Green Sanctuary

I’ve recently learned about a new resource for greening seminaries.  The Green Seminary Initiative fosters efforts by theological schools and seminaries to incorporate care for creation into the identity and mission of the institution.

The Green Seminary Initiative has much in common with the Green Sanctuary program – the former is for theological schools and seminaries whereas the latter is for congregations.  Both programs make it clear that environmentalism and theology are integrally linked, social/environmental justice and ecological problems are intertwined, building community is important, and that it is important to celebrate your accomplishments.  The 20 Guiding Principles to Greening Your Seminary are also good to keep in mind when creating a Green Sanctuary at your congregation.

Currently there are only 7 seminaries who have submitted Green Profiles.  UU seminarians, I challenge you to get your school on-board with this effort and have it added to the list by Earth Day 2012!

After having their “Sample Statement of Purpose and Commitment” shared on the Green Sanctuary blog, Helen Deffenbacher from the Green Sanctuary Team of First Unitarian Church of Omaha wrote to me asking if I would include information about one of their service projects for Earth Day.  You don’t have to wait till you’ve been featured to send me information about your congregation’s Green Sanctuary efforts – I love to share congregational stories, so if you have one be sure to email me at RNelson @ uua.org and I’ll be happy to share yours too.

Helen Deffenbacher writes:
“The Green Sanctuary Team of First Unitarian Church of Omaha invites all Green Sanctuaries (and others aspiring to someday become Green Sanctuaries) to join us in a national spring housecleaning! The 2011 Reduce, Reuse & Recycle Scavenger Hunt will be held from now until Earth Day, April 22nd.
Groups set their own rules & target date for completion, make up a list of items each individual or family hunts for in their own homes, and award one or more prizes (optional)—preferably not more stuff but a green outing, for instance. read more »

This sample Statement of Purpose and Commitment comes from the First Unitarian Church of Omaha (“A Different Kind of Congregation”).

• We are each committed to learning ways in which we might live more sustainable lives that will help reduce the threat of global warming.
• From that growing awareness and knowledge we will strive to make personal lifestyle changes that strengthen the connection between our spiritual principles and our daily actions.
• We will strive to lead by example and not by words alone.
• We believe that a commitment to change must come from within.
• We believe that each person at First Unitarian must take responsibility for his or her own actions within our church and the greater community.
• We believe that a “greener than thou” attitude has no place in a [Environmental Stewardship] program, inasmuch as we are each in the process of learning and growing.
• We believe the role of the Green Sanctuary Committee is to build upon our church community’s awareness and knowledge of environmental issues and to build upon and strengthen our denomination’s commitment to our Seventh Principle.
• We will strive to encourage widespread congregational participation in the 12 projects and activities required for Green Sanctuary accreditation.
• We will encourage and support both individual and collective action.
• We will encourage and facilitate networking among different committees in our church.
• We will strive to build networks in our wider community as we work on these projects.
• We will provide frequently updated information on the Green Sanctuary Program to our congregation.
• We will remain open to new ideas and to new members.

For one of their Green Sanctuary Worship and Celebration projects, the Unitarian Universalist Society of Bangor (UUSB) created a ever-evolving Green Altar.

They took a unused christening font, located in the back of the Sanctuary, and turned it into a pedestal for a vase holding items such as harvest corn, pine cones and acorns. On the other side, they set up a bulletin board where members of the congregation could add natural elements.  At one point in time there were feathers, dried plowers, photos and mini-gourds – and of course, the elements change from time to time.  As a symbol of their reciprocal relationship with the natural world, there are “wonderful world” cards to take when leaving an item on either side of the altars.

The double Green Altar was advertised in the church newsletter, The Chalice and Chimes, and sometimes at services people were encouraged to add a little something to the altars.

The Green Sanctuary Committee wrote:
“This has been a simple and easy project, but very satisfying, and we think it has added to the atmosphere of the Sanctuary, giving it a green flavor… and draw comments from visitors.”

UUSB was accredited as a Green Sanctuary on December 8, 2010.  Check out the full list of accredited Green Sanctuaries at the UUA website.

Paperwork.  Everyone hates paperwork.  Or at least everyone I know hates paperwork.  But we all have to do it sometimes.

One of the requirements to becoming a UUA Accredited Green Sanctuary is to file both a candidacy and an accreditation application.  Yes, though I loathe paperwork, I require people to fill it out on a regular basis.  When the UUA began to manage the Green Sanctuary Program we stream-lined the application process by requiring that people fill out standard candidacy and accreditation applications.  One might think that this meant that all applications would then begin to look the same – oh contraire!  Applications still look as unique as the congregations they come from.

Part of the application includes the “Action Plan” and then asks one to list

• project title
• project description
• timeline for completion
• lead

Generally people get the point and provide all the required information.  A while back, I came upon an application that really took the “timeline for completion” section very seriously.  For their larger projects they broke them down into smaller pieces and created what I now call “benchmarks for success.”  These mini-goals would ideally help the congregation stay on track, know when they’ve significant accomplishments (often times when we are in the midst of larger projects its hard to see that you’ve made any headway), and lead them to success.  This is something that I would have never have imagined would have come out of the “timeline for completion” and I am grateful to this congregation for inspiring me to come up with the idea of “benchmarks for success.” read more »

From The Rev. Cannon Sally Bingham, Interfaith Power and Light

“The House and Senate leadership appear to have reached a temporary two-week budget extension, thankfully, without the EPA attacks in the House spending bill. But the longer term budget battle is only delayed, and so far, the House leadership is refusing to back down on their spending bill that guts core environmental safeguards. Please let your representatives hear from you today. The House-passed bill poses a reckless threat to the air we breathe. It represents skewed values that favor polluters over children’s health.

The House spending bill cripples the EPA by slashing its budget by 30%, while fossil fuel subsidies continue. It bars the agency from curbing carbon pollution, and cuts clean energy research and development that is crucial for job creation and economic revival. The spending bill even blocks the air pollution standards aimed at cleaning up toxic pollutants, like mercury.

People of faith have a responsibility to speak out against this attempt to hold our environment and our health hostage to special interests and sacrifice 40-year-old environmental safeguards. The moral voice of the faith community needs to be heard now more than ever.

Will you help me stop this dangerous bill in the Senate? The fossil fuel industry’s lobbyists are walking the halls of Congress at this moment. It’s up to us to defend our families, neighbors, and future generations.

Please tell your elected officials that the air we breathe is a God-given human right, not a political bargaining chip.

Sincerely,

The Rev. Canon Sally G. Bingham
Interfaith Power & Light”