Shopping for Simplicity

By: Dana Swanson

With Christmas less than one week away, I find myself frantically rushing around to pick up last-minute gifts for family and friends. From the chocolates seductively dressed in red and green to the glitzy decorations - not to mention the tempting red sale tags - it is a challenge to resist materialism.

From what I understand, the Wise Men did not bring gold, frankincense, and Nintendo Wii. When we are bombarded with images of all the latest technology and fashion, we are easily distracted from the real reason to celebrate this season. I find solace in the following words by William Ellery Channing:

“To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never—in a word to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony.”

Within the chorus of consumerism, the ringing cash registers, beeping bar-codes and rustling plastic bags, try to discern the symphony of simplicity. Instead, may heart-felt conversations and laughter of loved ones be music to your ears.

Blessings and peace to you from all of us at Earth Ministry.

Give Your Gift to Earth Ministry!

Did you know? In the last year alone, Earth Ministry has:

• taught 59 faith and environment religious education classes in congregations
• presented at 5 major conferences
• inspired hundreds at creation care prayer services for Earth Day and the Gulf oil spill
• provided advice and guidance to green teams in a growing network of 300+ congregations across Washington State and beyond
• promoted the efforts of our 39 Greening Congregations
• trained 37 religious leaders who participated in 14 in-district meetings on climate change with state legislators and members of Congress
• turned out 150 faithful advocates to speak up for the environment at 3 advocacy days
• appeared in the New York Times, USA Today, Charlotte Observer, and Huffington Post
• and much, much more!

Now is the time to make your year end donation; with your help, we can redouble our efforts in the year ahead. We’re updating and improving upon our already-successful Greening Congregations program. We’ll be in Congress and at the state capitol, representing the faith voice – you – on important environmental issues. And we’ll continue to provide leadership on national climate and energy campaigns through our Washington Interfaith Power & Light project.

With Christmas approaching, it is the perfect opportunity to give the gift of Earth Ministry membership to friends or loved ones. All members receive regular updates on our work, invitation to Earth Ministry events, and a one-year subscription to our award-winning quarterly journal, Earth Letter.

Whether you are a current member or a friend who would like to become a supporter, your gift makes a real difference. Please donate here!

Merry Christmas from all of us at Earth Ministry.

Save the Date!

As we gear up for the 2011 Washington State legislative session, Earth Ministry invites you to join us for the following events!

Legislative Workshop
Saturday, January 8, 2011, 9:30am-2:45pm
Seattle Pacific University, Gwinn Commons

This annual event is your opportunity to be involved as the state’s leading conservation groups prepare for the upcoming legislative session. There will be experts on hand and a panel of state legislators to answer questions about this year's Environmental Priorities. There will also be helpful break-out sessions on how to use social media to get your voice heard and be your own citizen lobbyist. Also, new this year, there will be a session titled Activism 2.0, for folks who are ready to take their activism to the next level to help build the environmental movement. Register here!

Environmental Lobby Day
Tuesday, February 15, 2011, 8:30am-6pm
United Churches, 110 East 11th Ave, Olympia, WA

No one who attends this exciting and engaging day goes away unchanged. Participating in the democratic process is joyful and empowering. Please join Earth Ministry staff, many people of faith, and friends of the environment throughout Washington State in Olympia to meet your legislators and support good climate legislation. Your voice will make a difference! Registration for Lobby Day will be available later in December. More information is available here.

Interfaith Advocacy Day
Thursday, March 17, 2011
United Churches and State Capitol, Olympia, WA

This event, sponsored by Earth Ministry and an interfaith coalition of statewide religious organizations, brings people of faith from all over Washington to Olympia for a day to advocate for a unified social justice agenda. On this day, Earth Ministry members and friends come together to speak as one voice with the larger faith community on behalf of creation care and protection of our climate. This year, because our goals are strong and challenging, your voice is particularly important to convince legislators to be bold in voting for climate protection. Check out Earth Ministry's Events page for more information.

By the Waters

By: Dana Swanson

Water flows over these hands.
May I use them skillfully
To preserve our precious planet.
– Thich Nhat Hanh

Aluminum foil, food coloring, and a spray bottle of water – not your usual Sunday School class. Using these materials, I joined youth from Ballard First Lutheran Church to construct Watershed Models, exploring the role of water in our daily lives.

We’re pretty familiar with water here in the Pacific Northwest, as it cascades down from the heavens quite frequently. On average, Americans use 80 to 100 gallons of water each day. We don’t just use water for drinking – we use it for washing our hands and vegetables, bathing, cooling, watering plants and crops, recreation, and waste disposal. Although water may seem in abundance to us, unfortunately many do not have access to clean water. As part of the Watershed activity, the Sunday School youth and I explored what happens when the water supply is contaminated.

First, we created a terrain with paper cups to resemble the natural landscape, leaving a flat place at the far end to simulate a lake at the bottom of the watershed. After securing the foil around the edges of the pan, blue food coloring was placed atop the highest “mountain.” One of the students used a spray bottle to mimic rain on the watershed at the highest point, simulating the headwaters of the river system. The blue “waters” spilled down the mountains, shooting out tributaries as it made its way to the lake.

Next, we placed a few drops of yellow food coloring in the “mountains” to represent pollution. The deep blue waters promptly became contaminated by the yellow, turning a vibrant shade of green. Realizing how the pollution had tainted the watershed, we talked about the impacts of pollution on our water supply. Fertilizers and other chemicals we use create runoff, acting as the yellow dye impacting the water supply.

Water is a wondrous gift of creation, one that should be respected and honored. In the Bible, water represents the essence of life, without which there could be no life. Fortunately, simple adjustments to your daily routine will conserve water, like turning off the water while you’re washing your hands or brushing your teeth. Install low-flow shower heads and toilets to conserve water. Use rain barrels to capture runoff from your roof and use them to water your garden. Be a more mindful steward of creation - think about where your water came from and where it goes once it leaves your house.

In addition to making changes in your personal life, you have a chance to support clean water throughout the 2011 Washington State Legislative Session. Two of the Environmental Priorities endorsed by Earth Ministry deal with water. The 2011 Clean Water Act is about creating jobs, rebuilding our local economy, and cleaning up polluted waterways like Puget Sound and the Spokane River. The Freshwater Pollution Control Act is a common-sense, cost-effective approach to reducing phosphorus in waterways by restricting the sale of phosphorus lawn fertilizer - a great way to keep yellow dye and pollution from damaging our watersheds. Learn more about the priorities here.

Next time you’re caught in a downpour without an umbrella, consider how the heavy droplets are a blessing, trickling down from the heavens to renew us and bring us life.

The Watershed Model Construction activity, as well as other activities and musings on the theme of water, can be found in Caring For All Creation: By the Waters, available from the Earth Ministry online store.

Putting Faith Into Action in the Washington State Legislature

By: Jessie Dye

Earth Ministry is a member of the Environmental Priorities Coalition in Washington State, and each year works with 24 other statewide organizations to pass the best legislation for the natural and human communities of our state. This year, with tough budget decisions and polarized political debates, the faith voice is more important than ever in articulating our best common future. Please join us and religious communities around the state in working to pass these four bills in the Washington State Legislature’s 2011 session:

Coal Free Future for Washington
With the failure of national legislation to set a cap on greenhouse gasses that would protect the world’s poor from climate change, it falls to each state to deal with pollution within its borders. Coal Free Future for Washington protects our communities from our state’s single largest source of dangerous and toxic pollution, the TransAlta coal-fired power plant. This bill will transition the dirty plant off coal in order to address Washington citizens’ widespread concerns about the health impacts of coal ash and mercury, climate change, and air and water pollution caused by the TransAlta plant. The legislation also seeks funding to invest in the local community for economic development, providing new opportunities for workers affected by the transition from coal to more sustainable and reliable energy. Earth Ministry is proud to be one of the leaders of this campaign.

Reducing Phosphorous Pollution
Words celebrating the blessing of living water are found throughout the Bible, and it is through sacramental water of baptism that we join the Christian faith. However, phosphorus from industries, wastewater plants, septic systems, and even our lawns can cause algae blooms and impact water quality, fish habitat, and recreation in Washington’s lakes and rivers. Controlling this discharge often costs millions of dollars in wastewater treatment upgrades for industries and municipal wastewater plants. The Freshwater Pollution Control Act is a common-sense, cost-effective approach to reducing phosphorus in waterways by restricting the sale of phosphorus lawn fertilizer in the State of Washington. Our lawns don’t need the extra phosphorus and our lakes and rivers don’t either.

The 2011 Clean Water Act
A central teaching of all Christian denominations is upholding the common good. Protecting our watersheds and requiring polluters to clean up their toxic mess is one way to care for the well-being of our communities. Each year millions of gallons of petroleum pollute our lakes, rivers and marine waters through toxic oil runoff from our roads and cities, a serious threat to our health and environment. Working for Clean Water (the 2011 Clean Water Act) will fund job-creating projects all over the state, by building clean water infrastructure that will clean up our waterways. Now is the time for the oil companies, who profit from the pollution, to put Washington back to work and provide a cleaner environment that we’ll be proud of for generations.

Budget Solutions for Our Environment
Caring for both people and the planet isn’t just a catchy slogan, it is a requirement of our faith. Washington State needs a proactive approach that will improve our economy while maintaining environmental protections. A key element to the long-term economic health of our state is protecting our clean water, clean air and special places. By sustaining core environmental protections, continuing investments in parks and preservation, and requiring companies and others to pay their fair share for the services they receive, we can strike a balance that even in hard times will protect our public health, economic future, and quality of life for all God’s children.

Snow Daze

By: Dana Swanson

I’m from the Midwest – my rosy cheeks have braved biting Chicago winds and salted sidewalks for many winters. Safe to say, snow isn’t anything new. Regardless, frantic flakes dancing about outside the window pane evoke a familiar childhood excitement. Something about the whimsical way snow falls from the heavens continues to mystifies me.

There are, however, certain things that set apart the recent Seattle snowfall from ones in years past. First, I was assured it rarely snows in Seattle. Since I wasn’t expecting to see snow this year, it all the more precious. Second, when it snows in the Midwest, the colorful oozings of autumn have already been replaced by the barren, gray of winter. But last Monday, that was not the case. Accustomed to deciduous trees losing their leaves before the first snow fall, it is strange to see veiny oranges and reds graced by white powder as they cling to the branches.

Where are the dormant days of winter? So much life remains beneath the furry white blanket. The vibrant green blades of grass, not yet browned by the winter months, peek through the light layer. Chunky white flakes gently highlight flower petals, casually loitering amongst the remnants of warmer days.

If one questions the beauty of creation, on days like today she need not search beyond the flakes caught on her eyelashes. Each individual snowflake sparkles with a splendor that cannot be replicated. Yet when they come together, the flakes whisper a silent winter blanket over the Earth. It is our responsibility – and privilege – to care for this planet so that future generations can revel in the glory of the winter's first snow.

I encourage you to be faithful stewards of creation - attend the Environmental Priorities Coalition's Legislative Workshop on Saturday, January 8 from 9:30am to 2:15pm at Seattle Pacific University. This annual event is your opportunity to be involved as Washington's 25 leading conservation groups prepare for the upcoming legislative session. Come learn about the Environmental Priorities for Washington State, as well as ways to faithfully advocate for creation. Registration opens in December - check Earth Ministry's event page for more information.

Use your voice this Legislative session to speak for creation - do it so your children will have a chance to appreciate the tickle of melting snowflakes on their grinning cheeks.

Take Action Against Northwest Coal to China

By: Joelle Robinson
Earth Ministry Board Member

On Tuesday, November 16, members of faith, business and environmental communities gathered in Longview, WA for a hearing regarding the intended coal export terminal. Several Earth Ministry supporters were present, including myself and Program and Outreach Director Jessie Dye. (Jessie was quoted in an NPR story that ran on KUOW and KPLU - listen to the story here.)

Some background on the issue: coal companies are targeting Northwest Ports as the gateway for coal export terminals that would send staggering quantities of U.S. coal to China. The first terminal, proposed by Australia-based Ambre Energy, would annually export 5 million tons of Wyoming coal from a Longview port.

While Washington invests in clean technology jobs for wind, wave, and solar energy, the coal export terminals would reverse major commitments to reduce the state’s contribution to global warming pollution.

Learn more about the proposed coal facility's specific threats to Cowlitz County.

For farmers, landowners, and communities, transporting coal to China is more than a nuisance—the coal dust poses a public health threat. According to Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad studies, 500 to 2,000 pounds of coal can be lost in the form of dust from each rail car. Each 100-car train may spill 20,000 pounds of coal dust into our rivers and towns.

Additionally, a major source of mercury in Washington is air deposition from Asia. Mercury is highly toxic, and coal-fired power plants in China are not subject to modern pollution controls. Such toxins are harmful to ecosystems, but also to human populations; exporting large amounts of coal will be detrimental to our brothers and sisters in China, as well.

Take action and sign a petition urging elected officials to oppose a Washington State coal export terminal.

The good news is that the exportation of coal and the subsequent health affects can be prevented. As people of faith, our values tell us to speak against such environmental neglect. I encourage you to sign this petition, voicing your concern for the people who will be impacted by this terminal.

Eating and Giving Thanks

By: Dana Swanson

The cornucopia, overflowing with vibrant colors and shapely gourds, serves as the centerpiece for this traditional November feast. Deeply hued cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie garnished with whipping cream and a bronzed turkey arranged upon a platter – iconic images of everyone’s favorite gluttonous holiday.

When we think of Thanksgiving, the image that comes to mind is of family and friends gathered around a table of steaming food, autumnal aromas tickling our nostrils as we break bread – and our belt buckles – together. Careful not to scald our palms, we share our mashed potatoes and cornbread, giving thanks for the bounty of the year’s harvest.

In my family, it is tradition for everyone to go around the table and share some things we are thankful for. Between ambrosial bites, it isn’t commonplace to contemplate where the food - now rapidly disappearing from the table - came from. Actually, there is usually chatter concerning who brought the cheesy cauliflower dish, but nothing about the field where that cauliflower spent its days before meeting the cheddary goodness.

Living in an age of supermarkets and Big Macs, it is easy to overlook where food comes from. Seduced by food already prepared – stuffing in a box or cranberry sauce from a can – we don’t realize how deeply eating impacts the Earth. According to environmentalist and farmer Wendell Berry, the fact that the industrial eater doesn’t realize eating is an agricultural act renders him or her a victim; passive and uncritical consumers, industrial eats consume food unaware of the connections between eating and the Earth. When we buy potatoes from Brazil, we are supporting a food system marinated in fossil fuels. From petroleum-based chemicals used to combat pests and weeds to the gasoline it takes to ship a potato thousands of miles, our food economy is contingent upon sources of fossil fuels. In "The Pleasures of Eating," Berry offers some additional insight on the politics of food:

“We still remember that we cannot be free if our minds and voices are controlled by someone else. But we have neglected to understand that we cannot be free if our food and its sources are controlled by someone else. The condition of the passive consumer of food is not a democratic condition. One reason to eat responsibly is to live free.”

Berry proposes that a significant part of the pleasure of eating comes from one’s knowledge of the lives and the world from which food comes. In other words, by recognizing the connections between eating and the land, one becomes more than a passive consumer. By realizing we are participants in agriculture, we might begin to ask questions - where did this food come from?

For all meals, but especially for the meal with a holiday all its own, I challenge you to consider where your food comes from. Be a responsible consumer; choose a free-range turkey rather than an industrial raised butterball. As your fork clinks against your plate this Thanksgiving, let freedom ring.

Wendell Berry’s “The Pleasures of Eating,” as well as other musings on food, can be found in Food & Faith: Justice, Joy and Daily Bread, available for purchase from the Earth Ministry Online Store.

Healthy Schools Now!

By: Dana Swanson

Recently, R-52 was brought to my attention. No, Star Wars fans, this is of no relation to the amiable droid R2D2. In Washington State, a galaxy not so far away, Referendum 52 is on the ballot this November.

Referendum-52, or Healthy Schools for Washington, presents an important opportunity to improve public schools, community colleges, and universities in the state. Our kids deserve safe, healthy learning environments, yet many school buildings are riddled with mold, lead, asbestos and other toxins. R-52 will repair aging schools, help save energy and reduce global warming pollution, and put people to work by creating 30,000 new construction jobs.

I recently moved from Illinois to Washington, so I registered to vote earlier this month because wanted to be sure that I could vote in the election. Ballots should arrive in our mailboxes soon and must be mailed back by Tuesday, November 2.

As people of faith, we support R-52 because our values call us to reduce energy consumption and keep our climate stable for future generations. You have a voice, one articulated through the way you vote in this election. I encourage you to use your voice to speak for the voiceless, speak for all creation—vote to Approve R-52.

More information on Referendum 52 is available here.

I Speak for the Leaves

By Dana Swanson

The days are shorter, mornings are crisper and leaves are littering the ground - all indications that it is officially autumn.

From spreading newspaper over the kitchen tile while carving pumpkins to picking apples and munching on apple cider donuts, the fall brings with it many traditions for my family. One of my lesser favorites is the afternoon we commit to raking the leaves from the yard. I'd rather be jumping in piles of leaves, not raking them. Provoked by my childish stubbornness to do chores, I usually questioned why we bothered raking.

However, my sentiments about the usefulness of leaves changed when I interned at a chemical-free farm a few summers ago. Each fall, Wesley Acres Produce receives truckloads of leaves collected by the nearby city of Moline, IL. The massive wall of leaves shrinks during winter, releasing heat as it decomposes. By the summer, the leaves are ready to be used as compost.

I had the pleasure—and I use that word loosely—of spreading the decaying leaves between the rows of crops. Not only do the leaves keep the weeds down, the act as a natural fertilizer for the plants. When I pitchforked the leaves from the back of a wagon into the rows, the scent from the compost was overpowering. The odor was pungent, yet not necessarily unpleasant. As the leaves decomposed, they release an earthy aroma—it is rich in substance and similar to the smell of the woods after rainfall.

When we collect leaves to be burned, we prevent them from fulfilling their role as soil enhancers. The leaves should continue the natural cycle, contributing a layer of humus, enriching local soils and local culture. As Wendell Berry notes in The Work of Local Culture,

“A human community, too, must collect leaves and stories, and turn them to account. It must build soil, and build that memory of itself--in lore and story and song--and that will be its culture. These two kinds of accumulation, of local soil and local culture, are intimately related.”

Every autumn the leaves will fall—let them. If leaves must be cleared, use a rake. Listen to the rustling teeth of the rake grazing the grass instead of the obnoxious leaf blower’s scream. Rather than burn leaves, use them as compost in the garden. Think outside the curbside yard waste collection box this autumn.

Come vote for who YOU find inspiring!

It's that time of year again, and Earth Ministry is delighted to once again be hosting our inspiring Celebration of St. Francis event, featuring our Third Annual Creation Care Sermon Contest. This year, the event will be held on October 2nd from 4-6pm at Olympic View Community Church in Seattle, WA.

This event will feature creation care sermons by four contest finalists. Additionally, members of Earth Ministry's thirty-six Greening Congregations will be honored for their greening work. We encourage our Greening Congregations to send representatives from their church who will be asked to stand and be recognized for their accomplishments. The sermon contest will be followed by a heavy hors d'oeuvres reception.

Our finalists this year are:

Rev. Doug Bland, Tempe, AZ

Grappling Green

Rev. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, Northampton, MA

When a Leaf Needs to Speak

Minister Stephen Epps, Brooklyn, NY

Earth's Answer To A Curious Journey

Rev. John Helmiere, Seattle, WA

I Worship the Author of the Horrendous Space Kablooie

Congratulations also to our honorable mention, Bill Scarvie of Bainbridge Island, WA!

Attendees of the Celebration of St. Francis on October 2 will be able to vote for the best sermon. The sermon contest is a fundraiser to support the religious environmental work of Earth Ministry. Attendees on October 2 will vote by making a donation to Earth Ministry and indicating which sermon is their favorite. Two awards will be presented: The People’s Choice Award will go to the contestant with the highest number of votes as indicated on the donation ballot. The Franciscan Philanthropist Award will go to the contestant whose votes raise the most money in support of Earth Ministry’s work and mission.

Event admission is free, but we will ask you to help us select the winner by voting with your dollars - a donation that supports the work of Earth Ministry and is tax deductible.

The Fullness of Joy

by Clare Brauer-Rieke

Each of us comes to a point in our lives - even multiple points in our lives - at which we begin to feel we are surviving more than thriving. After a particularly rough month, I've realized exactly this. Life, of course, is too short to focus so intently on surival above happiness; this led me to ask myself about ways to shift gears back into thriving.

It was then that I came across these words:

The fullness of joy is to behold God in everything. God is the ground, the substance, the teaching, the teacher, the purpose, and the reward for which every soul labors. Julian of Norwich, England (c. 1342-c. 1419)

God is the ground, the substance. God is the purpose. Why don't I experience this each day? It may have something to do with what I experience instead: traffic, the onslaught of both personal and work-related emails or phone calls, loud advertisements on the internet, TV, radio, billboards, financial stress, social commitments, etc. Where is the ground in my life, what is the substance? How do I unintentionally reassign my own purpose? "The fullness of joy is to behold God in everything." I don't leave myself time to behold anything, much less God, and the "everything" of my life crowds out the true everything that is.

So, I have given myself a challenge, in which I invite you to join me. In researching ways I could choose to slow my life down (which I suppose carries its own sense of irony), I've been intrigued by The Ten Principles of the Sabbath Manifesto:

1) Avoid technology.

2) Connect with loved ones.

3) Nurture your health.

4) Get outside.

5) Avoid commerce.

6) Light candles.

7) Drink wine.

8) Eat bread.

9) Find silence.

10) Give back.

As I read through the principles and consider them as a way of life, thriving doesn't sound so hard to come by. So, I printed them out and placed them where I will see them every day when I first wake up. In small ways, I hope to integrate them into my daily life; in addition, I will commit to a full Sabbath each week, sundown Saturday to sundown Sunday.

"The fullness of joy is to behold God in everything." Connect with loved ones. Get outside. Find silence. Give back. And maybe surviving will turn on its head and we can begin to thrive.

Phthalates, Formaldahyde and...Baby Bottles? Oh My.

By Dana Swanson

When someone mentions environmental contamination, some images that readily come to my mind are a hazy cloud of pesticides being sprayed behind a tractor, the stale odor of exhaust billowing behind a car and dark clots of oil floating in the Gulf of Mexico.

Initially, my thoughts are of outdoor pollutants, disrupting ecosystems and plant life. However, there are several sources of environmental contamination much closer than the Gulf coast. Within our homes, a substantial amount of the products we use on a daily basis are laden with toxic chemicals. The prolonged exposure to household chemicals—from bleach to phthalates in lotions— can be detrimental to one’s personal health, as well to the environment.

Proper labeling by the chemical industry helps consumers to make more informed decisions, choosing products that are better for themselves and the environment. Rather than be “consumers” whose main objective is to use without regard to consequence, what if we were to regard ourselves as stewards of the earth? Acting as stewards, perhaps we would be more likely to act with the earth in mind even while peruse the cleaning supplies aisle in the grocery store.

Unfortunately, the chemical industry is not always straight-forward about toxic chemicals, making it challenging to act as a steward. Recently, Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families released a viral video mocking the lobbying efforts of the chemical industry. The video depicts household chemicals—led by a menacing, cigar smoking baby bottle—plotting to thwart Congress’ reform efforts. Although a bit wacky, the video is intended to expose the industry’s contradictions and encourage people to tell Congress to vote against toxic chemicals. You can watch the two minute video below.



Supporting legislation that keeps our homes green, as well as our forests, is one of the ways we can each serve as a steward of creation.

Additional resources about Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families efforts to pass federal policies that protect from toxic chemicals can be found at www.saferchemicals.org.

Earth Ministry Leads Eco-Justice Tour of Lower Duwamish River

By Jessie Dye

There is one river in the City of Seattle. It runs through an industrial and low-income minority neighborhood, and it’s a superfund site.

On August 14th, Earth Ministry led an environmental justice boat tour of the last five miles of the Duwamish River, before it flows into Puget Sound at Harbor Island. While most of the 60 or so people of faith on the boat that day had driven over the Duwamish River on the West Seattle Freeway, or seen it from the air on flights landing at SeaTac Airport, almost no one had traveled by boat on the river before.

Nor did we understand the tremendous pressure on the natural and human ecosystems of the river from changing its channel, altering its source, dumping toxic chemicals into its water, and industrializing its banks. The Duwamish Tribe of Native Americans still fish in the river, though some of the catch have a dangerous toxic load. Herons, eagles, otters and salmon live by a concrete plant and pier that prevents the salmon runs from swimming up river and shellfish from finding purchase on the banks. Low-income communities of color fish in the river, too, and suffer a high level of asthma from pollution from the concrete plants and other emitters by the river.

As we plied the river, we stopped at four stations for information, prayer and reflection. LeeAnne Beres of Earth Ministry began the trip with a welcome and call to prayer over the waters. The first stop on the trip was at the Duwamish/Diagonal early action area. Thea Levkovitz of the Duwamish River Clean-up Coalition talked about the site and Bruce Shilling of Plymouth UCC led the group in a prayer acknowledging environmental sin and denial. At the second stop at Gateway Park North, Carolyn White of St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral read a reflection and lament by the peoples damaged by toxins in the Duwamish. Patty Bowman of St. James Catholic Cathedral raised our voices in atonement for our sins upon the Earth, and last Rev. Marcia Patton of the Evergreen Association of American Baptists acknowledged the possibility of redemption while Thea told the wonderful story of the Vietnam veteran who led the restoration of Hamm Creek during his decades-long recovery from PTSD.

On the return trip, after a time for quiet and reflection, I talked about the power of advocacy by the faith community to protect and restore the river and the watershed of Puget Sound.

If you are interested in advocacy efforts on behalf of God’s creation, click here to learn about upcoming opportunities to raise your voice.

Click here for a blog by Davis Winslow, Sustainability Intern at Seattle Pacific University who joined the Duwamish River trip and wrote about his experience.

"We belong to the Earth"

By Dana Swanson

While waiting for my flight from Chicago to Seattle last week, I glanced down at the collection of buttons pinned to my backpack. The gentle profile of an Indian chief caught my eye. Next to him it read, “The Earth does not belong to us, we belong to the Earth.” I smiled when I realized to whom such noble words were attributed—Chief Seattle. Not only did the pin comfort me as I prepared to move 2,000 miles from home, the message affirmed the reason for the relocation.

I recently graduated from Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), with a degree is Sociology and English with an interest in Environmental Studies. Now that I’m done with college, I want to contribute, to engage with the world through more than exams and research papers. Therefore, I decided to venture out from the Midwest and complete a year of service with the Lutheran Volunteer Corps. I’ll be spending my LVC year in Seattle, WA, living in community with other volunteers, prioritizing simplicity and sustainability while working for social justice. As part of the justice component, I’ll be serving as the Outreach Coordinator at Earth Ministry. I’m thrilled to be a part of an organization like Earth Ministry that encourages environmental stewardship, mobilizing the faith community to act against the issues that are threatening creation.

Speaking of creation, I’d like to share a recent experience: the other morning, I thought I’d go for a run to check out the new neighborhood. After a few miles of running through blocks closely lined with houses, having to stop at intersections and with cars sporting “go green” bumper stickers zooming by, I stepped into a dense forest. In order to travel down the bluffs to the water, I jogged through the dusty pine needles, amongst the intensely green plants and beneath a thick canopy of trees. It was an odd sensation, to literally step from an urban environment into what could have been the depths of a wilderness preserve. When I came out of the forest into a clearing, I was affronted by the Olympic Mountains, jetting up into the clear morning sky, hovering amongst the clouds. The scene’s natural beauty—I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the stint of athletic activity—simply took my breath away.

As I retreated, I kept glancing over my shoulder, as if to check that the mountains were still there. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my lips, even as I ascended up the stairs. I look forward to a year of soaking up—in more ways than one, I’m told—all that the Pacific Northwest has to offer. In addition, I am excited to enter into the conversation regarding the role of the faith community in shaping a sustainable future so that future generations can marvel at the jagged mountain ridges. For, in fact, the “Earth does not belong to us, we belong to the Earth.”

Moving Washington Beyond Coal

by LeeAnne Beres

In the last few months, Jessie and I have made several trips over to Spokane to host events educating and empowering faith communities to advocate for clean energy. We partnered in this work with Spokane's Faith & Environment Network. On one of our visits, FEN's Felicia Reilly interviewed me about the impact of coal as an energy source, the alternatives that lie before us, and opportunities for the faith community to be involved. Below is her blog, posted recently on the Faith & Environment Network's website:

Most of us realize that burning coal is not a clean or environmentally friendly way to produce energy. But many believe we need the energy coal produces at the cheap price it provides. I have to admit that until recently my knowledge on the subject was limited to the knee-jerk reaction of ‘Coal Bad, Renewable Energy Good’.

Then our friends at Earth Ministry/Washington Interfaith Power & Light informed me that the coal plant in Centralia causes mercury pollution that is especially dangerous to pregnant women and babies! Being a mother of two beautiful boys this was outrageous to me. I was aware of the scary statistic that newborns are, on average, born with over 300 contaminants from pesticides to industrial contaminants but until now I was unaware that among those contaminants were pollutants from things like, you guessed it, coal-burning power plants.

Learning this prompted me to find out how I can help stop coal pollution from harming God’s amazing creation and our future generations. So, I asked LeeAnne Beres of Earth Ministry some questions and she gave me some very thoughtful and encouraging answers:

Q: What are the health impacts of burning coal?

A: Every step of the coal-fired process is dangerous to human health, from mining and processing to burning and storage of waste ash. Those most often impacted by these dangerous processes are the most vulnerable members of our communities: the poor, the elderly, and children.

The TransAlta plant in Centralia is Washington’s only coal plant, but it is our #1 source of mercury pollution, which is causes neurological damage and developmental delays in babies and children. It’s also the #1 source of nitrogen oxide pollution, which causes haze and worsens asthma. The National Park Service has identified TransAlta as one of the 3 worst plants in the entire country for damaging visibility in national parks and wilderness areas.

Last but not least, it’s #1 for global warming pollution – which flies in the face of the religious community’s call for immediate action on climate change. The TransAlta plant has been spewing out unregulated pollutants for nearly 40 years and it’s time to put the health of our children and communities before profits. We need to transition this coal plant to cleaner fuels by 2015.

Q: How can we replace the electricity generated by coal-fired power plants?

A: The Northwest Power and Conservation Council, which is a government agency responsible for planning and oversight of the region’s electrical systems, says that all 5,000 Megawatts of coal power in the entire Northwest can be replaced at minimal cost to consumers while delivering extensive public health and environmental benefits.

The NW Energy Coalition’s Bright Future report agrees: the Northwest has ample, affordable energy conservation and renewable energy resources (wind, solar, and geothermal power) to serve future power needs, slow climate change, and revive our economy. For negligible costs compared to continued reliance on dirty power sources, we can cover future electric demands, help salmon survive both climate change and the hydrosystem, shut down the highly polluting coal plants and meet state and regional greenhouse gas reduction goals.

Q: What is the religious community doing to help move Washington beyond coal?

A: Earth Ministry and the Faith & Environment Network are partnering on a statewide Beyond Coal campaign. Together, we are educating people of faith on both sides of the state about the danger of coal-fired plants and the need to transition to cleaner energy sources. We’re organizing meetings with elected officials to ensure that our values of stewardship, sustainability, and justice are incorporated into decision-making about the TransAlta plant. It’s important for Governor Gregoire and state legislators to hear that the faith community supports transitioning the TransAlta coal plant by 2015 and an end to the $5 million annual tax subsidy given to this Canadian corporation.

The religious community has historically spoken up for the “least of these” among us, and caring about creation and the health of our neighbors is an important part of putting our faith into action. Other organizations, such as the Sierra Club, Earthjustice, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and Cool Mom are also involved in the Beyond Coal campaign.
_____________________________
LeeAnne’s responses encouraged me that change can happen but it will take all of us working together to get it done. So, write your representatives, Governor Gregoire, pray for a solution and speak of for the least of these among us. I for one know who I will be speaking up for my two little boys who I hope one day will be able to live in a world that is Beyond Coal.

Anacondas, Waterfalls, and Christ

by Clare Brauer-Rieke

When my family recently went on a two-week vacation to Brazil, I felt the tension of what it means for me to have this privilege. As a middle-class American in a globalizing world, doors are open to me that were not open to my predecessors and that are still not open to much of the world. These opportunities shape my experience of the world in significant ways.

Experience changes us. I've seen anacondas in encyclopedias or in pictures online; I assure you, it's an entirely different experience to be draped in one, even one as young as the snake in the photo. I can read about Iguassu Falls, the beautiful natural phenomenon consisting of 26 city blocks of cascading water; but to be there, to stand at the precipice, to feel the spray, to hear the roaring of the Devil's Throat - the waterfall through which 50% of the falls' water tumbles - is different.

The first two legs of our trip in Brazil were like this. We traveled through the savanna-like Pantanal region, where we saw snakes, birds, caiman, capybara, monkeys, crab-eating foxes, and more. We fished for piranha in the lake. Then we went to Iguassu. Our guide talked about the national park surrounding the falls and the forestation that cut the thriving rainforest to a tiny percentage of what it once was. He spoke, we listened.

Experience changes us, but for me, this has always been the struggle - how to I transform my experience into action?

The last leg of my family's journey was in Rio de Janiero, where the famous Christ the Redeemer statue is located. Whether from within the city, to see the figure high on the hill, or whether at the base of the statue itself, the presence is impressive. Standing and looking at him, I considered his tender gaze and open arms. Christ is, after all, perhaps the clearest example of what it means to take experience and turn it into action. He lived among us, became us, and was profoundly changed. Despite the terrible things he witnessed and experienced, it was love that overpowered all else. In his actions, he redeemed us.

Of course, I can't redeem anyone. But I have my own opportunity for loving action - like those in Christ's company, I can be a witness to what I've seen. I can be a witness to the beauty of Brazil and to the great work being done by Brazilian individuals and grassroots organizations to preserve and restore creation. I can share that story, and it's a start.

Living Water

By Deanna Matzen

In July of 2008, I delivered a sermon at Earth Ministry's Holden Retreat in 2008. I preached on John 4:1-30, the story of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well and offering her the Living Water. The sermon was part of a Caring for All Creation: By The Waters service led by Earth Ministry staff and members. Listen to the service. When I was asked to preach, I wasn't sure how I would connect Living Water to the environment.

Certainly, the metaphor of Living Water is a beautiful image of God - the One who's well never goes dry, who quenches our thirst, who provides us with the most important sustenance all living creatures need to survive. But what has that to do with caring for the environment? I decided to talk about the things we thirst for in this life that take the place of Living Water and how those other gods or idols are behind our current environmental crises. It worked well, but for some reason, I recently found myself revisioning the sermon.

In biblical times, the term "living water" had a specific cultural meaning - a body of water that moved, as opposed to stagnant water. Jesus was indeed culturally relevant! When we look at that contextual definition we find a clue for a multitude of environmental sermons based on this text. Here are a few ideas I came up with:

• Salmon - Here in the northwest, one of our hot environmental topics is the removal of dams from rivers where salmon spawn. We have decimated countless salmon stocks because of dams which hinder the free movement of rivers and all the life therein. Additionally, plant species adapted to the ebb and flow of river systems are no longer prevalent. We have made rivers to bow down and worship men with good intentions (power production, agriculture, drinking water supplies) but we have paid the price.
  
  
• Water Resources/Conservation - We use so much water per capita that utilities have to build dams in order to make sure that there is enough water to last through the dry season. If you live in the southwest, you are familiar with the California water wars and other water supply issues such as the over-assignment of water rights on the Colorado River affecting Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, California, and Mexico. Overuse of rivers results in devastating consequences to once balanced and sustainable ecosystems. By the time the Colorado River reaches Mexico, it is so salty they have to treat it with a desalinization plant before it can be put to use. Water conservation measures (and good water resource policy) can help significantly with these issues.
  
  
• Water Quality - What is more unappealing than stagnant water? Do you want to drink water that's been sitting in a bog, that's smelly and full of detritus? I didn't think so. And no one wants to worship a God that is stagnant and lifeless. We want to worship a God who is moving, vibrant, active, clean, sparkling, and full of life! God wants no less for our spirit, why would God want less for our bodies? Then why do we not push for legislation that preserves our water ways and protects our rights to living water?
  
  
• A Call to Action - The image of God as living, breathing, moving water can be used to call Christians to action. God does not call us to be stagnant and sit idly by while God's good creation is torn apart by man's devices. God calls us to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to flow out into the world bringing life not desolation. We must move in this world, we must take action, we must be filled and overflowing with the Living Water!
  
  
• The Gulf Oil Catastrophe - I can think of no other current environmental crisis that epitomizes the exact opposite of Living Water than the atrocity in the Gulf of Mexico. The waters of the Gulf have become stagnant. They are not filled with the living and vibrant creatures that God chose to fill that beautiful place. I was in New Orleans in December and their aquarium has a huge Gulf of Mexico display. I was in awe and wonder as I saw sea turtles, several species of sharks and rays, and fish large and small circling around a mock oil rig structure. Indeed, oil rigs provide reef habitat for creatures in the gulf, but the relationship has soured, spoiled, and stagnated. It is time for the faith voice to cry out from the roof tops - THIS IS NOT RIGHT! God calls us to more - to better stewardship and to greater life. This is not God's intent nor God's will for the Gulf.

Whether you are a clergy or a lay person (like me) and find yourself considering how to apply scripture to current environmental issues, please consider entering the 3rd Annual Celebration of St. Francis Sermon Contest! It is a priceless opportunity to enrich the Christian dialog about the environment. You can even feel free to use one of the ideas I've presented in this blog post. Ordained, non-ordained, students, men, and women are all welcome to apply! The deadline is July 31 and fast approaching so submit a sermon today!

The Earth is Bleeding

By Rev. Frank Edmands, Guest Blogger

It has been more than sixty days since the initial explosion and the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon and crude oil and gas still gush from the broken drill pipe almost one mile beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico. The Earth is bleeding. The ocean is being polluted, marine life is dying and the human species seems inept in managing the emergency. The vital signs of the once productive and gorgeous gulf habitat, one of the largest estuaries in the world and a vacation and recreational paradise, are fading. The Earth is bleeding; and humanity has an unsolved crisis on hand.

Recently, I was transfixed by a disturbing photograph of an oil soaked pelican squatting on the gulf’s Louisiana shoreline. There the bird squats with heavy oil burdened out-stretched wings, feathers and plumage matted entrapped in black petroleum sludge. The image is disturbing. The distressed pelican seems to be gasping, crying, groaning, pleading or praying. The pelican is crying for all creation.

The image of the oil soaked pelican stands in stark contrast to the images of the pristine pelicans that are found in churches, embroidered on kneeling cushions and etched in stained glass windows. For the Church, the pelican is an important symbol that reminds the faithful of self-sacrifice and the passion of Jesus. A legend tells us that a pelican who could not feed her dying young, wounded herself (pecking her breast until it bled) giving her young new life with her own blood. The image reflects self-sacrifice, an action analogous to the self-sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

On the other hand, the image of the desperate oil soaked creature on the beach is a graphic reflection of the result of humanity’s sin, our selfishness far removed from any sense of self-sacrifice. The oil covered marine ecosystem is the result of our collective sins: our nation's addiction to oil, unbridled growth, compulsive consumerism, corporate greed and public ignorance concerning our impacts against the natural world.

Help stop the bleeding. End our extravagant need for fossil fuel. Change. Live a sustainable life-style that benefits all generations. Brake old habits; the desire for more and bigger things will need to be transformed into the love of less and more efficient ways of living. Become an agent of change in your neighborhood. The pelican cries and creation groans awaiting freedom from our self-centeredness.

The Rev. Frank Edmands, once an Environmental Scientist and now an Episcopal Priest, is also an Earth Ministry member, a Board member of Ohio Interfaith Power and Light, a GreenFaith Fellow and contact person for Province V Episcopal Ecological Network. He lives in Columbus, Ohio.

Forgiveness and the Healing Process

by Clare Brauer-Rieke

Within and around the earth, within and around the hills, within and around the mountains, your authority returns to you.
Alfonso Ortiz

Tonight, St. James Cathedral is hosting a prayer service for wisdom in the face of the oil catastrophe in the Gulf and for atonement for the damage we have caused to creation.

Forgiveness is an uncomfortable topic for many. Some may say, "Praying for forgiveness means nothing -- what actions are you taking to atone? Asking for forgiveness is just to make yourself feel better." I don't agree with this assertion, but I sympathize. Our intentions and words need to be translated into reality through our actions. Action is crucial. However, forgiveness is not meaningless, and it is not just to make ourselves feel better.

My pastor once asked the congregation, "When I tell you I'm sorry, what do you say?"

"It's okay," the congregation dutifully responded.

"Ah," my pastor said. "But is it really okay? No. Whatever it was that I did -- let's say I said something cruel or thoughtless that hurt you -- it was not okay. Forgiveness should never require you to tell me what I did to you was okay. What forgiveness requires is that you and I reach a place from which we can move forward positively. Without forgiveness, we remain broken, damaged, resentful, and unproductive."

Tonight, when I ask forgiveness for the way my lifestyle contributed to the environmental disasters around me, do I want to hear, "It's okay?" Probably -- that would be nice. But it's not okay. Forgiveness won't let me off the hook or give me an eased conscience; forgiveness is understanding that "within and around the earth," my authority returns to me. I am empowered to be a part of the healing process. I need not be crippled by my guilt or anger. In this way, forgiveness mobilizes us to that action that is so crucial. Allow yourself to pray. Allow yourself to ask and receive forgiveness. And then, go out and make a difference.

Let Us Pray

By Deanna Matzen, guest blogger

I think it goes without saying that everyone is feeling powerless about the oil spill [I hate using that word as if someone was walking along and tripped, "oops I spilled some oil, let me just get a rag and clean that up"]...let's try that again.

I think it goes without saying that everyone is feeling powerless about the cataclysmic oil catastrophe - the unbelievably horrible, incredibly devastating destruction of God's green earth - in the Gulf of Mexico. That's better.

But as people of faith, we do have power. We have power when we join our voices together in advocacy and when we join our voices together with God in prayer.

This summer I was asked to teach the kids at my church about David and Goliath and the modern example of Sojourner Truth, who confronted the giants of slavery and oppression head on. We'll then apply their lessons of faith to the giant environmental problems of today. Just as David confronted the seemingly undefeatable giant, Goliath, because he had a little experience and a lot of faith in God, we can confront the environmental destruction in the Gulf of Mexico, fueled by our faith.

As part of my church's adult education, I taught a class on environmental stewardship, during which the Gulf oil catastrophe began. The class taught about Christian values for why we should care about the environment, connected those values to scripture and, since scripture doesn't really talk about how we should deal with things like oil catastrophes, connected those values to actions. Our last week on action culminated with a time for prayer for the Gulf. While we have not seen those prayers answered yet - specifically to end the leak (or geyser) - we wait in hopeful anticipation and continue to pray for miracles.

Currently, I'm taking a class on praying for the world and I was asked to bring in some prayers for the environment this coming Sunday. I thought I would share them with you since I know it's so easy to get stuck in our own attempt to find words for this devastation. The wonderful thing about this class is that we're being taught that our prayers need not be long and wordy. We can pray simple scriptures and they will have a profound impact in the world and in our soul. Below are some of those prayers and where there is usually a blank to fill in, I've inserted the nouns for you. I hope they help to bring you some peace in this midst of your sorrow. Let us pray...

Lord God,

Your kingdom come,

Your will be done

in the Gulf of Mexico.

Matthew 6:10

Gracious Lord,

Lead BP and TransOcean not into temptation,

but deliver them from the evil one.

Matthew 6:13

In the name of Jesus I proclaim that the Gulf of Mexico is good.
Hover over the Gulf of Mexico,
bring it new life and create it anew
that we may delight and rejoice in it.
Isaiah 65:17-18

Thank you, Lord, that the fields produce abundant harvest.
Bless the Gulf of Mexico with Sabbath and Jubilee
that your creation may be redeemed.
Leviticus 25:8

Thank you, Lord, for claiming the Gulf of Mexico as your own.
Psalm 24

Lord, help BP and TransOcean to serve and worship only you,
not the god of greed and recklessness.
Exodus 20:1-2

Merciful God,

The Gulf of Mexico groans in eager anticipation
of your redemption.
Bring your glorious freedom!

Show us your hope for the Gulf of Mexico
and help us to wait patiently.
Romans 8:18-25

Jesus, all things were created in and through you.
Through your blood, shed on the cross,

hold together the Gulf of Mexico and the affected communities,

and reconcile the Gulf of Mexico in heaven and earth,
bring peace in the Gulf of Mexico

that in everything you might have supremacy.
Colossians 1:15-20

Jesus, bring the river of life to the Gulf of Mexico
that it may be healed.
Take away the curses upon the Gulf
and restore the Gulf with blessing.
Bring the Gulf of Mexico and the affected communities
under your throne.
Revelation 22:1-3

AMEN!

children imitating cormorants
are even more wonderful
than cormorants
Issa

by Bryson Nitta

Every animal that moves and plant that grows has found its way into this universe, just like us. And while we may be filled with doubt as to our purpose or our place, we cannot be skeptical of the fact that we are all here, together. Our ancestors, from our parents and grandparents all the way to the first organism to pass on its DNA, struggled to survive, and those struggles are imprinted and manifest in our being now. We, too, struggling against and for all, are participants in the long march of time.

When we see, for instance, a simple pigeon pecking in the streets, we shouldn’t see it merely as an individual bird among millions of others; we should see the culmination of a material and biological history, the single product of countless others and their relationships. And it will eventually pass away, becoming another nameless contributor to a future present moment.

The fact of the matter is, when we try to see the world in all its complexity, when we try to see beyond our lives or histories or species, the world opens itself up. Animals and plants take on powerful meanings.

I wish we could experience this tremendous vision all the time. I wish that we could see with the eyes that God must use to see His Universe: eyes that see everything in its relationship to everything else, temporally and physically.

How much more likely would we be to love the things around us if we saw them in their wholeness? Their wholeness not just as individuals, but as the sum of relationships known and unknown? Would we then really want to destroy mountains, pollute oceans, kill off species, ravage forests, kill members of our own species?

Or would we seek to live respecting other beings in their fullness? Would we try, like children pretending to be cormorants, to love the Universe as much as God does?

Town Hall Wrap Up!

It’s been an exciting week here at Earth Ministry as we’ve finished hosting our four Town Halls across the state. Our speakers, ranging from pastors to a state senator to union workers, all spoke urgently both about the need to shut down TransAlta’s Centralia coal plant, as well as the great benefits that await Washington in a renewable energy future.

Citizens from Seattle, Redmond, Bainbridge Island, and Vancouver all learned that the Centralia plant is the number one emitter in the state of carbon dioxide (CO2), mercury, and nitrogen oxide (NOx). We were encouraged and emboldened to imagine removing the greatest source of climate change pollution in our state by 2015.

It’s an ambitious goal, but it’s also within reach.

One of the great highlights of the week was being able to spend time with author Ted Nace, whose organization Coal Swarm helps keep track of the fight against coal across the nation. At all four of the town halls, Ted repeatedly asserted that the fight against TransAlta here in Washington is one of the most (if not the most, period) important fights in the entire nation.

Why? Because Washington has the best chance of becoming the first state to get rid of coal completely. If we can do it here, we can show other states that they can do it, too. Our partners, the Sierra Club, have already shut down 128 new coal plants, victories that Ted noted were among the greatest in the history of environmentalism. Now is the time to begin shutting down coal plants already in existence, and Centralia is the best candidate.

It's important to note that shutting down TransAlta’s Centralia plant also means providing a just transition for the workers at the plant. On Sunday and Wednesday, union leaders spoke about the real life stories of career creation thanks to renewable energy. In Vancouver, the representative from the longshoreman’s union told us that union membership has gone from 106 in 1995 to over 200 in 2008 thanks mainly to the import of wind turbines!

In other words, the pieces are all here: career creation, climate protection, and pollution prevention. It’s a win-win situation for the planet, for Washington, and for workers.

Keep checking back for more information! I’ll try to keep bringing updates to the campaign. In the meantime, please check out Coal Swarm’s website. You can find the page on Washington and coal here. Also, consider reading Ted Nace’s Climate Hope, which provides some great details about the fights across the country against coal. If you don't have time to read the book, check out this radio interview with Ted where he talks about his work.