Saving God's green earth

Ecumenical group shares ideas for taking care of earth

Posted

WARWICK?–?Nearly 150 people gathered at Bishop Hendricken High School last week to learn what they could do to help their congregation become more environmentally conscious.

The seminar, "Greening Your Congregation," was presented by Rhode Island Interfaith Power and Light, a statewide group representing a variety of religious communities interested in combating global warming.

RIIPL was formed last year as a state chapter of the national Interfaith Power and Light organization and brings together members of many different congregations to network, discuss ways to lower their community's carbon footprint and global impact, and try to raise awareness about the issue of global warming. Last week's conference was the group's first public offering, and was well attended. People from across the state gathered to learn what they could do in their congregation, and why they should do it.

Keynote speaker Margaret Bullitt-Jonas is an Episcopal priest at Grace Church in Amherst, Mass. In recent years she has become an advocate of a faith-based approach to dealing with global warming. Her presentation asked the audience to look to their faith as an impetus to make changes in their personal life and in their congregation. She calls the transformation she underwent, from a lifelong city-dweller with little interest in the environment to an activist who participated in non-violent civil disobedience at a Washington D.C. rally on eco-conversion.

The eco-conversion she described, and encourages others to undergo, had three steps closely modeled on Christian theology.

First is "Creation" – developing an awareness of and appreciation for God's creation. Then, "Crucifixion" – feeling grief and guilt for the things humans have done to creation. Ultimately, "Resurrection" – working for justice, healing and reconciliation. She encouraged those in the audience to take stock of the things that they do to harm the planet and the things they can do to help it. Even doing something small, she said, will make you "wake up in the morning and have a little more integrity." She commended those who attended for taking at least the first step in this journey. "We together are the future we need to be seeing more of."

Bullitt-Jonas believes strongly that the problem of global warming, though daunting, is one that every person and congregation can do something about. And, more than that, she believes that every faith community is called to do something about it.

People of faith, she said, are obligated to work as hard to improve this earthly life as they are to prepare for the afterlife.

"If we only care about heaven, then we've lost Jesus' sense of urgency about loving your neighbor," she said. "We're all kin, so my neighbor is also the polar bear and the bumblebee."

Following Bullitt-Jonas' keynote address the crowd split up into four separate sessions that covered topics ranging from social justice and climate change to presenting the problems of global warming to children.

One session, "Cool Congregations," featured representatives from three local congregations who have taken steps to decrease their carbon footprint and offered practical advice to the crowd.

Barney Heath from Temple Emmanu-El in Providence spoke about the way that he and the members of his congregation have worked to curb global warming. They stopped using paper plates, which reduced their waste considerably. They also had a RISE Engineering audit performed on their properties, which pointed out the places where the congregation could reduce their carbon footprint. This audit is available to public and private buildings and even personal homes. It systematically goes through every element of buildings and points out every change that can be made. Then, through RISE and National Grid, institutions like churches and temples can receive some financial assistance to make the suggested improvements.

At Temple Emmanu-El they have made some of the changes and are working toward others. Heath said that their goal is "reduce the temple's carbon footprint as an example to temple families."

Convincing the temple leaders to institute the changes was not difficult because not only were they environmentally conscious, they "made good fiscal sense" by lowering utility bills at the temple, he said.

Two representatives from St. Augustine Episcopal Church in Kingston spoke about the changes their congregation has made in the past year. The congregation has made improvements similar to those at Temple Emmanu-El – recycling, eliminating disposable dishes, and holding consciousness raising events like showing the Al Gore documentary on global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth," and distributing information to their congregation and nearby at the University of Rhode Island campus. "Changing some of our habits is really worth the trouble," Katherine Gibson said. "Already we're seeing significant savings."

Gibson and the other members of her congregation's committee dealing with global warming even presented a document to the Episcopal diocese that listed specific goals for the diocese and its churches to meet as a way to deal with global warming. The resolution was passed at the diocese's annual meeting in October.

Gibson said she has worked hard in her church to spread the message that climate change is something that she and her fellow parishioners can do something about. "Communication is the bottom line of this whole process," she said. "It's important for people to see the seriousness of climate change and see that it really does tentacle into so many other things."

The interfaith approach of RIIPL is important, she said, for the networking and exchange of ideas that it invites. "That's one of the real strengths of Interfaith Power and Light; we get ideas from other people. There's no need for us to be original."

Approaching global warming from the perspective of faith, rather than from a political or environmental perspective, is unique. Those who attended the conference say that looking at the problem through the lens of their faith is the only way to approach it effectively.

"For me, the difference is that whereas when I think secularly I think of doing the right thing on a more academic level. I'm aware of some of the science, good sense tells me that resources aren't going to last forever... but when I think of it spiritually... it just deepens it all. It actually gives it a much firmer, broader foundation," Gibson said.

Pat Jaehnig, the peace and justice coordinator for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, also attended the conference and pointed out that "care for creation is one of the seven themes of Catholic social teaching." Jaehnig said that one way to look at the importance of dealing with global warming on a parish and diocesan level is the idea that "if you disrespect creation, you're disrespecting the creator."

All of the speakers and attendees acknowledged that tackling global warming on a parish level, or even a personal level, can be daunting. "The thing is that it's such an overwhelming problem that it's important for people to look at it one step at a time," Jaehnig said. "It's the work of everybody." Gibson pointed out the interfaith approach and the support from RIIPL helps to ease the sense of helplessness, so people don't "feel so overwhelmed by it that they feel immobilized. There are certain moments in time when it doesn't look like you could just go with it, but you do and it works."

The presenters shared some of the issues they have encountered during their work to improve their congregation – everything from an overflow of energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs at St. Augustine (they became stocking stuffers at Christmastime) to the difficulties of setting up institutional recycling at Temple Emmanu-El. Heath complained that setting up recycling at an institution like a church or temple is a really systemic problem; there is no easy or financially efficient way to do it in Rhode Island. This issue is one that he and others at RIIPL may tackle in the future.

There are also important questions of financing. Most of the improvements require at least some initial investment that may be hard for struggling or small parishes to make. Eventually parishes will see a reduction in their utility bills as a result of the changes, the presenters assured. Some financing is available through RISE Engineering and National Grid, but the presenters also gave ideas about fundraising and making the issue a priority to parish budget committees.

All of the presenters and attendees expressed a sincere optimism that RIIPL and conferences like "Greening Your Congregation" will mobilize people across the state so that there will be tangible changes to the environment.

Gibson hopes that the work of RIIPL will have a ripple effect throughout communities: "This is how I see Interfaith Power and Light – it starts out with a congregational focus and then it moves out to an individual focus, a family focus."

Jaehnig hopes Catholics will begin to ask themselves: "What is our faith calling us to do? Care for creation is an integral part of Catholic teaching... we're all taught that we're all sisters and brothers; how are we living that out?"

Maryann Donohue-Lynch was one of a group of teachers and administrators from LaSalle Academy who attended. The school has taken some steps, like instituting a recycling program, and hopes to take many more in the future to decrease their global impact. Donohue-Lynch, the director of campus ministry at the school, said that the faith-based approach is very important for dealing with an issue so enormous, and for dealing with the sense that small changes don't make any difference.

"If every single person is doing something, if every single person is attending this then that's how change happens," she said. "If you're motivated out of your faith to do something then you don't have to see the results, you just trust that the results will happen."

Donohue-Lynch suggests that people take some time to really consider the problems of global warming and the things that their parish can do, "and to pray about it." "God will lead you... one step at a time," she said.

Starting with something simple, like changing light bulbs in parish buildings to energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs, can not only make a difference in terms of carbon footprints and utility bills, but success at that level will also inspire someone to reach for the second and third step, many of the presenters hope.

For Bullitt-Jonas, thinking about what she can do to curb global warming is really a question of keeping it at the front of her mind all day, every day. "Every time I turn a light switch off it's like a prayer for a polar bear," she said.

What can you and your congregation do… today?

1. Change the light bulbs in your church, parish offices, classrooms,

and even the exit signs to compact fluorescent light bulbs. They

are available just about anywhere in a variety of shapes, sizes and wattages and will ultimately reduce your parish’s carbon footprint and utility bills.

2. Set up a parish carpool to Mass, school or other events. Or, ride

your bike to church.

3. Recycle. Work on recycling paper, plastic, glass and anything

else you can. You could even look into setting up a parish compost pile.

4. Stop using paper or plastic dishes at parish events or in parish

offices. A little extra time washing and drying could mean a big change in your parish’s global impact.

5. Look into having a RISE audit of all your parish properties. RISE

Engineering will visit your properties and calculate your carbon usage and list suggestions for lowering your parish’s impact and its bills. RISE Engineering offers, with the support of National Grid, some financing options for the changes they recommend. Their suggestions can vary from the very small to the systemic—like higher efficiency heating systems. For more information visit www.riseengineering.com

For more information....

• about what's being done about global warming in the diocese, con

tact Pat Jaehnig at 421-7833 ext. 101 or pjaehnig@dioceseofprovidence.org.

• about Rhode Island Interfaith Power and Light, visit www.riipl.org

• about having a RISE environmental impact audit of your home or

parish buildings performed, visit www.riseengineering.com or call 800-422-5365