St. Eugene Parish Summer Series with RENEWAL

June - August 2012

St. Eugene Parish, 72 Culvern Street, Asheville, NC 28804


Care of Creation Program


June 17 - August 19, 2012

 

During six Sunday mornings this summer, St. Eugene Parish in Asheville, NC is running an important Adult Education Commission program about how Christians relate to the environment.



Program leaders describe some of the themes being addressed:


God gave Man dominion over nature, but what does that mean?  The Book of Genesis tells us that God found His creation to be “very good.”  Genesis does not say that God found creation to be “very useful.”  So how do we care for God’s creation, while, at the same time, use it for our survival and enhance the quality of life?


This provocative series will take place Sunday mornings from 9:45 to 10:45 in Room 2 of St. Eugene's church.  Each of these informal, coffee-chat style meetings will consist of a short video presentation, from RENEWAL followed by group discussion and will take place on June 17 and 24, July 15 and 22, and August 12 and 19.  The first meeting will focus on interfaith action to raise awareness of mountaintop removal in the coal mining industry. 


The program is free and open to all!

 

Here is an outline for the entire series:

#1. Mountaintop  Removal (6-17-12), and we would like to expand that to fracking. Timely, highlights Fr. Rausch and the work he has been doing with evangelical ministers. Bruce, facilitate

#2. Going Green (6-24-12) about use of resources by an actual Church Community. They did a waste audit, organized a way to put solar panels on their roof at no cost to them and gave a stewardship workshop. Bruce, facilitate

#3. Food for Faith (8-19-12)   a Muslim community promotes the patronage of nearby farmers who raise their products ethically and sustainably. Jean Marie, facilitate

#4. Ancient Roots (7-15-12) follows a group of Jewish youngsters attending a camp to help them focus on the earth's ecological cycle, good stewardship and the connection to their faith as a "covenant with the earth". Connie, facilitate

#5. Compassion in Action (6-24-12) focuses on paper products and use of recycled paper. Amazing statistics of how many trees are cut to feed the magazine industry alone. It includes a really touching action of a Buddhist community in Asia who put monks’ robes around trees in a forest slated to be clear-cut. Bruce, facilitate

#6. Eco-Justice (7-22-12) the story of a poor Mississippi neighborhood devastated by air pollution from a neighboring oil refinery and the toxins, which flooded their soil and water after Katrina and the subsequent failure of the gov't to help them. Jean Marie, facilitate 

#7. Ritual celebrations as the springboard for Action (7-22-12)  takes place in South Valley, NM and shows how development of old farms for upscale housing has diverted the water that previously sustained them to swimming pools, spa tubs, lawn maintenance. Jean Marie,f.  

#8. Interfaith Power and Light (8-12-12) an ecumenical group initiates a movement for a religious response to global warming, starting with the "light bulb project". Connie, facilitate

#9. Nature Meditations:  A series of 2-3 minute visual meditations that can be used at the beginning of each session followed by a prayer for God’s Creation.

For more information, contact Connie Mitchell 828-254-2209.