Green Chalice & Blessed Tomorrow Care for ‘Holy Ground’ With Collaborative Video
The entire earth is holy ground, making it is our sacred duty as stewards of His creation to care for every piece of it. Which is why Blessed Tomorrow's founding partner, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), have joined us in producing a new video explaining our call to care for creation, highlighting Disciples of Christ's climate initiative, Green Chalice.
In 1977, the General Assembly developed the 'Task Force on Ecology,' a coalition of clergy and lay people attempting to address climate-related issues in their congregation. Eventually the group expanded, forming what is today, Green Chalice, a powerful organization operating within Disciples of Christ under the leadership of Dr. Carol Devine.
Instituting campaigns such as 'Return to the Garden' and 'DOC Coffee Project,' the leadership of Devine, Scott Hardin-Nieri, and Kelly Harris have enabled their congregation to join the call to climate action. In a joint effort between congregants and faith leaders, DoC facilities have instituted community gardens, installed solar panels and moved the church closer to their tenant of 'treading lightly' on the creation God has given us.
Centered in Kentucky, Green Chalice hosts retreats, educational workshops and even built rain gardens with congregants spearheading recycling programs and composting initiatives, all in an effort to reduce their carbon footprint. As beneficial as these practices may be, DoC understands that climate action is nothing without a spiritual component, which is why they began climate related prayer and other practices that foster spiritual growth in creation care. In doing so, they have removed the schism between spirituality and creation care, demonstrating how the two are dependent on one another.
From its humble beginning in 1977, Disciples of Christ's ecological concern has flourished into a major component of what it means to be a member of their church. And, with the assistance of Blessed Tomorrow, the message of Green Chalice has been amplified, reinforced and projected to a whole new audience of people.
Disciples of Christ and Blessed Tomorrow agree that climate action needs the moral guidance of faith leaders, and together we may increase outreach, better formulate strategies and pool resources to assist one another in caring for God's creation. One thing that we do at Blessed Tomorrow is echo the voices of faith leaders in their effort to care for creation by assisting in communication strategies, garnering support from outside their immediate congregation and sharing their moral approach to climate action with other people of faith, and community leaders. In our new video featuring Rev. Dr. Sharon E. Watkins, General Minister and President of the Christian Church, you will hear testimonials from people of faith acting for the climate, and learn ways to join the movement.
Please, view our new video, share it and join us in caring for God's creation. As a team, we can build a Path-to-Positive future!
Watch the Holy Ground video here.