A Brief Note from Communications Coordinator Erica Bjelland
Dear EcoFaith Community,
I am writing for this summer edition of Green Blades Rising to tell you that this is my last newsletter as Communications Coordinator for the EcoFaith Network. I am moving to Boulder, CO in August for a new adventure. I have loved getting to read all of your stories and co-create Green Blades Rising in our Synod with you the last two years. I have learned so much from so many of you and have loved being a part of this network.
The newsletter will continue in the Fall with a new coordinator and many new exciting initiatives. I am excited to continue reading from afar and hearing about all that is happening in this incredible grassroots network!
-Erica Bjelland
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Memorial Calling for A Just Transition to 50% Reduction in US Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2030 |
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An important memorial is being considered at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in August "Calling for a Just Transition to 50% Reduction in US Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2030." Originally drafted by Lutherans Restoring Creation, versions of it were passed by several synods at their assemblies this spring, including Northeastern Minnesota Synod, St Paul Area Synod, Oregon Synod, and Delaware-Maryland Synod. [A copy of Northeastern MN Synod's version is attached here. A link to download it is at http://www.nemnsynod.org/approved-resolutions-sa-2022.html]
Thanks to all who spoke up in these synods, and for all who will gather at Churchwide - our prayers are with you. At an international climate conference, a Lutheran pastor once set up three empty chairs representing those who are the most affected by climate change yet are often not at decision making tables – people of color and those in poverty, the rest of creation, and future generations. This is what a “just transition” means – working to ensure that those who are underrepresented and disproportionately experiencing the effects of ecological distress are incorporated into the transition to a more sustainable future. We need to speed up the transition to clean, carbon-neutral energy, to increase our energy efficiency, and at the same time not to leave anyone behind.
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Green Blades In Congregations |
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God’s Goats for
Creation Care
Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church, Brainerd
By Russ Schultz, Team Leader
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The goats are coming!
Made possible through a N.E. Synod EcoFaith network micro-grant, Bethlehem’s Creation Care team is undertaking a project to clean up about one acre of undeveloped church property overrun with the invasive vegetation- buckthorn.
The church would like to clean up the area so it can be used as a prayer and educational area to promote stewardship of our environment and more.
After property cleanup and site preparation with natural plantings, it is envisioned the property would provide a nature sanctuary for learning and education, opening other options such as a pollinator gardens, holding Sunday and Bible school learning events, creating nature paths benefitting the local area including schools.
A side benefit would be building a Congregational awareness on the need to care for our creation.
Read more about this project here.
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Cloth Shopping Bag Project in Aitkin
by Steve Spigarelli
The Creation Care Ministry of First Lutheran Church, Aitkin, MN, celebrated Earth Day, 2022 by distributing a cloth shopping bag made of recycled plastic to each family in our congregation (266). This project was funded by the EcoFaith Network and The Thrivent Action Team. Four members of our ministry team placed a trifold fact sheet about plastic pollution and why we should use recycled cloth bags rather than single-use plastic into our bags. These attractive trifold fact sheets were designed and formatted by Janine Johnson, daughter of Bob and Darlene Munneke. We placed the cloth bags in the individual mailboxes of our congregational families on April 29, prior to our celebration of Earth Day on May1, 2022. We intend to remind our congregation to use these bags through notices in our Sunday bulletins and monthly newsletters.
Read more about cloth bags here and what we can do here.
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Pollinator Pilot Project
Written by Tom Uecker
POLLINATOR PILOT PROJECT
Six lutheran churches in the NE MN ELCA Synod are participating in a project to plant a pollinator/Monarch Waystation garden on their church property. The only difference in a pollinator garden and a Monarch Waystation is that milkweed (a native plant-not a weed) must be present to be considered a Monarch Waystation.
The six congregations are:
French River in French River (Pastor Kim Sturtz)
Our Savior's in Outing (Kami Genz)
Bethesda in Malmo (Julie Swaggert)
Bethlehem in Twig (SAM Kristin Peterson)
Our Redeemer in Pine City (Mary Jo Mettler)
St. Andrews in Grand Rapids (Jan Bilden)
They will be guided by synod members who have experience in this area:
Pastor Mark Ditmanson (Bethlehem in Grand Marais)
Laura Raedeke (Lutheran Church of the Cross in Nisswa)
Tom Uecker (Gloria Dei in Duluth)
Read more about this initiative here.
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Day of Pentecost
June 5th
Rev. Emily Meyer
Acts 2:1-21 OR Genesis 11:1-9; Psalm 104:24-34, 35b; Romans 8:14-17 OR Acts 2:1-21; John 14:8-17 [25-27]
Pentecost is Divine Love’s kick-start to meeting this need for both humanity and creation. The incorporation of the four elements highlights humanity’s interconnectedness with the entire cosmos (earth, air, fire, and water) and one another (‘go to all nations’; ‘love as I have loved you’).
Read the whole reflection here.
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Second Sunday After Pentecost
June 19, 2022
Rev. Ron Hanson, Willmar, MN
Isaiah 65:1-9 Psalm 22:19-28 Galatians 3:23-29 Luke 8:26-39
As we study our texts for the 2 nd Sunday after Pentecost—whether in a text study group, or as personal preparation for preaching or teaching that day—we open our hearts and minds to God’s life-giving Word that sets us free to be faithful stewards of God’s wondrous Creation.
A first reading of the assigned lessons will reveal very limited direct reference to nature and God’s created world. Isaiah reflects God’s judgement on those who have turned to carrying out pagan worship practices in the hills and mountains, and who eat unclean foods. He also refers to the image of a “cluster of grapes,” as a metaphor for God’s promise to bring forth a blessing from his actions of righteous judgement upon his people, just as crushed grapes are turned into
wine. In Luke’s Gospel, we read the account of Jesus casting the demons out of a Gerasene demoniac, and then allowing the “Legion” of demons to enter into a herd of swine that plunge off a cliff to drown in the lake below.
Read the whole reflection here.
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If you missed the 2022 EcoFaith Summit,
Here is where the recordings and summit booklet are located.
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Summer Book Review
Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? By Bill McKibben, 2019, Henry Holt
Bill McKibben has been on the forefront of the climate change crisis ever since the publishing of his book, The End of Nature in 1989. He was also instrumental in establishing a climate activist campaign around his 350.org movement, one of the largest social movements in human history. As his book titles suggest, McKibben can come across as alarmist and pessimistic. In Falter he even admits as much, as he spreads the alarm about, not only global warming, but also threats to our humanity such as artificial intelligence and robotics, as well as constant problems such as unequal distribution of wealth and power. So, be warned, McKibben will take you to a dark place, but he does, as always, end with some solutions and possibilities to get us out of the mess he describes in vivid detail. As he states in the introduction, “The writer doesn’t owe the reader hope – the only obligation is honesty – but I want those who pick up this volume to know that its author lives in a state of engagement, not despair.”
Read the whole review here.
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This book review is by John Hanson, a retired pastor living on Turtle Lake, north of Grand Rapids, with his wife, Linda. He is a member of the NE MN Synod EcoFaith Leadership Team.
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This Month's Green Tips
Use these in your congregation's bulletins, Facebook pages, websites, or newsletters!
Here are Steve Spigarelli's
Green Tips from First Lutheran, Aitkin
Here are Laura Raedeke's Green Tips on agriculture from Lutheran Church of the Cross, Nisswa
Here are John McDonald's Green Tips from Gloria Dei, Duluth
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The EcoFaith Network is growing through your support!
Thank YOU to our current congregational partners:
Calvary Lutheran, Mora
Gloria Dei, Duluth
Holden Lutheran, Isle
Trinity Lutheran, Cass Lake
Trinity Lutheran, Hovland
And the dozens of individuals that have contributed.
We invite you to join them in
supporting this grassroots work.
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Connections with Creation |
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June 5 – Day of Pentecost
When God sends forth God’s Spirit, all living things are created and the earth itself is renewed. The Day of Pentecost invites us to consider what it means to be filled with the Spirit, the very breath of God, and how we can be co-renewers of creation. Organizations such as Greenfaith, Interfaith Power & Light, Blessed Tomorrow, and the Poor People’s Campaign give us models of people coming together from diverse religious, racial/ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds to empower the work of environmental justice.
When faith traditions speak with a united voice for climate advocacy—while still
honoring each other’s uniqueness—this is a Pentecost-inspired movement. As hip-hop activist Rev. Lennox Yearwood has said, “Our people and our gifts were put here at this time for this movement. As overwhelming as the climate crisis may be, we can do this if we all come together.”
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Start Planning Your Season of Creation for the Fall and share your ideas with us! |
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If you are interested in sharing anything with the network in the newsletter, email ecofaith@nemnsynod.org
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Green Blades Rising is an initiative of the EcoFaith Network NEMN Synod
Click here to see previous
Green Blades Rising newsletters
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The EcoFaith Network NEMN Synod
Living out God's call to be stewards of the earth for the sake of the whole creation.
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