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Episcopal Church of the Nativity, Raleigh
8849 Ray Rd. Raleigh, NC 27613
Contact: Carl Sigel, cwsigel@aol.com

The Environmental Stewardship group at Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Raleigh has a mission to bring Creation Care from the periphery of our parish life to a more central position.  This objective is in harmony with The Episcopal House of Bishops Pastoral Teaching on the environment issued in September 2011 which states we have an ecological crisis, and “Christians cannot be indifferent to global warming, pollution, natural resource depletion, species extinctions, and habitat destruction, all of which threaten life on our planet.”

Many of the Bishop’s recommendations for actions by parishes and individuals had already been introduced in early 2011 at Nativity. During the weekend of February 18 to 20, Nativity and NCIPL cosponsored an Earth Care weekend. On Friday evening, Dr. Kathy Shea spoke about climate change and health, on Sunday    morning, Dr. Carl Sigel during the adult education hour, addressed ways to incorporate ecological thinking into worship, education, and institutional life. The worship service that morning included ecological liturgy, hymns and sermon. In April 2011, Nativity started a community garden, which will be expanded in 2012. On several occasions during the summer, fresh produce from the garden was donated to the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. To provide grounding for the garden efforts, a four week program based on the Interfaith Power & Light Cool Harvest was presented in June.

More recently, Nativity participated in Interfaith Power & Light’s national Preach-In on Climate Change on February 12, 2012. Services  were led by the Rector Rev. Stephanie Allen with the participation of Rev. Jerry Cappel, Associate for Justice Ministries, St. Matthews Episcopal Church, Louisville, Kentucky, Coordinator of Environmental Ministries for Province IV of the Episcopal Church and President Kentucky IPL. Rev. Cappel also led an interactive Adult Formation session on how Christians should think about climate change. In the afternoon, Rev. Cappel visited Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill, participating in an adult forum and the evening worship service. During Lent 2012, for Adult    Formation, Nativity will use a five part Anglican Bible Study, called, “And it was good” http://www.aco.org/ministry/theological/bible/lent.cfm.

At a time when powerful forces in government, business, and the media divert our attention from an environmental crisis that threatens human civilization and all life on Earth as we know it, as people of faith, we need to be mindful of and thankful for our religious leaders, who look to both faith and science to develop a worldview based on reality and provide clear guideposts for us to take action.

-Carl Sigel, Chair of Nativity’s  Environmental Committee

6030 Albemarle Road | Charlotte, NC 28212
Contact: Karen Carpenter, thecarps3@yahoo.com

In 2011, Central United Methodist Church (CUMC) Charlotte was one of four churches in the nation to win Interfaith Power & Light’s “Cool    Congregations Challenge,” awarding effort by faith-based  congregations to address global warming at the grass-roots level. The $1,000 award recognized Central in the category of   sustainable grounds and water conservation.

Demonstrating ways to reduce its carbon footprint and inspire its members and others in the community, Central started a community garden last spring with 24 plots, including some raised beds. To preserve water and enrich soil, volunteers tilled in 48 cubic yards of compost made from county recycled yard waste with additional dirt removed from construction sites. They created garden paths from mulch recycled from tree trimmers, and converted recycled, neutralized barrels into cisterns for irrigation. They established a compost pile to winterize the garden and prepare for Spring. This year’s harvest provided locally grown produce to congregants,  neighborhood gardeners, and the church’s food pantry, which serves 15 families from Albemarle Road Elementary School, a local  high-poverty, high-English as a Second Language elementary with whom Central partners.

Three other winners were selected from New Mexico, Connecticut and Indiana for energy efficiency, renewable energy and inspiring congregants to lower energy use at home.

-Lucille Howard, CUMC member

Saint Francis of Assisi, Raleigh
11401 Leesville Rd  Raleigh, NC 27613
Contact: Bill Rhoades, wrhodes1@mac.com

We are a Franciscan community in North Raleigh that is inspired by our patron, St. Francis, who lived simply and had a special connection with all of creation.  About three years ago, our community re-invigorated our efforts to become a more sustainable living community through starting a new ministry, Franciscan Care of Creation (FCC).  As our community proceeded with plans to build additional buildings, the FCC participated with the Building Committee to incorporate many energy-saving measures.  As a result an expanded pre-school, a new activity/community center, and a new chapel all received a gold LEED building certification.  In addition, our new Siena Life-long Learning Center received a silver certification.  These were designed with sustainable principles in mind.

The FCC has been invited to participate on other parish committees to provide our perspective in their decisions. Based on a recent energy audit, the parish achieved 20% improvement in energy efficiency.  This has resulted in lower power usage and the resulting dollar savings.   In recent years, we have been replacing our oldest HVAC units as funds can be made available.  This summer we plan to replace our two oldest (1989) HVAC units.  The new buildings utilize much natural lighting.   For our existing buildings we are transitioning to green lighting systems with CFLs and LEDs.

Our community has always had a special concern for those less fortunate than ourselves.  Considering the needs of the hungry, we have started an organic community garden.  This consists of multiple raised beds that are tended by volunteers.  Although the garden is less than two years old, it has delivered around 750 pounds of food to the needy. In this effort we have received help from other faith congregations as well as NC State. The garden also provides opportunities for children and families to connect to the Earth and learn about the benefits of locally grown, organic produce.

The ministry has had water cleanup activities at Falls Lake and at rivers and streams in Wake and Durham counties, often in partnership with other organizations.  We have provided information after services on sustainable living, have held movie nights and had speakers. We will be expanding our garden, having more educational programs, and reaching out to others as our resources allow.

–Franciscan Care of Creation Team