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Ground for Hope - Wisconsin

An Interfaith Environmental Training Event
for Seminarians, Clergy and Lay Leaders in Wisconsin
October 21-22, 2012

Sunday, 16 October 2011

On October 21-22, 2012, GreenFaith, the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee’s Interfaith
Earth Network, the Green Seminary Initiative, and other religious and environmental partners will
present Ground for Hope – Wisconsin. This premier interfaith religious-environmental event is for
clergy, lay leaders, seminarians and comparable students from denominations and faiths throughout the Milwaukee area, other parts of Wisconsin, and adjacent areas of neighboring states. Ground for Hope – Wisconsin is part of a national series of similar events sponsored by GreenFaith.

The 2-day education and training program will be planned and coordinated by leading institutions
within the region’s faith community. The event will include an environmental health and justice tour
and a green jobs or green building tour. A prominent theologian or religious leader will offer the
keynote address. The event will also include multi-faith worship and workshops on topics such as
‘green’ facility management, religious education and preaching on the environment, faith-based
environmental advocacy, and more.

Registration for the entire 2-day event will be $25/person. Seminarians and comparable students will attend for free. GreenFaith will provide on-line registration and staffing for all event planning. This will be a ‘green’ event, using vegetarian and local food, waste-reduction practices, and carbon offsets.

Get Involved

GreenFaith and the Interfaith Conference’s Interfaith Earth Network (IEN) are hosting this event.
GreenFaith, assisted by IEN, is responsible for planning and is eager to work with local partners to
plan and coordinate the event. Local or regional institutions can be involved in two ways, neither
requiring a financial commitment.

Co-Sponsors have their logo displayed on all event-related publicity. Co-sponsors commit to
publicize the event three times to their entire networks, help identify regional leaders whose work
should be highlighted, and have at least 2 representatives present at both days of the event to assist
with logistics, registration, etc. Co-sponsors may participate in the planning process, which will
include monthly conference calls starting in the fall of 2011.

Supporters have their name listed on select event-related publicity. Supporters commit to publicize
the event on at least two occasions to their entire networks

Join us for Ground for Hope - Wisconsin – and get the tools you need to take your religious-environmental leadership to a new level.

For further information, contact GreenFaith’s Fletcher Harper at 732-565-7740, ext. 301 or
revfharper@greenfaith.org , or Terri Lowder, Interfaith Conference IEN chair, at 414-276-9050 or
tlowder@wi.rr.com.

GreenFaith Logo

Last Updated on Friday, 25 March 2011 16:14

Eco-Spirit Bus Tours

Thursday, 20 October 2011

On September 20 and 27, 2011 the Interfaith Earth Network completed two Eco-Spirit bus tours for clergy and lay faith leaders that sparked great enthusiasm and got exceptionally positive evaluations from participants. We visited and/or drove past more than a dozen faith-based and secular sites where inspirational, dynamic programs are doing urban gardening, urban aquaponics, youth outreach, industrial redevelopment, brownfield clean-up, environmental education, solar panel manufacturing and more.

For major highlights of the tours, please check PLANTING SEEDS OF RESILIENCE IN MILWAUKEE – PHOTO ESSAY, written by Margaret Swedish on the blog of her website http://www.ecologicalhope.org/featured/planting-seeds-of-resilience-in-milwaukee-photo-essay/.

Last Updated on Friday, 25 March 2011 16:14

Sustainability Flyer

Thursday, 27 January 2011 15:00
Click here for a sustainability flyer from the Urban Center of Sustainability, Blessed Trinity Parish, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Last Updated on Friday, 25 March 2011 16:06

Congregations Celebrating Earth Day 2011

Thursday, 27 January 2011 15:03

Many congregations today support Earth Day during a worship service in the month of April. For example, each year at Lake Park Lutheran Church, Pastor David Dragseth requests that church members send a photo of an outdoor scene they experienced in the past year. Then he incorporates these photos into a PowerPoint presentation. This is shown during a service along with live music before the sermon. In 2010 he added poetry readings recited by church members.

Here are some additional suggestions for celebrating Earth Day on or near April 22, 2011:

Incorporate earth-themed prayer, poetry and songs into worship. As a resource check http://interfaithpowerandlight.org/clergy-corner/prayers-poetry-and-other-worship-resources/
Use earth care for a theme in sermons. Check http://www.eco-justice.org/3layers.asp for sermon ideas.
Begin to publish eco-tips in your congregation newsletter. A good resource is http://greenfaith.org/getting-started.
Encourage congregation members to assess their home energy use. Refer them to www.energystar.gov (Click on “Home Improvement).
Plan to collect cell phones and athletic shoes. Bring them to Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful (www.kgmb.org). Check the website for regulations on athletic shoes.
Distribute a pamphlet about sustainability. Check the Interfaith Earth Network website for a sample created by the Urban Center for Sustainability, which has given permission for anyone to make changes and use it in other congregations.
Plan an outdoor nature experience for children and families. Check www.sharingnature.com or www.webofcreation.org (education).
Encourage and facilitate youth participation in the seventh annual Wisconsin Interfaith Earth Month Poster Contest. Go to http://wisconsinipl.org/interfaithearthmonth.htm. Deadline is April 30, 2011.
Ask members (where feasible) to use earth-friendly transportation – walk, ride a bike, take public transportation, share a ride. Provide bus schedules as part of your publicity.
For your coffee hour or for a special lunch that day serve food that is grown or made locally.

The first Earth Day celebration took place on April 22, 1970. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin felt that politicians were ignoring environmental degradation and urged nationwide demonstrations that day to create awareness of this problem. Earth Day was a huge success, and later that year the Environmental Protection Agency was formed to improve air and water quality in the United States.

Last Updated on Friday, 25 March 2011 16:06

Environmental Justice March 2011

Friday, 25 March 2011 15:44

As Earth Day approaches, we remain mindful of the importance of the community of all life. In the midst of cultural and economic forces that encourage and reward individualism, we are all called to reach beyond ourselves, to embrace all the world's children and species and affirm our interconnectedness and interdependence. Now, at a time when many religious organizations are becoming more deeply involved in environmental work, we have a special calling to join people of all races, classes, cultures, sexual orientations, and faiths to engage in the work of healing both our Earth home and her living beings.

To understand the roots of the environmental justice movement in the United States, we can turn to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In his 1963 letter from the Birmingham City Jail, King anticipated the environmental justice movement when he wrote, "We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny" and "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

César Chávez, a California labor leader, was another who consistently articulated both an environmental and social justice message. He recognized the connection that we have with Earth through the food that we eat, and he knew from experience that those who work the soil, those who plant and harvest the food that sustains us, are among the most unappreciated and exploited.

Today, we have another example of environmental injustice closer to home, and the Cleaner Valley Coalition (CVC) has formed to take action on it. It is deeply concerned about the injustice of allowing a power plant in Milwaukee, in an area surrounded by low-income communities of color, to continue polluting the air, while plants in white communities, Oak Creek and Port Washington, have far better pollution control technologies. We agree with the CVC that We Energies must clean up this dirty old facility to ensure that it meets the most current Clean Air Act standards. Many IEN leaders have signed the Cleaner Valley Coalition petition. Click here to sign the petition.

Below are a few websites with information about Environmental Justice.

Local:

Cleaner Valley Coalition: http://cleanervalleycampaign.org/

Milwaukee Urban Gardens: http://www.milwaukeeurbangardens.org/

Victory Garden Initiative: www.thevictorygardeninitiative.com

State:

Wisconsin Interfaith Power and Light: http://wisconsinipl.org/

National:

Eco-Justice Ministries: www.eco-justice.org/

National Council of Churches of Christ Eco-Justice Programs: http://nccecojustice.org/

Last Updated on Friday, 25 March 2011 16:04

7TH ANNUAL WISCONSIN INTERFAITH EARTH MONTH POSTER CONTEST

Thursday, 27 January 2011 14:48
For All K-12 Students Organized by Wisconsin Interfaith Power & Light (WIPL) and the Islamic Environmental Group of Wisconsin See http://www.wisconsinipl.org/interfaithearthmonth.htm

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