In January 2021, the congregation at First Congregational United Church of Christ voted unanimously to adopt a Creation Justice Covenant. This was a step in the application process for becoming a Creation Justice Church through the United Church of Christ. Our church was officially given the designation of Creation Justice Church on March 19, 2021. Our Green Team had navigated a long process to reach this point, marked by an effort to consult and involve all the teams of the church.
Since the adoption of the covenant, the Green Team has been busy providing programming for the congregation on environmental sustainability. For instance, we sponsored a panel of local and national experts on providing a clean water supply to vulnerable communities. We were happy to see the First Congregational Women sponsor a program of information about the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program. Another speakers event focused on local recycling and composting. We offer spiritually guided walks in local Florida preserves and parks.
For the future of our church campus, we are collaborating with our facilities and grounds team to explore environmentally sustainable practices for gardening and landscaping. We will reach out in order to work with other groups in the church to continue to live green. It is our intention to collaborate with community groups to pursue joint projects to restore and protect our natural resources. Come and join us as we seek to live lightly upon the earth!