St Stephen's Episcopal Church

Earth Day is intended to encourage a greater awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment. As we celebrate the wonder of life on our planet, let us also use this occasion to celebrate the successes that we as a parish and as individuals have made to reduce energy usage and preserve our earth’s precious resources.

St. Stephen’s has made great strides in our efforts to be a responsible steward of creation. Over the last two years, our church has reduced its electricity usage by more than 27% -- simply by replacing traditional light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) and by being more mindful of our use of electricity. Conserving energy not only helps to preserve God’s creation, but results in other tangible benefits as well: the money that we don’t send to PG&E each month is available for other church programs. During the same two years, more than 90 parish families pledged to change nearly 700 home light bulbs to CFLs. The combined savings in energy bills is estimated to be more than $34,000 over the life of these energy-efficient bulbs. St. Stephen’s has also taken steps to conserve our precious and dwindling water resources, by modifying the church’s irrigation system and proactively reducing water usage.

The Caretakers of Creation applaud these and other initiatives that St. Stephen’s families have taken to reduce, reuse and recycle. In celebration of our progress to becoming a “geener” church, Caretakers of Creation is hosting a coffee hour brunch following each service on Earth Sunday, April 26, in the parish hall. Please join us for a feast of organic, sustainable and locally grown food. Proceeds will benefit the Youth Mission trip, in which members of our parish will be working to provide relief for families and communities impacted by Hurricane Katrina.

ONGOING CREATION STEWARDSHIP PROGRAMS

Make a Caring for Creation pledge, committing you and members of your family to take one or more actions this year to help improve our environment. Write out your pledge and place it on the tree in the parish hall. See our List of CFC Action Ideas!

ST. STEPHEN'S CLOTH GROCERY BAGS with "St. Stephen's Caring for Creation" logo are on sale in the Parish Hall. These bags are made from Ecospun, 100% recycled soda bottles, and were custom-printed for St. Stephen's. Special Earth Day price: $5!

JOIN ST. STEPHEN'S ENERGYSTAR PLEDGE GROUP TODAY! This is your chance to add your name to the list of families below who have already committed to changing one (or many!) lightbulbs in their house to energy-saving CFLs. If you are already on the list, you can sign up to change more bulbs! This program is one of the many reasons why St. Stephen's (out of 500 churches) won an "Energy Oscar" in 2007 from California Interfaith Power &Light.

ABOUT ST. STEPHEN'S CARING FOR CREATION GROUP
The focus of the Caring for Creation group is to actively support the goals outlined in the Covenant of California Interfaith Power & Light (CIPL), of which St. Stephen's is a member. Upon joining CIPL, St. Stephen's pledged to pursue one or more of the following goals:

1. Educate our congregation on energy production and usage in relation to global warming by offering weekly tips in our Sunday bulletin, articles in our monthly newsletter, and sponsoring speaking events.
2. Conduct an energy audit of our buildings to identify sources of energy waste and the potential financial savings of energy related improvements.
3. Make energy efficiency improvements in our congregation's buildings.
4. Utilize renewable energy by purchasing green power, installing solar panels, or contributing to a wind turbine fund.
5. Analyze, reduce, and offset our greenhouse gas emissions with the goal of becoming a non-polluting congregation.
6. Support public policies that contribute to our goals.

RELATED CARING FOR CREATION LINKS