Green Chalice News
A monthly e-newsletter from Green Chalice, a ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

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In This Issue
Green Chalice
is a partnership Creation Care ministry of Disciples Home Missions and the Christian Church in Kentucky. 
Our mission is to connect Christian faith, spiritual practice, and creation consciousness in order to demonstrate the fullness of God's shalom. 
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Green Chalice News
January 2015
Hottest Year

2014 was the hottest year in 135 years of record-keeping, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA announced on Friday. 

The year's average combined global land and ocean surface temperature was 58.24 degrees Fahrenheit, according to NOAA. This is 1.24 F above the 20th century average. Global average land temperatures were 1.80 F above average, while ocean surface temperatures were 1.03 F above average, the agency said. Land temperatures alone were only the fourth-warmest on record, but ocean temperatures were the warmest, which helped to make 2014 the warmest year overall. "Viewed in context, the record 2014 temperatures underscore the undeniable fact that we are witnessing, before our eyes, the effects of human-caused climate change," said climate scientist Michael Mann. "It is exceptionally unlikely that we would be seeing a record year, during a record-warm decade, during a multidecadal period of warmth that appears to be unrivaled over at least the past millennium, if it were not for the rising levels of planet-warming gases produced by fossil fuel burning."

 

Read the full article.

Thought for the day

Be humble for you are made of Earth. Be noble for you are made of stars.

Serbian Proverb

 

Preach In

Join the 5th annual 2015 National Preach-In on Global Warming happening over Valentine's Day weekend. Take part in this growing national event sponsored by Interfaith Power and Light during worship in your congregation. As part of the event we hope more than 70,000 postcards will be sent to senators urging climate action.

Learn More, Order Resources and Register today! 

Lent 2015
Commit to a daily time of study, reflection, prayer, and giving during the season of Lent, the 40 days (plus seven Sundays) leading up to Easter (February 18 - April 5, 2015).

Traditionally, Lent is a season of penitence, a time of asking God's forgiveness for our sins, and seeking a new way of life in Christ, day by day, as we approach the death of Jesus and look forward to his resurrection.

Participate in a Carbon Fast. Sign up for a daily email here or text "Carbonfast" to 22828 for a daily text. Both will provide
tips to lower your carbon footprint.

Read Into the Wilderness, a daily devotion booklet by Society of St. Andrew. Devotional booklets and coin banks are free, and may be ordered in quantity. You may also download a copy of the devotional booklet for your e-reader or sign up to receive each days devotion by email.

Fasting
Fasting is an ancient exercise practiced by most every world religion. Whether fasting from sun up to sundown, 24-36 hours, one meal, or even one type of food, fasting is a wonderful spiritual practice. Additionally, many people believe that there are great health benefits for fighting cancer, Alzheimer's and more. Click here to read more about Intermittent Fasting health benefits.  

Fasting provides a way to disconnect from "the world" and connect with God. It allows us a way to journey through a day or days in mindfulness. It links our physical state to our spiritual life. 

Many Christians fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday by going without any food. A good number of Christians give up one type of food during the 40 days of Lent (chocolate, snack foods, meat, fried foods, etc). Green Chalice invites you to participate in a Fast for Lent 2015.* 

You can create your own fast. You can join with your Sunday School class or small group following the same fast. You can invite your congregation to participate in a fast. You can join Society of St. Andrew staff and volunteers in fasting on Good Friday. We welcome your thoughts and reflections at the end of your fast. 
 
* Children, people with compromised immune systems or chronic health problems, pregnant women and elderly people should check with their doctors before participating in a fast. 

Click Here for Society of St. Andrew's  Good Friday Fast booklet with instructions and readings, reflections, and prayers for the mealtimes through which you are fasting.
Earth Day Materials
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Earth Day is April 22nd and Earth Sunday can be celebrated either April 19th or 26th. This year Creation Justice Ministries selected the theme Sustainable Food in a Changing Climate to explore the relationship between climate change and the food that we eat. Rev. Carol Devine (Green Chalice) and Rev. Rebecca Barnes (PC USA) worked together to write, compile and edit an expanded resource for 2015 that includes a children's sermon, children, youth and adult education materials, a prayer station and more. 

 

The resource will be available digitally for download in February and is appropriate for Sunday School teachers, worship leaders, youth directors and ministers. Sign up here if you'd like to be notified when it's available.  

Words to Ponder

By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance, O God of our salvation; you are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas. By your strength you established the mountains; you are girded with might. You silence the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples. Those who live at earth's farthest bounds are awed by your signs; you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy. You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide the people with grain, for so you have prepared it. You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth. You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with richness. The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy, the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.

Psalm 65:5-13  

Become a GC Ministry!
Many congregations already qualify to be a GC Congregation and simply need to apply.

STEPS: 

1. Have an active Green Team.

2. Sign the Alverna Covenant as a team or as a congregation. 

3. Make at least 3 changes that demonstrate your congregation's commitment to caring for God's creation. 

THEN e-mail the following information :  

1. Congregation name, City, State, address and phone number; 

2. the date the Alverna Covenant was signed;

3. and the changes made by your congregation to walk more gently on God's creation.

Green Chalice
Green Chalice Congregations
Arlington Christian Church, Lexington, KY

Butler Christian Church, Butler, KY

Cairn Christian Church, Lafayette, CO
Central Christian Church, Lexington, KY

Central Christian Church, Marshalltown, IA

Central Woodward Christian Church, Troy, MI

Community Christian Church, Tempe, AZ  

Crestwood Christian Church, Lexington, KY 

Crestwood Christian Church, Lincoln, NE

Desert Dove Christian Church, Tucson, AZ  

Disciples Christian Church, Bartlesville, OK

Disciples Christian Church, Cleveland Heights, OH

Downey Avenue Christian Church, Indianapolis, IN

Edmond Trinity Christian Church, Edmond, OK.

Evergreen Christian Church, Athens, GA  

First Christian Church, Bardstown, KY  

Green Chalice Logo

First Christian Church, Beaumont, TX 

First Christian Church, Bellingham, WA

First Christian Church, Carbondale, IL    

First Christian Church, Danville, KY

First Christian Church, Eugene, OR

First Christian Church, Farmville, NC  

First Christian Church, Frankfort, KY  

First Christian Church, Glasgow, KY  

First Christian Church, Henderson, KY

First Christian Church, Leavenworth, KS

First Christian Church, Lexington, TX

First Christian Church, Little Rock, AR  

First Christian Church, Lynchburg, VA

First Christian Church, Mount Vernon, WA

First Christian Church, Ocala, FL 

First Christian Church, Owensboro, KY

First Christian Church, Paducah, KY 

First Christian Church, Paris, KY

First Christian Church, Pasadena, TX

First Christian Church, Puyallup, WA

First Christian Church, Rockwall, TX

First Christian Church, West Palm Beach, FL  

Florence Christian Church/Harmony Place, KY

Harmony Springs Christian Church, Uniontown, OH

Heights Christian Church, Shaker Heights, OH

Hood River Valley Christian Church, Hood River, OR

Journey of Faith, Ann Arbor, MI  

Lake Washington Christian Church, Kirkland, WA

Lakewood Christian Church, Lakewood, OH   

Lee's Summit Christian Church, MO

Marshall Avenue Christian Church, Mattoon, IL 

Midway Christian Church, Midway, KY

Midway Hills Christian Church, Dallas, TX

Mt. Zion Christian Church, Richmond, KY

Nicholasville Christian Church, Nicholasville, KY 

North Christian Church, Fort Wayne, IN

Northside Christian Church, Knoxville, TN  

Norwalk Christian Church, Norwalk, IA

Providence Christian Church, Nicholasville, KY

Ridglea Christian Church, Ft. Worth, TX

Saint Andrew Christian Church, Olathe, KS
Salvisa Christian Church, Salvisa, KY

Southern Hills Christian Church, Edmond, OK

Southside Christian Church, Kokomo, IN

South Street Christian Church, Springfield, MO

Sugarbush Christian Church, Guelp, Ontario

The Healing Cathedral Christian Church, Memphis, TN

Valley Christian Church, Birmingham, AL 

Waling Faith (Korean-Am) Christian Church, Sunnyvale, CA

Webster Groves Christian Church, Saint Louis, MO

White Oak Pond Christian Church, Richmond, KY 

Woodland Christian Church, Lexington, KY

15th Avenue Christian Church, Rock Island, IL

 

Green Chalice Ministries  

Christmount Retreat and Conference Center

Black Mountain, NC  

 

Green Chalice Regional Offices

Christian Church Capital Area 

 

CERTIFIED Green Chalice Congregations

Bridgeport Christian Church, Frankfort, KY

Christ Church Uniting, Kailua, Hawaii

Cynthiana Christian Church, Cynthiana Kentucky  

Salvisa Christian Church, Salvisa, Kentucky   

Sign your name

National Religious Partnership for the Environment invites us to add our names to a petition. Call on our political leaders to craft a moral global framework for the UN climate negotiations that will culminate in Paris 2015. Click here to sign the petition. Select "Disciples of Christ" as your religious affiliation. 

Merry Christmas!

Rev. Carol Devine                

[email protected]

Minister for Green Chalice

Contemplative Image by Rev. Chuck Summers

Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach.

Clarissa Pinkola Estes