Shared Earth Network
"Shared Earth, Shared Abundance"
In 2007 Christians for the Earth obtained a grant from the Presbyterian Church to create a faith-based citywide network for environmental advocacy and to implement related programs, including four citywide annual events. The four annual events are: Blessing of the Animals, Earth Day Celebration, workshop on a relevant topic and a Creation Care Fair.
1) Creation of Faith-based Citywide Environmental Advocacy Network. The purpose of the network is to link people of faith to work together on environmental causes, and to do so in a way that brings spiritual transformation to those involved. We have over 200 individuals from 22 different denominations or faith traditions, and 4 organizations signed up as members of the network. This includes people from the Christian Protestant, Christian Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Meher Baba and Raven Craft faith communities. Additionally, the local chapter of the Sierra Club, the Grand Canyon Wildlands Council and the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project have joined the network. We continue to meet with people and religious groups to spread the word and sign up more participants from diverse backgrounds.
Our website is up and running! You may visit it at sharedearthnetwork.org. The website posts environmental prayer requests, a calendar of events, thoughts of the week, past events and email alerts. The website will be expanded to include articles relevant to faith and ecology.
The participants who have joined so far have indicated appreciation for the Shared Earth Network, seeing it as addressing an important need and enabling us for greater effectiveness in protecting God's creation.
2) Implementation of Citywide Annual Events. Please visit the website and click on "Past Events" to view photographs of the events described below.
3. Additional Events. The Shared Earth Network has also participated in these environmental events: Earth Hour 2008, an international effort to turn off the lights worldwide for one hour on March 29, 2008; Lightbulb Exchange, replacing incandescent light bulbs with 3,700 CFL's, distributed through the public schools in collaboration with the City of Flagstaff and Arizona Public Service in April 2008; National Day of Prayer, provided information to the attendees of the interfaith prayer gathering at Federated Community Church on May 1, 2008; and City of Flagstaff Recycling Awareness Campaign, provided volunteers on June 16, 17, 19 and 20, 2008.
4. Additional Projects. Shared Earth Network maintains a bulletin board at the church which is used for educational purposes as well as announcements. We provided information at the church mission fair, with activities for children. We have produced an informational brochure, tee shirts, a banner and stationary. Our volunteers are given a Shared Earth Network tee shirt.
5. Number of People Served. With just the three events referred to above, we have reached thousands of people. Over 1,000 people visited our table at the Earth Day Celebration; around 30 attended the Solar Cooking Workshop; we counted 65 people at the Blessing of the Animals; and 2,000 people received CFLs from our volunteers during the lightbulb exchange event. Our other activities reached people that we can't count, but we are encouraged by the responses of those we are able to communicate with about the Shared Earth Network. Every week we hear from more people and add new members to our group.
6. How Lives Are Changed. Our table at the Earth Day Celebration was constantly inundated with people interested in both the work of Shared Earth Network, and the use of discarded video tapes and grocery bags to make tote bags and purses. We believe that people were uplifted by seeing that the faith community cares about the environment and works to protect it. And the kids absolutely loved the games! We are hopeful that the children (and their parents) learned that you can have fun without buying something new.
The Solar Cooking Workshop taught people how to cook without polluting or using energy (other than that provided naturally by the sun). More important than the specific method involved was the idea that there are alternatives to our way of life that are more respectful of creation. Although the workshop was small, everyone in attendance seemed interested and enthusiastic about meeting other like-minded people.
Smiles and laughter dominated the Blessing of the Animals. This event surely enriched lives by strengthening appreciation for animals and for all of the interconnected life on earth. It was a joyful event, and the love of animals provided the perfect forum for bringing together people of different faith backgrounds. When you love a dog, it doesn't matter if you are Jewish or Muslim: everyone understands the bond between man and canine.
As a result of Shared Earth Network participating with Sierra Club on the lightbulb exchange project, one of our members was nominated by the local chapter of Sierra Club to attend the first Climate Project training for faith leaders, led by Al Gore. This member is now committed to take the message about global warming, with an emphasis on the faith perspective, to at least five churches during the next six months. She will be using Shared Earth Network to reach out to other faith communities about this important issue. This project of Shared Earth Network will touch many more lives.
All of our events and projects change lives by giving people the opportunity to grow in their understanding of their own faith tradition and other faith traditions, and by strengthening the commitment to act on faith for the well-being of God's creation. Some people who had never participated in an environmental event went into the public schools to pass out CFL light bulbs. Some people who have felt that Christians are not responsible environmental stewards are learning that we are working to correct past mistakes and be better stewards. Some people who have not seen the connection between the inner landscape and the outer landscape, are starting to sense the deep relationship. We are crossing boundaries between faiths to acknowledge that we all share God's glorious creation, and we all share a duty to protect it.
"We recognize that sufficiency and sustainability lead to an abundant life for all. The mission of the Shared Earth Network is to bring transformation by uniting people of faith to advocate for environmental sustainability."
Learn more by going to the Shared Earth Network Website.
"Shared Earth, Shared Abundance"
In 2007 Christians for the Earth obtained a grant from the Presbyterian Church to create a faith-based citywide network for environmental advocacy and to implement related programs, including four citywide annual events. The four annual events are: Blessing of the Animals, Earth Day Celebration, workshop on a relevant topic and a Creation Care Fair.
1) Creation of Faith-based Citywide Environmental Advocacy Network. The purpose of the network is to link people of faith to work together on environmental causes, and to do so in a way that brings spiritual transformation to those involved. We have over 200 individuals from 22 different denominations or faith traditions, and 4 organizations signed up as members of the network. This includes people from the Christian Protestant, Christian Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Meher Baba and Raven Craft faith communities. Additionally, the local chapter of the Sierra Club, the Grand Canyon Wildlands Council and the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project have joined the network. We continue to meet with people and religious groups to spread the word and sign up more participants from diverse backgrounds.
Our website is up and running! You may visit it at sharedearthnetwork.org. The website posts environmental prayer requests, a calendar of events, thoughts of the week, past events and email alerts. The website will be expanded to include articles relevant to faith and ecology.
The participants who have joined so far have indicated appreciation for the Shared Earth Network, seeing it as addressing an important need and enabling us for greater effectiveness in protecting God's creation.
2) Implementation of Citywide Annual Events. Please visit the website and click on "Past Events" to view photographs of the events described below.
3. Additional Events. The Shared Earth Network has also participated in these environmental events: Earth Hour 2008, an international effort to turn off the lights worldwide for one hour on March 29, 2008; Lightbulb Exchange, replacing incandescent light bulbs with 3,700 CFL's, distributed through the public schools in collaboration with the City of Flagstaff and Arizona Public Service in April 2008; National Day of Prayer, provided information to the attendees of the interfaith prayer gathering at Federated Community Church on May 1, 2008; and City of Flagstaff Recycling Awareness Campaign, provided volunteers on June 16, 17, 19 and 20, 2008.
4. Additional Projects. Shared Earth Network maintains a bulletin board at the church which is used for educational purposes as well as announcements. We provided information at the church mission fair, with activities for children. We have produced an informational brochure, tee shirts, a banner and stationary. Our volunteers are given a Shared Earth Network tee shirt.
5. Number of People Served. With just the three events referred to above, we have reached thousands of people. Over 1,000 people visited our table at the Earth Day Celebration; around 30 attended the Solar Cooking Workshop; we counted 65 people at the Blessing of the Animals; and 2,000 people received CFLs from our volunteers during the lightbulb exchange event. Our other activities reached people that we can't count, but we are encouraged by the responses of those we are able to communicate with about the Shared Earth Network. Every week we hear from more people and add new members to our group.
6. How Lives Are Changed. Our table at the Earth Day Celebration was constantly inundated with people interested in both the work of Shared Earth Network, and the use of discarded video tapes and grocery bags to make tote bags and purses. We believe that people were uplifted by seeing that the faith community cares about the environment and works to protect it. And the kids absolutely loved the games! We are hopeful that the children (and their parents) learned that you can have fun without buying something new.
The Solar Cooking Workshop taught people how to cook without polluting or using energy (other than that provided naturally by the sun). More important than the specific method involved was the idea that there are alternatives to our way of life that are more respectful of creation. Although the workshop was small, everyone in attendance seemed interested and enthusiastic about meeting other like-minded people.
Smiles and laughter dominated the Blessing of the Animals. This event surely enriched lives by strengthening appreciation for animals and for all of the interconnected life on earth. It was a joyful event, and the love of animals provided the perfect forum for bringing together people of different faith backgrounds. When you love a dog, it doesn't matter if you are Jewish or Muslim: everyone understands the bond between man and canine.
As a result of Shared Earth Network participating with Sierra Club on the lightbulb exchange project, one of our members was nominated by the local chapter of Sierra Club to attend the first Climate Project training for faith leaders, led by Al Gore. This member is now committed to take the message about global warming, with an emphasis on the faith perspective, to at least five churches during the next six months. She will be using Shared Earth Network to reach out to other faith communities about this important issue. This project of Shared Earth Network will touch many more lives.
All of our events and projects change lives by giving people the opportunity to grow in their understanding of their own faith tradition and other faith traditions, and by strengthening the commitment to act on faith for the well-being of God's creation. Some people who had never participated in an environmental event went into the public schools to pass out CFL light bulbs. Some people who have felt that Christians are not responsible environmental stewards are learning that we are working to correct past mistakes and be better stewards. Some people who have not seen the connection between the inner landscape and the outer landscape, are starting to sense the deep relationship. We are crossing boundaries between faiths to acknowledge that we all share God's glorious creation, and we all share a duty to protect it.
"We recognize that sufficiency and sustainability lead to an abundant life for all. The mission of the Shared Earth Network is to bring transformation by uniting people of faith to advocate for environmental sustainability."
Learn more by going to the Shared Earth Network Website.
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A. Earth Day Celebration. This first year, Shared Earth Network participated in the Earth Day Celebration sponsored by the City of Flagstaff on April 19, 2008. We provided information on the network and signed people up at our table. Our volunteers demonstrated how to make sustainable tote bags from plastic grocery bags and discarded VHS tapes. We provided environmentally friendly games for youngsters, including milk carton toss (using old milk cartons and bean bags made from old socks) and soda bottle bowling (using plastic soda bottles with sand inside for the bowling pins). We sold environmentally friendly coffee and tea products and gave out lots of cold iced tea in compostable cups.
B. Workshop on a Relevant Topic / Solar Cooking Workshop. For our workshop on a relevant topic we helped organize the Solar Cooking Workshop, featuring the author of The Sunny Side of Cooking, Lisa Raynor. Held in a church parking lot on June 7th, Lisa demonstrated how to make a solar oven with inexpensive materials and then use it to cook. The method is powered by sunlight and is non-polluting. Over 30 people attended.
C. Blessing of the Animals. The Blessing of the Animals was held on St. Francis Day, October 4, 2007. Announcements about the Blessing appeared in the local newspaper three times and fliers were hand-delivered to over 30 locations. The citywide event was held at a local park and involved faith leaders from the Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Meher Baba traditions. The faith leaders each shared their perspective on animals and then blessed the animals in attendance. In spite of the wind and rain, over 60 people attended with their animal companions. Live music was provided by local college students, and treats were given to all the animals. Everyone enjoyed the responsive prayer, emphasizing the various roles that animals play in our lives. Other animal activist groups brought displays to the event, including Animal Defense League of Arizona and Habitat Harmony. Two prairie dog ambassadors were special guests!
D. Creation Care Fair. We are planning our Creation Care Fair for spring 2009. Visit the website for Shared Earth Network for updates on this event!
B. Workshop on a Relevant Topic / Solar Cooking Workshop. For our workshop on a relevant topic we helped organize the Solar Cooking Workshop, featuring the author of The Sunny Side of Cooking, Lisa Raynor. Held in a church parking lot on June 7th, Lisa demonstrated how to make a solar oven with inexpensive materials and then use it to cook. The method is powered by sunlight and is non-polluting. Over 30 people attended.
C. Blessing of the Animals. The Blessing of the Animals was held on St. Francis Day, October 4, 2007. Announcements about the Blessing appeared in the local newspaper three times and fliers were hand-delivered to over 30 locations. The citywide event was held at a local park and involved faith leaders from the Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Meher Baba traditions. The faith leaders each shared their perspective on animals and then blessed the animals in attendance. In spite of the wind and rain, over 60 people attended with their animal companions. Live music was provided by local college students, and treats were given to all the animals. Everyone enjoyed the responsive prayer, emphasizing the various roles that animals play in our lives. Other animal activist groups brought displays to the event, including Animal Defense League of Arizona and Habitat Harmony. Two prairie dog ambassadors were special guests!
D. Creation Care Fair. We are planning our Creation Care Fair for spring 2009. Visit the website for Shared Earth Network for updates on this event!