Green Sanctuary
The Call
All Members and Friends,
Within our Sunday Order of Service there is a Statement of Principles of the Congregations of the UUA containing seven items. The seventh of these states that we will “affirm and promote” respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. Similarly, on the back of that Order of Service our own Affirmation states that we “Cherish the universe and its resources and recognizethe unity of all life”. We recite aloud this statement often at Sunday services.
In response to this concept, a number of UU’s were moved to begin, in 1991, the Seventh Principle Project. This movement was fully endorsed by the UUA and by the year 2000 an idea called Green Sanctuary had been chosen as the vehicle with which to accomplish the intention behind the Principle. The movement is now called the Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth.
Green Sanctuary lays out the methods for allowing us to practice eco-spirituality. In the manual produced by the UUMFE there are suggestions, ideas and insights that we can and should easily apply to our own personal relationship with the world around us. Just as important are the guidelines for putting our church as a community right with the world.
In the spring of 2002, a very interested group of us met to form a Green Sanctuary committee. We did not carry through with our good intentions at that time, for whatever reasons, but in response to the ever-increasing awareness of the likelihood of global warming, it is time to renew our efforts at practicing what we claim to believe.
http://www.uua.org/leaders/environment/greensanctuary/
The website above gives ample detail on the program and what is expected to obtain certification through the program. A committee with the mission of making First Unitarian Universalist Society of Marietta more environmentally friendly and certified as a Green Sanctuary has been approved by the Board and has begun carrying out its mission. If you are interested in helping us make our church buildings, practicesand our own lives more sustainable, energy efficient and eco-friendly, it is easy to do so by contacting the church office at fuusm@sbcglobal.net .
Thanks,
Mike Bailey
The Charter
Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth invites congregations to:
- Build awareness of environmental issues
- Encourage personal lifestyle changes
- Motivate community action on environmental issues
- Build a connection between spiritual practice and environmental consciousness
- And challenge and work to heal environmental injustices.1
In pursuit of these goals, this Committee will strive to accomplish these tasks:
- Serve as leader in accomplishing those tasks required to receive certification as a Green Sanctuary;
- Serve as a source of information on relevant topics for the congregation and the community.
- Serve as a source of motivation for members of the congregation seeking to include ecologically respectful practices intheir personal lives;
- Encourage members of this Committee and of the congregation to assume leadership roles in the larger community in which we live;
- And emphasize these roles as ethical, spiritual and necessary to our individual and collective survival
1 Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth brochure