Environmental ActionThe mission of the Environmental Action Network of Village Church is to be a bold witness by advocating environmental justice for all creation. We are committed to making Village Church more environmentally aware and sustainable as an institution by reducing its environmental impact and by practicing, modeling and teaching faithful and responsible stewardship of God's Creation. Our call is to promote earth-keeping within and beyond the walls of our church. Our hope is to raise people’s awareness and to stir their conscience so that they might incorporate creation care into their daily living.
Throughout the year, EAN oversees the ongoing recycling efforts of the church and offers environmental education opportunities through Village U, Sunday school classes and displays. Under the leadership of EAN, Village Church has been certified for 12 consecutive years as an Earth Care Congregation. Earth Care Congregations is a program sponsored by PC(USA)'s Department of Environmental Ministries. Certification means our church is one of over 200 Presbyterian Churches nationally that have integrated environmental practices and thinking into its church life by completing projects and activities in the four fields of worship, education, facilities and outreach. The purpose of this program is to inspire churches to care for God’s earth in a holistic way by incorporating earth care into their mission and ministry.
ProjectsMonarch waystationClick here to read more about our monarch waystation project at 99th and Mission Rd.
Solar panelsClick here to read more about our solar panel project at the Child & Family Development Center at 99th St & Mission Rd.
Resources
For Lent & beyondFor those who observe the season of Lent and care about creation, the Environmental Action Network suggests reading the 2023 Tread Lightly for Lent daily calendar that provides daily reflections and actions during Lent.
Earth care references
Faith-based environmental websites
PC(USA) Overture 08-06: The Earth is the Lord’sIn June 2018, in response to the accelerating environmental crisis threatening God’s People and God’s Creation, PC(USA)'s 223rd General Assembly (2018) unanimously approved Overture 08-06 entitled The Earth is the Lord’s—Not Ours to Ruin: Priorities for a New Moral Era. With this Overture, the national leadership was calling upon the whole church to raise its prophetic voice on the urgent issue of climate change and to participate in healing the earth, our home and God’s gift for the future of all life. More specifically, it calls for the clergy to accept the mantle of moral leadership and to speak from the pulpits what must be done. CLICK HERE to read this Overture.
Energized by this overture, the Environmental Action Network decided to promote this Overture, making it its major initiative and focus for the foreseeable future. EAN called upon Village Church to join the national church in its call to prayer and action to initiate a new moral era. |