Earth Care

FPC is officially a PCUSA Certified Earth Care Congregation! This is a great opportunity for not just this congregation, but for the environment around us as well!

What is an Earth Care Congregation?

A "Guide to Greening Churches" on the Presbyterian Mission website states: "Earth Care Congregations are congregations that have committed to the "Earth Care Pledge" and accomplished a specific number of actions towards caring for God's earth in four categories: worship, education, facilities, and outreach."

How will FPC do this?

There are a number of steps that need to be completed before we can be certified as a PCUSA Earth Care Congregation. Steps listed in the, "A Guide to Greening Churches," include: "The first step is to form an Earth Care Team and complete the audit (part of the ECC application, available at www.pcusa.org/earth-care-congregations). The Earth Care Team can be as small as two people and does not need to be a formal committee...The environmental audit is divided into four categories where earth care progress is evaluated. Many activities can be completed with little to no funding. With the environmental audit completed, the Earth Care Team should then present the information to the session and ask for approval of the Earth Care Pledge and approval to submit an Earth Care Congregation Application available at www.pcusa.org/earth-care-congregations. Once you have completed an Earth Care Congregation application, the application and audit will be reviewed by PC(USA) Environmental Ministries and if 25 points have been earned for actions in each of the four categories, your church will be awarded the honor of being an Earth Care Congregation."

The PCUSA's website states, "Presbyterian General Assemblies have been speaking on issues of environmental protection and justice since the late 1960s. Their witness ranges broadly from drinking water safety and acid rain, to protecting endangered species, to cleaning up dirty power plants, to climate change and U.S. energy policy. The Assemblies' major policy statements on environment were in 1971 and 1990, and on energy in 1981."

Source: https://www.pcusa.org/resource/presbyterian-church-us-policy-brief-environment-an/

To download the PCUSA's Policy Brief on Environment and Energy, click here. 

Faith in Place Grant - Green team

First Presbyterian Church received a $2,500 grant from Faith in Place for a Nature Based Climate Action Project in April 2022. FPC has selected members to be part of the Green Team to carry out the vision of redoing Gabby’s Garden and adding trees to the fenced in area. Look for more news soon!