Environmental Justice at Saint Mark's
About the Creation Care Ministry
The Creation Care Ministry of Saint Mark’s Cathedral strives to faithfully address the crisis of climate change. As stewards of the life-giving goodness of God’s creation, we will work with the Saint Mark’s and broader world communities to educate ourselves and take action together to preserve our shared planet and sustain life for the generations to come.
Carbon Emissions Reduction
The Vestry has adopted the goal for the entire Saint Mark’s campus and community to have a net zero carbon footprint by the year 2030. We encourage parishioners at Saint Mark’s to sign up with the Episcopal Church Carbon Tracker at www.sustainislandhome.org, a tool to help our community measure its collective carbon footprint and take action to reduce that footprint.
Click here for more detailed instructions about how to use this resource, or see the video of the training event here. Why is measuring your carbon footprint is important? Listen to this excellent podcast about why our collective actions really do make a difference!
The Creation Care ministry has researched several carbon offset programs and suggests that parishioners donate to the Carbon Offset Fund here at St. Mark’s when making offset contributions. These funds will then be directly passed through to either the Carbon Offset Cooperative Mission | The Episcopal Diocese of Olympia (ecww.org) or to COTAP.org.
For an update and more information about the Carbon Offset Cooperative Mission partnership between the Olympia Diocese and the Diocese of the Southern Philippines, view this short webinar here.
Environmental Justice
We recognize our commitment as a unique opportunity and responsibility in our time to address the many social justice issues tied to the climate crisis. And through engaging in collective action that makes an effective impact, we will grow into the joy of transcending our fears and sense of powerlessness around the issue of climate change. Saint Mark’s is a member of Earth Ministry (earthministry.org) and Earth Day NW 2020 (earthdaynw2020.org) If you are interested in being a part of this work at Saint Mark’s, please contact ministry co-leaders Marjorie Ringness or Kathy Minsch.
PAST FORUMS
Winter Solstice Poetry Reading, hosted by Creation Care
Code Red for Humanity: Reflections on the IPCC Report 6th Assessment Report on Climate Change
Sacred Ground: Cultivating Connections Between Our Food, Faith and Climate
Carbon Tracker Training
For help navigating the video, please refer to this video timeline, or click "view on youtube" and refer to the chapters in the video description.
Reflections
Parishioner and literature professor Doug Thorpe submits occasional reflection on the environment and current events:
- Epiphany reflections, January 6, 2022
- Autumn Musings, November 7, 2021
- Thoughts from Doug Thorpe, August 17, 2021
The Intergenerational Hike to Twin Falls on September 12, 2021, featured an outdoor, Creation-focused prayer liturgy. Check out the Order of Service here.
Resources and Recommendations
CLICK HERE for a list of resources and recommendations commended to you by the Creation Care ministry team.
Report from Glasgow - UPDATED
Community member Dr. Lisa Graumlich attended the COP26 U.N. Climate Change Conference with the delegation of the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. She recently presented about her experiences in an online forum, titled The COP26 Experience: Healthy Skepticism and Abiding Faith.
- Watch the video recording posted here
- View the slides
- See the creation-focused prayers presented at the forum
- See photos from Glasgow
- Read Dr. Graumlich's summary document
Click here to read her letter from the first week of the conference, and here to read her article "Loss and Damage: Why these two words hold the key to a just transition in a warming world" on the Episcopal Church website.
Creation Care Newsletter
The Creation Care Ministry has just sent out the first issue of their new newsletter. It is full of events, reflections, recommendations, and interesting information. Read it here. Sign up to receive future issues using this form (select "Creation Care" from the list of options), or, if you already receive emails from the Saint Mark's, click the "update profile" link at the very bottom any cathedral mass email, and follow the instructions.
Need ideas for Christmas gifts? Check out these ten sustainable gift recommendations from Creation Care Ministry members for friends and family of all ages.
Joint Message for the Protection of Creation
On September 7, three of the world's top Christian leaders—Pope Francis, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby—issued a press release and joint statement warning of the urgency of environmental sustainability, its impact on poverty, and the importance of global cooperation. Read the full statement here.
Ministry Meetings
Creation Care Ministry meetings have now been rescheduled for the third Tuesday of each month. Please join us for the next meeting on January 18, 2022. Please note that there is a new Zoom link for this meeting beginning in January. Email Marjorie Ringness for the new link.
Creation Care Meeting Minutes
Meeting November 16, 2021
Meeting October 19, 2021
Meeting September 21, 2021
For older meeting minutes please visit the Creation Care Ministry Meeting Archive Page.
Click images to enlarge.
