In the June newsletter we announced that we would be taking July off. However, we have learned of so many great things that our congregations are doing that we thought we would take this opportunity to do a little bragging, and hopefully inspire others in their creation care work.

St. Christopher's is excited to share their growing momentum with the following list of ways they have been engaged in creation care over the past few months:

• Core group of about 10 enthusiastic, creative and knowledgeable folks meeting the first Sunday each month.
• Half-day Saturday retreat in August planned for deeper discernment to make plans going forward and to help sift through the multitude of ideas that came forward during a brainstorming session at a regular meeting. Will be facilitated by Kaye Westmark, spiritual director and Executive Director of the Center for Sacred Space.
• Monthly articles on various aspects of Creation Care written by members for the parish newsletter, The Lantern. Recent essays include:
• "A New Dominion," by Dr. Frank Gilliam
• "Creation as a Sacrament," by Kaye Westmark
• Donated $428 to Wildlife Sanctuary of Northwest Florida from the raffle of one of Miss Jerry's famous poundcakes during one of the weekly outdoor spring concerts, a long-standing tradition for the Pensacola community.
• Two outings of the Holy Stollers - mostly monthly offering of gathering to experience the outdoors together. Facilitated by forester and Longleaf Alliance V.P. for Operations, Ad Platt. 
• May - Forest Bathing Trail on University of West Florida campus
• June - Bruce Beach, an urban renewal project on Pensacola Bay, downtown, featuring native plants.
• Increasingly mindful of not using "throwaway" products, especially plastic. Members are committed to be part of clean up/dishwashing crew for events in order to use "real" dishes.
• Made a strong start for plans to celebrate Season of Creation, including use of approved liturgy for worship and special speakers for Wednesday evening programs the month of September (with one dinner fully vegetarian).
• Creation themes mentioned in some aspect of the prayers during worship every week.
• Creation Care study and discussion sprinkled throughout the year during Sunday morning Faith Forum time. So far have viewed the film The Letter and a film on dying coral reefs.
• VBS visited the Forest Bathing trail at UWF, facilitated by Frank Gilliam.

Trinity, Apalachicola has been celebrating in and advocating for creation in so many ways:

• Trinity Sunday outdoor celebration - picnic was well attended with the bishop in residence for a down home bbq and outdoor games.
• The Kill The Drill bill was signed by the governor, which many members of Trinity had advocated for to protect the Apalachicola River basin from drilling by oil companies.
• Residents of Apalachicola were under a state of emergency and a boil water advisory for several weeks as the city navigated fresh water issues in our water supply, Trinity responded by supporting efforts to distribute potable water and reusable water containers.
• We have been using The Holy Smoker, our towable reverse flow smoker and bbq grill to cook Boston butts, hamburgers and brats, and will soon try chicken and ribs as we perfect our team and technique to be ready to cook and serve food when needed in disaster response in our diocese and surrounding areas.
• Trinity sponsored a sea turtle nest on St George Island as part of the Adopt A Nest 2025 for the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve.
• Trinity members have been trading produce from their gardens and the community garden plots.
• Trinity and several members of the church are participating in the recycling program that has recently been offered by FL 27 Recycle, Inc.

St. Mary's Andalusia had their creation care-themed Vacation Bible Camp June 23-26. The theme was "Abundant Life", drawing from the Abundant Life Garden Project by Episcopal Relief and Development, with daily themes of Water, Plants and Animals. During the camp the kids:

• Learned how fertilizer, pesticides, loose soil and animal waste get washed into rivers and lakes when it rains using a plastic watershed model borrowed from the NRCS called an Enviroscape.
• Made mosaic sea turtles.
• Enjoyed edible aquifers for snacks and made homemade ice cream.
• Planted herbs in the church's Good News Garden.
• Made prints of tree rings from actual cross sections of a branch.
• Listened to the Bible story of the Sower.
• Made their own terrariums. 

St. Stephen's parishioners and Green Team members travelled to Evergreen for a Garden-to-Pantry Herb Workshop presented by the Conecuh County Extension Service.

• Redeemer members participated in several Holy Strolls in the Mobile/Baldwin area, including Blakeley State Park and an urban stroll through the Oakleigh Garden District in midtown Mobile.
• Parishioners heard a sermon on Rogation Sunday (excerpt here) exploring how we are in ministry with the land, followed by a rogation procession around the 8-acre property.

The Rev. Bob Donnell organized a meditation walk to Experience Christ in Creation at the Longleaf Pine Forest at the Mobile Botanical Gardens.

All Saints continues with their vestry-approved policy of using no single-use plastics at the church.