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. 
Disciples Home Missions
  DHM hands/words logo
Christian Church in Kentucky
 
Blessed Tomorrow


Green Links

Green Chalice News
 October 2015
Trick or Treat?
Every year, Americans spend over a billion dollars on millions of pounds of Halloween chocolate. Where does all that chocolate come from, and who grows it? The answer might scare you!


Get Your Fair Trade Halloween Chocolate, perfect for trick-or-treaters. We can care for our brothers and sisters in Christ, the earth AND eat chocolate!

Footprint
I was blessed to grow up in a family that recycled, composted, reused, and repurposed. We always had a clothesline and a garden and even solar panels. Several of us are vegetarians. My grandmother often said, "waste not, want not," and we all took her words to heart. So when a seminary class on earth care required us to calculate our carbon footprint, I was not worried. So when my result showed that it would take 4 planet earths for everyone in the world to live like I live, I was devastated. 

Anne Rivas had a similar experience which she shares in LiveGreen: How many earths does it take?  Thanks to Mason Thomas for sharing this article with us.

The ecological footprint score compares the amount of demand that human consumption places on nature to the supply of productive land available to meet this demand (biocapacity). The score is given in the number of planets it would take to support all of us if everyone lived the same way.

Green Degrees
If you, or someone you know, is interested in studying in an environmental field, check out this website:

Find colleges with environmental degrees in your state. Explore all the job options for a particular green degree and more!

Top 10 Green Degrees
  1. Environmental architecture and environmental design
  2. Environmental engineering
  3. Environmental health sciences
  4. Environmental law
  5. Environmental science and sustainability
  6.  Horticulture
  7. Marine sciences
  8. Renewable energy
  9. Sustainable agriculture
  10.  Wildlife ecology
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
Clean Power Plan
Creation Justice Ministries welcomes and celebrates the release of the Clean Power Plan. As Christians, we are acutely aware of the threats posed by a changing climate. Already, we have seen rising floodwaters, severe droughts, disrupted access to food, harsh storms, higher rates of asthma, and increased vectorborne diseases. 

Climate change is most harming the vulnerable among us: people living in poverty, older adults, and people living in countries least responsible for contributing to climate change. Our faith communities are on the front lines of providing relief and aid to those who are bearing the unequal burden of climate change. 

Now, with the Clean Power Plan, we have a chance to prevent suffering by limiting a major contributor to climate change: carbon pollution. We urge every state to create a strong and effective state implementation plan that successfully meets carbon reduction targets --- without shifting costs to impoverished communities. In particular, we encourage renewable energy projects to meet state carbon reduction goals and to generate new jobs for working families. The Clean Power Plan allows each state to develop its own state implementation plan to meet a customized carbon reduction target. It elegantly recognizes the diversity of energy landscapes in the United States, giving each state an opportunity to account for the local economy as well as local eco-systems. God's creation is sacred, and we are called to responsibly steward the gifts of creation while protecting our vulnerable neighbors. Adopting the Clean Power Plan in every state will help us live out our faith commitments to stewardship and justice.

Prepare for Advent
Reclaim the spiritual dimensions of the Advent season this year with the Society of St. Andrew devotional booklet, My Soul Magnifies the Lord. Follow the link above to:
- Order a free sample packet
- Order free devotional booklets
- Download an eReader version for you use
- Sign up for daily devotions by email
You can also support Society of St. Andrew feeding ministries, reflecting Jesus' own concern for the least, the last, and the lost.

CLICK HERE to learn more and order your devotional booklets.
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.

Article in The Advocate
Cllick HERE to check out the Green Chalice Article by Scott Hardin-Nieri on page 7 of the Fall 2015 Edition of The Advocate. 

Stewardship: God's Way of Recreating the Word 
by Steve Kindle
Like a good preacher, Rev. Kindle's 
argument for caring for 
God's creation is founded in Scripture.

This book is a great resource for anyone who preaches and/or teaches. But it is also a great read for anyone who desires to think theologically about creation care. 

Gardening

 

Tell us about your community garden at Return to the Garden 



greenchalice.org
Thought for the day
Even if our efforts of attention seem for years to be producing no result, one day a light that is in exact proportion to them will flood the soul.

SIMONE WEIL
Green Chalice Ministries
WELCOME NEW GC CONGREGATIONS:
FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH, SCOTTSDALE, AZ
South Joplin Christian Church, Joplin, MO

 
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, Scottsdale, AZ
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 Joplin Christian Church, Joplin, MO
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
Midway Hills Christian Church, Dallas, TX
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. 

Happy Fall!

 

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