GREEN TEAM
The Grace Episcopal Church Green Team believes that God has made us co-creators in the responsibility to hold sacred this good earth. As caretakers, stewards, and educators, we commit to enlightening ourselves and our community in the best ways of preserving God’s natural gifts. We also pledge to communicate and actively engage the world in faith-based solutions to environmental problems.
HISTORY OF GRACE CHURCH GREEN TEAM
In the fall of 2007, a number of Grace parishioners answered a Ministry Fair questionnaire on how we, as people of faith, might respond to God's call to be good stewards of the resources He has provided. People expressed interest in numerous ways and the Grace Environmental Concerns Committee was formed. Initially, we sought an energy audit of the church facilities and amend things that could be changed for the better. We invited the congregation and the community to share in the journey as we educated ourselves on ways to be more mindful and respectful of our resources. Later, with a partnership with Green Faith, the name was changed to The Green Team. We continue to strive towards good stewardship as we live into our mission statement- "We are a community of Christ the Servant."
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Established annual Green Forum for ongoing education on a variety of environmental concerns.Â
• Organizes quarterly church wide hikes.Â
• Established recycling, composting & rain barrel collection programs at Grace.
• Offered free films and discussion to the community on preserving nature.
• Hosted the Catawba Riverkeeper in partnership with the Burke County Library.
• Installed bicycle rack on church grounds.
• Helped plant trees at Catawba Meadows Park in Morganton as part of Mission Morganton.
• Continues to man the parking lot at the Historic Morganton Festival to raise funds for environmental projects.
• Planted a pollination garden on church campus.
• Support other faith communities as they develop their own Green Teams.
ABC PROMISE PARTNERSHIP: BOTTLE CAPS TOÂ BENCHES
The ABC Promise Partnership is a repurposing program offered by Green Tree Plastics in Evansville, Indiana. The purpose of this youth inspired initiative is to collect plastic lids and caps to be turned into a durable bench.
In 2019 the Green Team and Children/Youth of Grace collected, sorted, and weighed plastic lids and caps. Their goal of 200 pounds for a 6ft bench was reached and a team picked up the bench in October of 2019. The bench will be placed on church grounds for all children and youth to enjoy. Since plastic caps are not recyclable, this means 200 lbs of plastic avoided our local landfills.
For more information on how to start your own ABC Promise bench email the company at barbp@greentreeplastics.com
Grace Episcopal Church was pleased to welcome
The Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori as the 2019 Green Forum speaker.
Above is her keynote address.
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth..."