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
Climate Video
Conversion
Become a GC Ministry
Green Festival
greenchalice.org
Day of Prayer
Gardening
Call to Action
Pope Francis
Thought
GC Congregations
Sign On
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. 
Disciples Home Missions
  DHM hands/words logo
Christian Church in Kentucky
 
Blessed Tomorrow


Green Links

Facebook
Green Chalice News
 August 2015
Climate Video 
featuring Sharon Watkins
"Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."
 

The video can also be found on greenchalice.org
Ecological Conversion
by Scott Hardin-Nieri
Our family delighted in God's creation when we served as Global Ministries Volunteers for two years in Monteverde, Costa Rica. Our neighbors included Howler Monkeys, Three Wattle Bell Birds, Sloths, and Toucans. We learned their names and voices and watched and listened to them with awe. Human neighbors also inspired us like the cab drivers, hotel owners, tropical biologists, bakers, coffee farmers, and teachers from varied faith backgrounds. It was from their mounts challenging words were spoken:

Our water wells have dried up 
The frogs aren't around here anymore
Our forest orchids are dying
This is a cloud forest! where are the clouds?
We learned about the negative impacts of a changing climate on that place. Climate change in Monteverde is everybody's issue. Grappling with a faithful response was and is a challenge. In Costa Rica our understanding of our relationship t o and dependence on nature, other people, and God deepened as we lived in the beauty of the cloudforest. Our faith shifted, we experienced an ecological conversion.
Many Disciple's churches have been leading on behalf of creation by planting gardens, praying, installing solar panels, writing to congresspeople, caring for our oceans and much more. I am grateful for the solar panels placed on the roofs of churches and gardens planted, but my gratitude is not enough to combat climate change. My love for God, creation, my neighbor, and the faces of those children who have yet to be born call me into an ecological conversion and different living day after day. 
join the GC movement!
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.

Greenstock Festival
In July, Bridgeport Christian Church held its 2nd Annual GreenStock outdoor festival - a celebration of God's creation.  The purpose of the event is to provide an entertaining, fun-filled atmosphere while educating the community on how to walk more gently on the Earth.  This "zero waste" event is FREE and includes music, exhibits, activities for kids, and local foods.  Local musicians provide a variety of music. And a wide variety of "green" exhibits and demonstrations are provided. 

We serve locally grown watermelon and apples, kosher hot dogs and locally raised/produced hamburgers.  There are no paper plates, only napkins.  Meats are grilled and served on buns wrapped in paper wraps.  No sodas or bottled waters are provided.  Ice water is available in water coolers with compostable paper cups for drinking.  All foods are free with a donation jar available to defray the cost.  Each year we receive enough to cover our expenses. 

GreenStock has become an annual community event.  People look forward to it.  A community resident shared that she is now saving water and money since discovering a leaking toilet after using the leak detection tablets she picked up at GreenStock last year.  

For more details about this great event, click HERE. 
For information about hosting your own Creation Care festival, contact Annette Hayden.


greenchalice.org
September 1st a Day of Prayer for Creation
little-boy-praying.jpg
Pope Francis calls for September 1st to be a World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. He said it will be a time for individuals and communities to "reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care, and to implore his help for the protection of creation as well as his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live." The ecological crisis, he said, is a summons "to a profound spiritual conversion" and to a way of life that clearly shows we are believers. Quoting his encyclical, he said, "living our vocation to be protectors of God's handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience."
READ MORE
Gardening

 

Tell us about your community garden at Return to the Garden 

Call to Action
Pope Francis is coming to the United States and on September 24th he will address Congress. An anticipated interfaith crowd of over 100,000 will be gathered to support his call to action on climate change and creation care.  All across the United States, people of faith will honor this day with some action. Disciples' congregations are encouraged to do the same. 

Hold a prayer service or a local food potluck 
Pick up trash, plant trees, or worship outside.
Take children and youth groups outside to learn and play
Hold an organizational meeting for a creation care team
Read and Study the Encyclical with others at church
Invite your Catholic neighbors to join you in honoring this day!

Share your action with us at greenchalice.org
Follow the Pope in D.C.
 Click HERE for the Pope's Schedule

JOIN US!
Worship at the National Cathedral 
September 24, 7:30 PM
Click HERE for a free ticket to the National Cathedral Worship Service
Thought for the day
May the sun bring you new energy by day; may the moon softly restore you by night; may the rain wash away your worries; may the breeze blow new strength into your being.

Apache Blessing
Green Chalice Ministries
We would love to see YOU General Assembly!

Welcome to the family: 

Green Chalice Congregations

Arlington Christian Church, Lexington, KY
Burgin Christian Church, Burgin, 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, Concord, CA   

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, Harrisonville, MO

First Christian Church, Henderson, KY

First Christian Church, Houston, TX

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, Torrance, CA

First Christian Church, West Palm Beach, FL  

First Christian Church, Wilmington, NC

First Christian Church, Wilmington, OH

Florence Christian Church/Harmony Place, KY

Harmony Springs Christian Church, Uniontown, OH

Harbor Christian Church, New Port Beach, CA

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

Plymouth Creek Christian Church, Plymouth, MN

Providence Christian Church, Nicholasville, KY

Red Rock Christian Church, Boise, ID

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  

Midway Christian Church, Midway, Kentucky

Salvisa Christian Church, Salvisa, Kentucky   

Woodland Christian Church, Lexington, 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. 

We very much enjoyed meeting everyone at General Assembly 2015 in Columbus. Thanks to all who attended the workshops, birding, green reception or stopped by the Green Chalice Booth.

 

Rev. Carol Devine                

Minister for Green Chalice

 


 

Rev. Scott Hardin-Nieri

Associate 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