CLEAN-UP
CAMPUS ENERGY AUDIT
RECYCLING EFFORT
In 2012, New Jersey-based GreenFaith, an internationally recognized interfaith environmental coalition, accepted St. Francis of Assisi Parish into its certification program, the country’s first interfaith environmental certification program for houses of worship. St. Francis of Assisi Parish was the first house of worship in Virginia to enter this prestigious program. Churches, synagogues, mosques and temples gain recognition as environmental leaders when they receive GreenFaith certification by carrying out more than two dozen environmental activities over two years. From eco-themed worship services and religious education on the environment, to reducing consumption in their buildings and engaging in environmental justice advocacy, participants “green” their communities. When congregations complete the program, GreenFaith officially acknowledges them as religious environmental leaders. St. Francis of Assisi Parish was officially certified a “GreenFaith Sanctuary” and “faith-based environmental leader” in 2014.