January 31, 2008

Greening the church email network

Are you interested in greening the church? 

Would you like to share ideas and experiences with like-minded people? 

Then contact Miriam Pepper to join a new email network of Uniting Church people in New South Wales and the ACT who are interested in questions of faith, ecology, and action.

Dr Miriam Pepper last year returned to Maroubra Junction after three years abroad studying for her PhD. With the support of the 2% for Development Fund, she is employed part-time as the Project Green Church Coordinator.

“I was delighted to see what had been happening at the church, and I want to share the good news. I’m really keen to build stronger links with the local community and with other churches, especially those in the Sydney Presbytery, and to encourage them to take similar action,” she said.

But taking action on sustainability is much more than the label “green”. Sharing possessions reduces resource use and pollution, but it’s also about living generously as a community of people.

“ Project Green Church is fundamentally an outworking of our discipleship journey. It’s about life in all its fullness, about the multiplication that results when a small boy gives his loaves and his fishes,” said Dr Pepper.

See the church's website for more details.

“The story of Project Green Church is one that can happen in many different ways in many different contexts”, said Dr Pepper. To make a start on your own church’s green discipleship journey, she encourages people to:

• Include prayers for the planet in your church’s worship life, and make use of some of the great liturgical resources that are available, e.g. the Season of Creation.
  
• Make the switch to green power. See the Synod green church pages for information to support you in doing this.
  
• Contact Miriam with your thoughts and ideas for your congregation. If you are in the Sydney area, she is also available to speak at your church.
  
• Let Emma Halgren in the Synod's Communications Unit know what you’re doing, so the good news can be shared with others on the Synod’s green church website.