The Changing Environment, Earth Care, and Faith

Submitted by the Rev. Bob Donnell, Gulf Coast Creation Care

Where do faith and caring for the Earth intersect? I think they are inseparable. Our faith in the

Creator God—and as Christians in the Christ Jesus—provides us with love of our neighbors

who suffer from our changing environment, hope in the face of despair, and can energize us

into action to address the challenges of the changing climate. This article by Sydney Cromwell, “Faith for the Future,” in the Southern Science journal addresses the challenges we now face with the climate-related changes on our home Earth, and stresses the importance of our faith in confronting them. It cites the work of environmentalist Stephen Guesman and his program WERiSE (Weatherize Every Residence in the Southeast). Guesman does workshops that train people how to weatherize their homes and churches, turning them into more energy efficient buildings, and saving money on power bills in the process. Gulf Coast Creation Care hosted Stephen twice last year at All Saints’ church in Mobile. Using what we learned from these workshops the Green Team at All Saints’ has weatherized our church, turning our beautiful 111 year old building into a more energy efficient place. I encourage you to read the article. It might give you some ideas! If you have questions about weatherizing your church or working on other projects, or about getting a green team started at your church, please feel free to contact me at All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Mobile, or Gulf Coast Creation Care at gulfcoastcreationcare.org.