In mid-October, members of Baltimore's New Psalmist Baptist Church celebrated the opening of their gleaming new campus with prayer, song and dance.
Dubbed the "Holy City of Zion" by the church's 7,000-plus members, the 175,000-square-foot space is three times the size of their old church and boasts a banquet facility, an exercise center and a stunning theater-style sanctuary that seats 4,000 worshippers.
But for all its amenities, the new church was missing something -- and members noticed right away.
"This building is three times the size of the old building. I'm still getting lost," said the Rev. Alfred J. Bailey II, minister of missions and outreach. "But they wanted to know, 'Where's our recycle bin? The old church had one.'"
Like many churches, New Psalmist Baptist is committed to environmental issues. But the congregation's impact has spread far beyond the walls of their own church, the city of Baltimore or even the impoverished communities in Kenya that first inspired their efforts. This African-American megachurch now serves as an adviser to major governmental organizations -- the United Nations among them -- helping to craft global environmental policies.
At the old church, five miles to the south, they'd recycled 84 tons of paper in three years, using the proceeds to aid a community in Kenya.
There, during a mission trip in 2005, Bailey and New Psalmist Baptist Bishop Walter Thomas Sr. visited a Nairobi slum and a drought-stricken community in the Rift Valley, where clashes over access to clean water had left dozens dead.
They vowed that their church, which had long supported the needy in Baltimore, would do what it could to address the economic, environmental and educational needs of those African communities.
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| IDEAS THAT IMPACT: CREATION CARE & STEWARDSHIP
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The Alliance of Religions and Conservation identifies seven areas on which to focus when creating a plan for your organization or congregation.
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If the church wants to remain relevant for students and the youth generation, it should increase and amplify its call to action on climate change, says a young Christian leader.
Read more from Emily Wirzba » |
Why should Christians care about the fate of Earth? Because cherishing creation is the way we show God our gratitude, the way we humbly acknowledge our creatureliness, and an important way in which we worship, says the former dean of Duke Chapel. Read more from Sam Wells »
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Greening Spaces for Worship and Ministry by Mark Torgerson Greening Spaces for Worship and Ministry is a comprehensive guide. The book provides a rationale, strategies, and resources for fulfilling environmental stewardship through the land and buildings of Christian and Jewish congregations. New construction, renovation, and historic preservation projects are addressed. Site development, material choices, energy generation and consumption, water use, interior air quality, green cleaning programs, and beauty are discussed. Ten congregations from across the United States and Canada are featured as examples of excellence in creation care in and through their built environments.
Learn more and order the book » |
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