Our Green Church Initiative
Here are a few of the ways that we have been caring for God’s creation since our inception in 2013:
- Road cleanups: Twice a year, in the spring and fall, we pick up trash along our adopted two-mile stretch of Spring Creek Road.
- Our weekly newsletter is sent via email and is rarely printed.
- We use recycled and compostable products for serving refreshments, potluck suppers, and other events.
- We educate our congregation on ways that they can make their homes and businesses more eco-friendly.
- We support other charities and organizations that are doing their part to save our planet.
- We are constantly looking for new ways to be better stewards of God’s creation.
If you think you might want to be a part of this growing presence in Montrose, Colorado, please consider joining us for one of our road cleanups. You can check our calendar for the next date — usually in April and October — or reach out to Mary Loncar, who hosts these bi-annual cleanups at her home on Spring Creek. It’s a simple way to learn more about our church, even if you’re not interested in joining us for a worship service.
Over the years, our members have become more and more committed to our environment. From composting to driving hybrid cars, from building homes with geothermal energy systems to refusing plastic bags in the supermarket, everyone does what they can to preserve God’s creation in their own way.
As we move our church toward becoming an official Creation Justice Church with the United Church of Christ, we intend to use this website section to share the information we learn along the way. Some of it will be local, while other resources may be more global.
We are in the process of discerning how we can best embody a commitment to care for God’s creation. There are five big reasons why every church should want to be a Creation Justice Church:
- It’s our first calling!
In the opening pages of Genesis, we learn that the first job that God gives to us humans is to care for God’s creation (Genesis 2:15). - It’s what Jesus would do!
The apostle Paul spells out how Jesus sought to put right the broken covenantal relationship between God and all of creation (Romans 8:20-24). - Clean air, clean water—those are good things!
If there is something that should bring together Christians in a common cause, it is protecting the gifts of creation. Who doesn’t want clean air and water? - It’s about justice!
As Christians, we seek justice—to have the right relationship with God, our neighbors, and all of creation. From racial inequities to the ongoing legacy of colonialism, creation justice is deeply intertwined with multiple matters of justice. The current climate crisis gives matters of justice utmost urgency. - It’s in our DNA!
The UCC’s Commission for Racial Justice was the central organization in the watershed events of the environmental justice movement. It is one of the most significant parts of our denominational heritage, and every UCC church has the opportunity to continue this powerful legacy.
The Creation Justice Churches program is not a prescribed list of things to do but a process of discernment on how to best care for God’s creation. Learn more on the UCC website.
The Creation Justice Churches program is so badly needed at this particular time in history. The Church has a special role to play in helping save the earth and its creatures from degradation and even destruction. This program sets the tone, leads the way forward, and joins with others in this movement.
David Andes, Elon Community Church in Elon, NC
