How can our church contribute to a more sustainable world and a healthier life for our community? How is environmental stewardship and sustainable living related to our church mission and social justice?

Pastor Julianne Stokstad preached two sermons addressing this:

• On April 2, 2006 she talked about the spiritual meaning of our relationship with our planet. Click to read "The Earth is a Love Letter from God"
• On April 23, the Sunday after Easter, she explored the connections between our modern-day response to resurrection and the problems we have responding to global warming. Click to read "Being Sent: Resurrection and Global Warming"

And the Youth Group has gotten behind the message, too. Read the play about Global Warming they performed in our May 2, 2006 service.

So, what can we, as individuals, do to help heal the planet? More than you think. We would like to suggest a little homework to start. We have introduced a Green Table in the Community Room where we have a display of books, magazines, videos, and other resources for your Reading and Viewing. We invite everybody’s participation and contributions. On October 30, we had a very well-attended round-table discussion on Global Warming and what we can do about it, both as individuals and as a Church. Click to read the complete report.

We will also be collecting resources on this page . . . . links to important websites, book and video recommendations and down-loadable reading. Here are a few to get started:

• "Greening the Church" A report on the extensive Earth Stewardship movement in the Episcopal Church. It discusses the theological roots of environmentalism and current interfaith Green efforts. This page also includes a number of links to related Earth Stewardship websites.
• Earth Stewards is the website for our local UCC Northern California Nevada Conference's green initiative. This site is loaded with worship and education resources on sustainability.
• An Interview with Sally Bingham. Sally is a priest at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, and the leader of their Environmental Ministry. She also founded the Interfaith Power and Light movement, which has grown into a national interfaith ministry focused on making churches public leaders in fighting climate change. Click here to read the sermon on "Global Warming as a Religious Issue" that Rev Bingham preached at FCC on May 21, 2006.
• California Interfaith Power and Light is the local branch of the national Interfaith Power and Light movement. Their website is a wonderful resource on theology, public policy and practical advice for churches and individuals.
• "Global Warming is a Moral Value, Too" a short essay/sermon by Sally Bingham that makes a persuasive case for viewing global climate change as the greatest moral and ethical challenge facing humanity.
• "Engaging Religion in the Quest for Sustainability" is the transcript of an online discussion with Gary Gardiner, Research Director of the Worldwatch Institute. In it he discusses research he's done on how religious institutions around the world are (or aren't) approaching sustainability.
• The League of Conservation Voters is a non-partisan (but certainly not neutral!) organization that calls itself "the political voice of the environmental movement." They keep close tabs on the politically hot environmental issues and on who are the good guys and bad guys in Washington on these issues.
• Finally, click here to download The Climate of Man , Elizabeth Kolbert's great three-part series from The New Yorker on climate change. It's one of the best combinations of engaging, accessible writing and serious science that we've ever seen on this subject.

Check back here in the weeks ahead for much, much more on the environment.

Our downloads are Adobe PDF files, Most newer computers come ready to read these, but if you have problems, click the logo to get the correct version of the free Reader for your computer.

First Congregational Church of San Rafael