Sustainability Circle

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The earth is the Lord's and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.
Psalm 24:1

The Sustainability Circle  is our "Green Team", that promotes care for God's creation by actions at church, among the congregation, and in the community.  We are a group of church folks who meet monthly (or nearly) to provide the congregation  with opportunities to learn more about and to practice caring for God's creation.  This "practice" happens here in our church building and in our homes, work, and our community.   We work with  Building & Property to promote energy efficiency and eco-friendly practices. 

​Please consider joining us for one of our meetings to learn more about what we do.  Check the church calendar for dates, or contact Liane Roe for meeting dates.

Some of the things the Sustainability Circle does:

• We encourage conserving resources, recycling at church and at special events
• We lead Adult Education classes on practicing good stewardship of resources
• We help with the "Celebrating God's Creation" worship service each year near Earth Day (April 22)
• We coordinate with PA Interfaith Power & Light and nearby churches to support local events and projects
• We maintain our "Earth Care Congregation" certification with the Presbyterian Church (USA)

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Creation Care

sus•tain•able (adj.): using natural resources without destroying ecological balance
green (adj.): supporting or promoting protection of the environment

Are we being good stewards of God’s creation? Are we, in our personal lives, attending to the resources we consume? Are we mindful of whether our church’s or our individual actions contribute to a sustainable community rather than consuming resources in a way that is not sustainable? Are we using our church’s financial resources wisely to promote sustainable practices?  What guidance can we find in Scripture about “living green”?

A group of church members representing staff, the Mission Ministry Unit, and the Building and Property Ministry Unit are using such questions to determine what steps, if any, our church might take to help us better conserve resources, learn from other churches’ sustainability efforts, and potentially serve as a model that other churches might follow when seeking ideas for sustainable practices.
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Implementing “green” practices at SCPC is not something new. Did you know that:

• in 2013 SCPC recycled nearly 1¼ tons of recyclables (2014 lbs. of mixed paper, 162 lbs. of mixed plastic, 143 lbs. of metal cans, and 97 lbs. of clear glass);
• recycling of steel, copper, aluminum, and brass from the old organ console in the balcony and the church’s old carillon machine kept approximately ¼ ton of metals out of the trash;
• young people in FISH transport our recyclable cardboard to the appropriate recycling receptacle each week;
• replacing 5 old windows in the church office will achieve additional energy efficiency?

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Apprehend God in all things, for God is in all things.  Every single creature is full of God and is a book about God.  Every creature is a word of God.  If I spend enough time with the tiniest creature, even a caterpillar, I would never have to prepare a sermon.  So full of God is every creature. (Meister Eckhart)


God created the world out of its elements to the glory of the divine name.  God strengthened it with the wind, connected it to the stars and enlightened it by them, and filled it with all manner of creatures.  God then surrounded and fulfilled humankind in the world with all things and gave them a tremendous power, so that all creation would support them in all things.  The whole nature should serve them, so that they can live with it, because humankind cannot live or survive without nature.
(Hildegard of Bingen)

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Thank you, good God,
for all the gifts I have already received
from your creation this day.
Because the creation is yours
and you love it,
help me to love it more dearly.
(from Earth Gospel:  A guide to Prayer for God's Creation)