St. Mark's Greening Congregation Guidelines and Policies

As people created in the image of God, we affirm the sacredness of all that God has made and the calling we have to be faithful stewards who live in harmony with creation. In our striving to live out this calling, we commit to the following practices and activities in worship, education, advocacy, community engagement, and the greening of our buildings and grounds.

In our faith formation programs for people of all ages, we will include opportunities which recognize and explore the intimate relationship between faith and God’s creation. This will be done through thoughtfully chosen curriculum for children, youth, and adults and learning opportunities such as forums, discussion groups, Bible studies, retreats, film and book discussions, volunteer and mission opportunities, and outdoor adventures.

Recognizing that advocacy is the caring act of citizenship by people of faith on behalf of God’s created world, we will stand in protection of God’s sacred creation and of creatures with no voice. We will stand, too, in solidarity with people whose lives are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation because of poverty and racism, and with future generations whose voices are not yet raised. In our efforts, we will engage in advocacy at all levels of the social and political process (local, state, and national) and we will strive to learn and to be informed so that we might do this work effectively.

Greening our congregation is vitally important, but it is equally important to extend this into the communities where we live and into the choices and activities of our daily lives. We commit to sharing our experiences and to reaching out to neighbors beyond our congregation through events and activities that affirm our common calling to care for each other and for all creation. In an effort to reduce the amount of energy used for travel, we will promote and encourage carpooling, walking, biking, the use of public transportation whenever possible, and the consideration of carbon offsetting when traveling by air.

In order to live more lightly upon the earth, we will work together to green our buildings and grounds by taking steps to shrink our carbon footprint (the total greenhouse gas emissions caused by the Church’s activities), to ensure that energy is used efficiently, to pursue the increased use of renewable energy, to use water efficiently and with care, to prioritize drought tolerant and native plants in landscaping, to avoid the use of products with toxic chemicals which enter the drainage system, to reduce the use of paper, to recycle whenever possible, and to reduce our production of material waste.