Project Ideas
It is our hope that the following information will provide practical ways to consider your neighbor in your daily activities. Here are some ideas for engaging the local church in creation care that have been used successfully by other churches and ministry organizations:
- Recycling project – Develop a recycling project that includes household guides so that people will learn to recycle items in accordance with local laws and requirements.
- Litter cleanup – Find an area that needs to be cleaned up in your community and organize the cleanup. Local environmental organizations may provide gloves and bags.
- Information table – Establish a creation care information center with fact sheets and fliers about important ecological concerns. Many of these informational pieces can be found on websites like the Evangelical Environmental Network and the Environmental Protection Agency.
- Investing responsibly – Research and encourage socially responsible investing for the church and its members. Encourage your investing firm to include creation care in their investment portfolios.
- Lifestyle change – Covenant together to live a simpler, less-consumptive lifestyle. Form or join a co-op, share resources that most people use infrequently, and start a community garden.
- Education – Find or develop resources for Sunday School, youth groups, Boy Scout or Girl Scout troops, or other ministries that focus on all age groups.
- Worship – Include care for God’s creation as a theme for music, prayer, and preaching, especially on Creation Sunday, celebrated on the Sunday closest to Earth Day (April 22).
- Fellowship dinners – Encourage all fellowship activities of the church to become more creation friendly. Try having a vegetarian dinner, with a prize for the tastiest dish. Use energy efficient cooking methods, such as solar cookers, to make portions of the meal. Avoid using paper products and Styrofoam. Serve dinner with plates, cups, utensils, and napkins that are washable and reusable.
- Celebrations – Have those that are talented in the arts develop specific programs that encourage creation care through poetry, painting, music, and other artistic expressions.
- Support – Raise money to support a local environmental organization, a Nazarene environmental project in the US or overseas, a Christian environmental organization, or a Compassionate Ministry Center that emphasizes creation care.
- Participation in town government – Get involved in local environmental decisions by participating in town meetings and public hearings that involve environmental issues. Serve on the boards or volunteer for Conservation Commissions and Land Trusts.
- Audit of church facilities – Conduct an environmental audit of church facilities to ensure that they reflect a commitment to creation care.
- Wildlife – Make your church grounds friendly for wildlife, especially if you are in an urban area. Establish a butterfly garden. Place bird feeders throughout the church grounds.
- Hiking – Sponsor a nature hike on conservation land in your local community.
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