Environment Committee run-down, 8 December 2008
Doug Kelley
At tonight's Environment Committee meeting, we talked about writing a
charter, new leadership, speaking at January's vestry meeting, and a
new book study.
-=- Writing a charter -=-
We started by talking about writing a charter, both to give our group a
bit more structure and to make its mission more clear to the parish.
Going from the recently revised charter of the Jubilee Commission, we
laid out four broad sections: Vision, Purpose, Responsibilities, and
Relationship with the Vestry and Congregation. We spent some time
brainstorming about each section, and we made note of our existing
mission statement:
Made in God's own image, human beings are both an integral part of the
ongoing Creation and the stewards who must protect all that God has
given. The Environment Committee at St. Andrew's is an informal group,
setting out to engage in the work of environmental care and
stewardship, focusing on three broad areas:
* Theology of the environment
* Environmental stewardship within St. Andrew's
* Environmental stewardship in the broader world
We also noted the parish mission statement:
The mission of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church of College Park in the
Diocese of Washington is to be a welcoming and supportive community of
faith.
* Which offers itself to the Lord Jesus Christ in corporate worship.
* Which has a special care for all God's children in its
neighborhood.
* And which stimulates its members to be open to God's call to
risk, to grow, and to use their gifts in service to others.
Next step in the process: we need somebody to consolidate the results
of our brainstorming and pen a draft charter.
-=- Leadership -=-
Neely and I are sad and delighted to be moving to Connecticut in
February, and so the Environment Committee needs a new chair (or
chairs). Please consider offering yourself or a friend as a possible
leader of our young and important ministry. We'll talk more at our next
meeting on 26 January.
-=- Speaking with the vestry -=-
We have been asked to talk a bit at January's vestry meeting about the
activities of the Environment Committee in 2008. Celia, Kathleen, and I
will attend and present. If there are particular accomplishments you'd
like to see highlighted, drop one of us a line.
-=- New book study -=-
Tonight we chose _A Greener Faith: Religious Environmentalism and Our
Planet's Future_ by Roger S. Gottlieb for our next book study. We'll
chat over the first chapter at our next meeting (26 January). Here it
is on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Greener-Faith-Religious-Environmentalism-Planets/
dp/0195176480/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1228791914&sr=8-1
That's all for tonight. Please pray about the ongoing work of our group
and consider participating in crafting a charter or taking on a
leadership role. Our next meeting (in case you missed it the last two
times!) will be Monday, 26 January 2009, at 7:00 pm in the basement of
the ESC. See you then.
--Doug
Keith Arnaud
this morning. Buildings and Grounds maintains a project wish-list. One
of our responsibilities should be to review that for environmental
impact and advise on use of materials etc.
Keith