Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ

Think Globally: Pass the Pasta Please!

Food production has a pervasive impact on the environment. About 60% of our country’s land is used for crops or livestock grazing. Water quality is affected by erosion, fertilizers, pesticides, and animal waste. And air pollution is caused by energy use. All of these factors combine to make food second only perhaps to transportation as a source of environmental problems. The Union of Concerned Scientists (http://www.ucsusa.org/) has tons of information on this topic as well as many others.

Act Locally: Consider Some Changes in Your Eating Habits

Eat less meat and more grains. Compared with pasta, red meat requires 20 times the land use (because of cattle grazing), 17 times the water pollution (because of animal waste), and three times the greenhouse gas emissions (from greater energy use). It also adds more toxins to water from chemicals used for feed grain for cattle.

Think Globally: Dry, The Beloved Country
(from the Daily Grist at www.gristmagazine.com, 09/26/01)

Global warming could cause big changes in South Africa in the next 50 years, including the loss of many plant species, less rainfall, and an increase in wildfires, according to a report released by the South African branch of the World Wildlife Fund. One of the report’s authors, William Bond of the University of Cape Town, said he had been skeptical about global warming predictions, but now felt they were accurately “alarming and scary.” So scary, he said, that he decided to make it available to the general public, rather than publishing the results in a scientific journal. (As an added note, I was just taking with some friends who had recently returned from visiting their daughter and family in the Cape Town area and remarked that the water shortage in South Africa is very serious. One result is that farmers will have to grow different crops that are not so water dependent.)

Act Locally: Speak Out On the Urgent Need to Address Global Warming

Individuals and special interest groups use several tactics to argue against the Kyoto Treaty and tougher environmental laws that address global warming. They try to discredit the message by emphasizing select findings out of context, and the messenger by name calling (alarmist, environmental extremist). (As another added note, I actually think people might be getting the message now, but really, do we want to change our behavior, I think not)

Think Globally: “Every great architect is-necessarily-a great poet. He must be a great original interpreter of his time, his day, his age. (Frank Lloyd Wright)

Act Locally: Consider energy use. “The ongoing energy use of a building is probably the single greatest environmental impact of a building, so designing buildings for low energy use should be (a) number one priority. Decisions made during the design and construction of a building will go on affecting the environmental performance of that building for decades to come- perhaps even centuries – through energy consumption. An integrated design approach can often take advantage of energy savings that become feasible when the interaction between separate building elements, such as windows, lighting, and mechanical systems, are considered. There are cost implications. Likely to increase first cost, but significant sayings in operating cost can often be achieved. Reduced heating and cooling loads may reduce first cost of HVAC equipment, helping justify the expense.”
(from Environmental Building News Volume 4, No.5, 1995)

by Winton Boyd

At a recent gathering of clergy and congregational leaders called “Courage to Lead,” facilitators shared several pieces of poetry in their effort to help clergy deepen their sense of call and leadership. They invited us to consider what poems had been important to us. I share two such poems (actually one is a song). Continue Reading »

Parents’ Gathering: Our Hopes for the Future
Thank you to the following parents and facilitators who were able to attend the Parents’ Gathering: Meredith Trahan, Brad Carl, J and Jeanne McLellan, Amy Fewel, Colin Olson and Gretchen Olson, Deb Josephs, Gail Ansheles, Jennifer Jaqua, Julie Luecke, Megan Piper, Barbara Stretchberry, Gretchen Forbes, Steve Schumacher, Helene Nelson. We had some really good discussion over the following questions:
1. What was a positive spiritually significant experience for you growing up?
2. What are your hopes for your child/children’s moral and spiritual development?
3. How can Orchard Ridge UCC help in your child/children’s faith formation?
4. How can you partner with the Church to help in the faith formation of the children and youth of Orchard Ridge?
5. What are one or two specific things the church can do to help fulfill some of these hopes?

Thank you for your wonderful conversation and the sharing of the things you hope for your children and youth. Let’s keep the conversations going and let’s continue to seek God’s guidance as we plan for the future. We will gather up those ideas and make them available to the church and see where we go from here.

Some of the resources used for this discussion

Spiritual Beliefs about the Spiritual Nature of Children
From The Way of the Child by Wynn McGregor

1. Children have an innate connection to God.
2. Children have a natural openness to mystery.
3. Children have an amazing capacity for awe.
4. Children are receivers.
5. Children love what is real.
6. Children are wonderfully humble.

Six Themes Related to Children’s Spirituality
From Real Kids Real Faith: Practices for Nurturing Children’s Spiritual Lives by Karen Marie Yust

1. Belonging. Being embraced by God and a community of faith as beloved and accepted.
2. Thanksgiving. Living with a sense of gratitude for the gift of faith and God’s provision of one’s daily needs.
3. Giftedness. Knowing that each person is wondrously and uniquely made, with gifts and abilities to contribute to the community.
4. Hospitality. Sharing one’s gifts and welcoming the gifts of others so that God’s vision of a just and peaceful world can be realized.
5. Understanding. Reflecting on one’s spiritual experiences in order to become aware of how they shape one’s life and commitments.
6. Hope. Expecting that there is something more to human existence than what we presently see or know.

Dreams to Ponder about our Spiritual Formation Program for Children and Youth:
Can we dream that

1. Our children not only discover a safe place to belong but a community that challenges them to discern their purpose and vocation in life as children of God.
2. Our children will learn how to resist those aspects of our American culture that have already disappointed us with their empty promises and stress-inducing effects.
3. We, alongside our children, might work together toward understanding how we are to live our lives as spiritual beings. (from Karen Marie Yust)

And that

1. Our children/youth will develop an inner self connected to God that is understood in relationship to their daily lives and the wider world.
2. Our children/youth will make decisions and commitments that help them feel harmonious with God, their inner selves, and the world around them.
(from Wynn McGregor)