Metropolitan Chicago Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Earth Week GREEN FAIR
A Green Congregation Workshop
Saturday
April 19, 2008
8 a.m.-12 p.m.
at
Ashburn Evangelical Lutheran Church
3345 W. 83rd Street
Chicago, IL 60652
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To register for this free event, please contact the Rev. Cynthia K. Hileman at the synod office (ckhileman@mcselca.org or 773-248-0021) with the name of your congregation and number of participants.
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Faith in Place
Sponsors
The Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the ELCA
The Green Congregation Program and the Web of Creation
The Metropolitan Chicago Synod is sponsoring an “Earth Week Green Fair” on Saturday, April 19, 2008, from 8:00 until noon at Ashburn Evangelical Lutheran Church at 3345 W. 83rd Street, Chicago. The Green Fair is a follow-up to last October’s Green Congregation Training Workshop. Everyone is invited - whether you have already started a greening program, or are thinking about beginning one. This second workshop will offer churches the opportunity to see what area congregations have been doing, to exchange ideas and concerns with one another, and to receive practical suggestions for how to address glitches and/or build up existing programs.
Whether
you have done a little or a lot, this workshop is a chance to reflect on
what you have done, reassess where you are at, and get some direction by
talking to experts and to one another about some additional ways to
"green" your parish. Local ecological organizations and those who have
helped churches become more environmentally efficient will be at the
fair to provide you with additional resources and to help you explore a
range of greening strategies. Sara Spoonheim from
Faith in
Place will be our featured speaker. She will talk about
the various steps this local organization has taken to help
congregations throughout Illinois incorporate care for creation into
their ministry.
An
important goal of the program is to encourage congregations to build
intentional helping relationships with each other. There will be a
breakout session in which green teams from the same region will come
together in order to share some of their greening strategies and
struggles. This discussion will be a chance to reflect on the work you
have done in your parish, to see neighboring parishes as partners and
resources, and to receive encouragement to help strengthen your
commitment to caring for creation.
Please
mark your calendar and plan to celebrate Earth Week with us by
participating in the Green Fair. Each team is encouraged to prepare some
materials that others may take with them describing the work your
congregation has done. For instance, you may list the steps you took to
start a recycling program in your church. Do you have a green mission
statement? Include that. Alternatively, you may want to set up a simple
visual display. Your materials need not be complicated. They should be
geared toward helping other congregations.
For
congregations who were unable to attend the fall workshop, we will have
free resources on how to introduce care for creation into the life and
ministry of your parish.
There is no charge for the event. Free childcare will be available. In
order to help us plan for set-up and food, please register your
congregation and the approximate number of participants with the Rev.
Cynthia K. Hileman at the synod office at
ckhileman@mcselca.org or 773-248-0021. You may
address any questions you may have to the event organizer, Sumie Song,
at wofc@lstc.edu.