In this Issue
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Opening Reflection by Prof. Doug Thorpe
- Creation Care Monthly Meeting
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Events: Upcoming Activities and Past Highlights
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Faith and Creation: Content that makes connections about faith and the creation - Advent, New Year Planning and Resolutions
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Carbon Tracker: Updates & Spotlight Preparation for Winter
- Resources & Quick Links
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Autumn Returns
Autumn returns with the rain and cold. This time it seemed to happen overnight. I talk with my daughter over WhatsApp and—along with the beloved and very mobile grandson Walter—she shows me the blue skies, the red and golden leaves of Buffalo New York. The flames of autumn give way to grays and ash.
I’m pretty sure that I’m not the only one around here who welcomed the rain with a sense of relief—more so this year because of the oddly high temperatures we had into October. Now we relax a little, bid farewell to the fruits of summer and early autumn, and settle in with the wind and rain. It’s a time of endings, marked in particular by the Triduum of All Hallows, All Saints and All Souls, a time in the calendar to honor and remember those who have passed, the saints of our own lives and of the church.
Fittingly, Advent is just around the corner. The Oxford English Dictionary tells us that the word comes from the Latin, meaning to come to or towards, and more specifically “the arrival of a notable person or thing.” Out of the darkness, Advent affirms, comes new light—most generally in the form of the solstice, with days growing longer. For us. of course. that new light comes more specifically in the form of a child.
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Creation Care Monthly Meeting
THIRD TUESDAYS, 6:30—8 P.M., via Zoom
Everyone is welcome to join the Saint Mark’s Creation Care Ministry meeting on the third Tuesday evening of every month from 6:30-8: p.m. via Zoom. Notes from past meetings can be found here under Ministry Meetings.
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EVENTS: UPCOMING ACTIVITIES & PAST HIGHLIGHTS |
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Climate Conversations
FIRST TUESDAY OF EACH MONTH, 5:30–6:30 P.M., online via Zoom
Are you looking for practical ways to reduce your impact on the environment? The Saint Mark’s Creation Care Ministry hosts monthly Climate Conversations to discuss actions you can take every day to care for creation and mitigate climate change. Join us for these monthly conversations on environmentally-friendly Zoom on the first Tuesday evening of each month from 5:30–6:30 p.m.
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COP27 Closing Event: Report Back from the Presiding Bishop’s Delegation
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 9 A.M., via Zoom
After the close of the 27th Conference of Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, gather with Episcopal advocates and ecumenical partners for this closing event. The Presiding Bishop’s Delegation will offer reports from their witness at the Conference and summaries from the results of the negotiations. The report will finish with a faith-led vision of the future of Episcopal advocacy around climate change. Please click this URL to join.
This year’s Episcopal Church delegation includes John Kydd, our Diocese of Olympia’s newly appointed Missioner for Creation Care and Climate Justice. Dr. Lisa Graumlich, who served on the Episcopal Church delegation last year from Saint Mark’s, is at COP27 again this year in her role as President-Elect of the American Geophysical Union. Watch for a follow-up conversation with John and Lisa soon.
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Table in The Nave
LAST SUNDAY OF EVERY MONTH, after the morning services
The Creation Care Ministry hosts a table in the nave on the last Sunday of each month to explain the Ministry to members of the congregation and to encourage them to participate in the Carbon Tracker as well as Creation Care activities. Please encourage parishioners to stop by, and please volunteer to assist if you have time.
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Creation Care at Diocesan Convention, and more
The 112th Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia on 21–22 October focused on a Creation Care theme of “Encountering Jesus in the Garden,” described in part as to “heal our planet, to heal our relationship to creation and become faithful stewards of this place we call home.” Three workshops, a plenary session and two resolutions all focused on climate change, eco-justice and partnering in Creation Care. One resolution encourages congregations to take the Creation Justice Pledge and the other encourages them to hold an annual Season of Creation. Both are based on recommendations from the Bishop’s Climate Justice Taskforce Report. The Convention homepage and the Creation Care Resource page have all the details.
Along with the Diocesan Convention, the 80th General Convention of the Episcopal Church this past July passed eight resolutions related to Creation care.
In August, the Lambeth Conference (a once-a-decade gathering of Anglican bishops from around the world) saw the launch of a Global Communion Forest Initiative—each province, diocese and church in the Anglican Communion is asked to take positive action to plant and protect native trees and to restore damaged ecosystems. These actions are framed as a rededication to the fifth Mark of Mission, to “strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and renew the life of the world.”
—by Kathy Minsch, Creation Care Ministry Co-chair
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Creation Care Retreat–October 2022
On a slightly smoky October morning, fifteen Creation Care Ministry members, along with The Rev. Canon Jennifer King Daugherty and The Rev. Stephen Crippen, gathered at Diocesan House to spend the day reconnecting and reflecting on our Creation Care work. The retreat theme was “Reconnection and Reflection: An opportunity to explore what motivates us all to restore and protect our wounded planet and to more deeply connect with our spiritual roots.”
After an inspirational short morning prayer service led by Canon Jennifer and fittingly adapted from the Iona community, facilitator Stephen deftly led us all in sharing our laments with the group, engaging in conversation and brainstorming big ideas to consider as well as next steps. Feedback from the group, which included both long-time and newer members, was positive. Participants all felt inspired and renewed. A second retreat on strategic planning will be held in winter 2023.
—by Kathy Minsch
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Lessons from Leffler Garden
The pollinator garden in Leffler Garden at the Cathedral flourished this year thanks to chicken wire protection, and it invited many varieties of insects. Saint Mark's bees found the garden, and they were covered with pollen and heavy with nectar. What the pollinator garden could do for the harvest was amazing. Keiko did not have to hand-pollinate summer squash for the first time since starting the garden in 2019! She thanks the Creation Care Ministry for funding the irrigation system, which made a huge difference in maintaining the garden and having healthy crops.
A big thank you is also due to Norman LeMoine, Kathy Sodergren, and Norva Osborn, who checked on the garden regularly. The Seattle Service Corps residents helped with watering and harvesting, and they enjoyed the harvest at their residence. The weekly harvest on Monday has been donated for tent city meals and community dinners on Wednesday.
—by Keiko Maruyama
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Video and additional resources are now available here from recent Climate Conversations on Transportation, the Carbon Tracker, and Investing with Your Values.
Video of the opening plenary presentation for the most recent Radix Project, on the theme Creation, Community, Connection, can be found here.
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Caring for Creation with a Green Advent and Christmas
Now is a good time to set our intention about how to mark the “holiday” season. How might we decrease our level of consumption, waste, and stress, and increase our level of appreciation, wonder, and interpersonal connection? Our friends in the Diocese of Colorado have created a list of ideas. We encourage you to scan them and consider how you might make this Advent-Christmas season the simplest, most joyful, and most meaningful one yet.
—From the Diocese of Western Massachusetts Newsletter
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Shop Sustainably
Americans throw away 25 percent more trash during the Thanksgiving to New Year's holiday period than any other time of year. By rethinking our holiday shopping and Christmas presents as well as other gifting, we can care for creation better. You can create homemade presents such as cookies or jams and give durable presents such as long-lasting clothes rather than fast fashion. Also consider giving experiences such as time together, help with household tasks or outings to the recipient’s favorite places nearby instead of physical presents.
If every American family reuses two feet of ribbon, wraps three presents in reused paper and sends one less paper Christmas card, we can save 38,000 miles of ribbon, enough wrapping paper to cover 45,000 football fields and 50,000 cubic yards of paper from Christmas cards. Reflect on what you can do to give presents or greetings with Creation Care in mind and join us at the Climate Conversation in December to learn more about shopping sustainably.
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New Year’s Resolutions
As we head towards 2023, it’s helpful to take time to decide on our purpose for the new year, for our life and for our role in caring for creation. Setting meaningful goals and creating a vision of how to achieve them can help ensure that we can realize our purpose and end the year feeling we have accomplished more than the mundane.
The most important step is to “begin with the end in mind,” as renowned author Stephen Covey wrote in Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, so start by figuring out meaningful goals to accomplish during the year. Along with your usual goals for work and church and family, decide what actions you will take to care for creation. The Carbon Tracker has plenty of suggestions. Once you decide on what to do, create goals and set milestones on the path to reaching them. Figuring out your purpose and how to achieve it will leave you far more satisfied at the end of 2023 than you may have ever felt before and having a greater positive result from caring for creation than you expected.
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THE CARBON TRACKER:
UPDATES & PREPARING FOR WINTER
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The community at St Mark’s continues to have a positive impact on the environment. The Carbon Tracker provides a snapshot of what our community has done: |
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Using Carbon Tracker Insights to Prepare for Colder Weather
As we head towards the colder months in the winter, changes large and small can help you stay warm, have less impact on the environment and save money.
Heat pump heating systems are one of the best ways to lower your impact on climate and air pollution. You can increase your heating energy efficiency by up to 60% compared to electric heating, lower your energy use and reduce costs. A heat pump can save you nearly $1,000 per year on your energy bills even in a moderate climate if you currently have an oil or propane furnace or boiler system, and you can save more if you have electric heating.
If you have forced air heating, insulating and maintaining your ducts will save energy and make your home healthier. You can lose 20–30% or more of your energy through the duct system. Adding a rug in one of the rooms is an easy step to make it feel warmer, too.
—by Richard Hartung
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The Carbon Tracker Brings Families Together
When I read the announcement for the Sunday morning intergenerational forum on October 23 on the topic of “How to Use and Love the Carbon Tracker,” my first reaction was, “Really? Love?” A lot of people might think of the Episcopal Church’s carbon tracker as a tool that asks you to give up stuff and makes you feel guilty. Kristen Kelly helped us laugh about the struggles families might have getting everyone on board with the carbon tracker tool. We had a wonderful discussion and shared great ideas. Sitting with other folks who are reflecting on how their choices in daily living can collectively impact the well-being of the earth, people and other creatures, I experienced the warmth of the Saint Mark’s Creation Care community. The carbon tracker helps us to connect, share, and experience love in our humanness, fears, and hopes. It is our Warm Friendly Guide.
—by Ruth Mulligan
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Cathedral Update
Users of the EV charging station at the cathedral have reduce their greenhouse gas emissions collectively by nearly 6,000 kg (13,200 pounds) so far this year
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RECOMMENDATIONS & RESOURCES |
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The Bishop’s office has set up a webpage about COP27 at ecww.org/climate. It includes many resources, as well as a access to the full report from the Bishop’s Task Force on Climate Justice.
Check this link for news of what happens with our delegation at COP27.
Facing It. This six-episode podcast “about love, loss, and the natural world” from UW professor, Dr. Jennifer Atkinson provides insights about the importance of acknowledging grief about climate change and includes steps to move us toward action.
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Recent photos from the Leffler Garden by Keiko Maruyama. |
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Saint Mark’s Cathedral acknowledges that we gather on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People, who are still here, and we honor with gratitude the land itself and the life of all the Coast Salish tribes. [Learn more]
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