Church Depot workshops to show how to ‘green’ your parish

It has been a busy summer and fall for members of the Environmental Task Force – and the many of you who have been practicing environmental stewardship in your own parishes. 

Many initiatives – from humble to bold – are underway and should be shared and celebrated throughout the Diocese.  Success breeds success, and we can all benefit from ‘lessons learned’. 

Join us Saturday November 19 at St. Cuthbert’s in Delta for the first Church Depot event of the Fall.  This day-long session, called Sharing God’s Planet: Greening Your Parish, features Sallie McFague as our key-note speaker

Four workshops to choose from in the afternoon will focus on transportation, energy efficiency, food security and creation spirituality, and will be led by experienced professionals in their field. The day is framed by worship and is open to all. 

At Synod last May a motion was passed commending to parishes the value of appointing a parish environmental steward.  This is the first opportunity for us to gather, meet like-minded people in other parishes and share stories and strategies for advocating environmental stewardship in your parish.

Also in the works is an environmental commitments website, called ‘Greening Spirit’, which will – we hope – be ready to go ‘live’ in April 2006…in time for Earth Day.

We expanded over the summer to include three new members of the Environmental Task Force.  Welcome, Christine Duamel (our resident Master Gardener), Lauren Blair (bringing an architectural background to the team) and Nick Parker (a clergy member, to root us in our Anglican theology).

You can meet the whole team – eight of us in total, within a larger pool of parish environmental stewards – at Church Depot on November 19.

To register for the day contact Bettina Gruver (bgruver@vancover.anglican.ca, phone 604 684 6306 ext. 226) or Paige Dampier (paige_dampier@hotmail.com, 604-708-0777) for more details or for car-pooling options.  A fee of $10 applies - bring your own lunch, but morning refreshments and childcare are  provided. St. Cuthbert’s is at 11601 – 82nd Ave., North Delta.