Earth Day events at St. Stephen’s Church in Orinda
On April 22, 2007, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Orinda, California honored our blessed “island home” with a beautiful Creation-centered worship service. The liturgy was based on the New Zealand Book of Common Prayer, and Father Lawrence Hunter delivered an inspiring sermon. As he explained,
“The care of creation, the quest for sustainability, the push for renewal, is not just an economic
or political issue. We can argue about economics or politics. The care of creation is, at its core,
a theological issue. About this there can be little debate. We Christians assert that God
is the agent of creation, that all of creation “belongs” to God, and that we are created and called to be stewards of creation. It goes to the heart of our theology that we are to take care of that which God has entrusted to us.”
His complete sermon can be found at: http://www.ststephensorinda.org/Sermons/April222007.htm
The service set the stage for a variety of activities in which both youth and adults participated. During the coffee hour following the service, the Caring for Creation committee organized a number of educational exhibits and provided information and resource guides designed to inform parishioners about how they can better “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.”
Numerous cleaning and other home products that are made from recycled, organic or biodegradable materials were on display.
Practical tips about composting and organic gardening were also provided. In a very creative initiative, St. Stephen’s is working with a local bank to develop low-cost means for financing home solar power systems, and bank representatives were on hand to discuss this exciting program.
Children celebrated the occasion by planting seeds in nifty biodegradable peat pots, releasing hundreds of ladybugs, and entering into Care for the Earth contracts.
St. Stephens is taking tangible steps to address the impact of our daily activities on our beloved Earth home.
Beginning on Earth Day,
· Church members have already purchased nearly 200 St. Stephen’s cloth grocery bags made from Ecospun, a fabric composed entirely of recycled soda bottles. Use of these cloth bags could save up to 175,000 paper or plastic grocery bags. Proceeds from these sales will benefit California Interfaith Power and Light;
· Several dozen families have already taken the ENERGY STAR Change a Light Pledge, whereby they have agreed to begin replacing home light bulbs with more energy-efficient ones. We are on our way to reach our goal of 200 homes; at the present pace, St. Stephen’s parishioners would save more than 60,000 kWh of energy, thousands of dollars in energy
costs, and prevent nearly 100,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions; and
· More than 100 “personal cloths” were distributed (with the Caring for Creation logo) and are now being used by people in lieu of paper towels.
For more information about the efforts of St. Stephen’s Earth Day and related activities, please contact Barbara Bisel (925- 377-5953, or BSmithBisel@cs.com) or me, Richard Severy (925-283-2950, or severyfamily@comast.net)
“The care of creation, the quest for sustainability, the push for renewal, is not just an economic
or political issue. We can argue about economics or politics. The care of creation is, at its core,
a theological issue. About this there can be little debate. We Christians assert that God
is the agent of creation, that all of creation “belongs” to God, and that we are created and called to be stewards of creation. It goes to the heart of our theology that we are to take care of that which God has entrusted to us.”
His complete sermon can be found at: http://www.ststephensorinda.org/Sermons/April222007.htm
The service set the stage for a variety of activities in which both youth and adults participated. During the coffee hour following the service, the Caring for Creation committee organized a number of educational exhibits and provided information and resource guides designed to inform parishioners about how they can better “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.”
Numerous cleaning and other home products that are made from recycled, organic or biodegradable materials were on display.
Practical tips about composting and organic gardening were also provided. In a very creative initiative, St. Stephen’s is working with a local bank to develop low-cost means for financing home solar power systems, and bank representatives were on hand to discuss this exciting program.
Children celebrated the occasion by planting seeds in nifty biodegradable peat pots, releasing hundreds of ladybugs, and entering into Care for the Earth contracts.
St. Stephens is taking tangible steps to address the impact of our daily activities on our beloved Earth home.
Beginning on Earth Day,
· Church members have already purchased nearly 200 St. Stephen’s cloth grocery bags made from Ecospun, a fabric composed entirely of recycled soda bottles. Use of these cloth bags could save up to 175,000 paper or plastic grocery bags. Proceeds from these sales will benefit California Interfaith Power and Light;
· Several dozen families have already taken the ENERGY STAR Change a Light Pledge, whereby they have agreed to begin replacing home light bulbs with more energy-efficient ones. We are on our way to reach our goal of 200 homes; at the present pace, St. Stephen’s parishioners would save more than 60,000 kWh of energy, thousands of dollars in energy
costs, and prevent nearly 100,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions; and
· More than 100 “personal cloths” were distributed (with the Caring for Creation logo) and are now being used by people in lieu of paper towels.
For more information about the efforts of St. Stephen’s Earth Day and related activities, please contact Barbara Bisel (925- 377-5953, or BSmithBisel@cs.com) or me, Richard Severy (925-283-2950, or severyfamily@comast.net)
posted by SoCal CIPL at
9:21 AM
1 Comments:
More churches should follow the example of St. Stephen's and become eco-friendly. we are stewards of God's creation. If we don't protect the Creation how can we ask others to. alleluia to Saint Bisel and St. Stephens
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