Green Stewardship at St. Mary’s–Marty Dunn, pictured here with Annette Foisie, handed out washable, reusable cotton produce bags, courtesy of Sustainable Pacific Grove, to help reduce use of single-use plastic bags.
The Episcopal Church Embraces “Creation Care”
The Episcopal Church is concerned with climate change. For example, if you go to https://www.episcopalchurch.org and hover your mouse over “Ministries,” three areas are showcased and the first is “Creation Care.” Within our diocese, a conference on climate change was held on Sept 14, attendees including Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves and Canon Jesus Reyes.
The first speaker was Paul Deis, of the Climate Reality Project, an educational group. He posed and answered three important questions. Must we change? Can we change? Will we change? The answers were all “yes,” meaning some news was frightening and other news encouraging. There is a lot of great information at https://www.climaterealityproject.org/ . If the abundance of resources seems overwhelming, just go to that web site, set your watch to beep in five minutes, and take a quick look around during that time. Take a step towards being better informed.
Lisa Altieri spoke on http://www.sustainislandhome.org/ , a web-based application for Episcopal communities to track which of our activities are significant carbon contributors and what actions we can take. Michael Curry, our Presiding Bishop, is encouraging all parishes to participate, emphasizing the aspect of community in tackling this problem, which faces us all. Take a look, again even if only for a few minutes.
The next day, I attended St. Mary’s and heard the lectionary lessons. https://www.episcopalchurch.org/lectionary/fourteenth-sunday-after-pentecost-1 In Exodus 32, Moses and God had a “date night,” just the two of them getting away from the children (of Israel). But parents know that doesn’t end well. In this case, the children had forged an idol, a calf, and God and Moses pointed their fingers at one another. What a mess!
Meanwhile, in the gospel lesson from Luke 15, Jesus told the parables of the lost sheep and of the lost coin and of the joy when even just one is recovered.
So it is in the battle against climate change. Sometimes it’s a mess, with people turning to exasperation and blame. Other times, it’s joy, when even just a small step forward is made.
Spend a few minutes on those web sites. I’d love to hear your comments. —–Eugene Loh