SEND US YOUR STORIES!

Have a good story about how you or your congregation has taken steps to care for the Earth? Send them to drhoads@lstc.edu.

 

"Dan Gapinski knows how to make an entrance. When he was asked to make a presentation in front of colleagues at Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, he walked on stage wearing a 'costume' of 200 plastic bags.

As chairperson of the LSS Green Team, Gapinski knew he had to make an impact in getting across the importance of recycling or reducing use of plastic bags. Though sources and statistics vary, 200 is probably on the low side in estimating the number of plastic bags the average American uses (and discards) each year." [Full story]

 

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SPOTLIGHT ON SMOs

LEEDing by Example in Washington State

 

 

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Student Presentation Ignites Organizational Green Efforts (Pennsylvania)

 

"In high school, Chris Burrell (pictured left) volunteered at Artman Lutheran Home in Ambler, Pennsylvania. He served food to the elderly residents. When he started college at Temple University, he remained connected to Artman while majoring in philosophy and environmental studies.

 

[Full story]

 

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"In Rockford, Illinois, Brad Roos walks to work every day. Moving to a home closer to his office a few years back was part of his plan to reduce his own carbon footprint. But he didn’t stop there. There was one driving condition behind his new home in a structure he helped build: it had to be green.

 

 

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SPOTLIGHT ON SMOs

 

 

 

[Full story]

 

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SPOTLIGHT ON SMOs

"In Hickory, North Carolina, green is the color of choice at one of Lutheran Services for the Aging’s member organizations, Lutheran Home Hickory, Inc. The Maintenance Director there, David King (pictured left), is known as the 'King of Green.'

 

[Full story]

 

 

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SPOTLIGHT ON SMOs
A Virtual Reduction in Energy Use (Massachusetts)

"Most businesses can’t cut out a major part of their digital operation, such as eliminating e-mail, Internet, financial applications, etc. But that doesn’t mean they can’t cut out a majority of their related energy use.

That’s exactly what Lutheran Social Services of New England (LSSNE), based in Massachusetts, did when they implemented a practice known as virtualization." [Full story]

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"Trying to become a greener social ministry organization presented a challenge of simple math for Diakon Lutheran Social Ministries, based out of Allentown, Pennsylvania. With 2,300 employees spanning five ELCA synods and three states—all of whom serving in over 40 different agencies in that region—where does an organization or “green committee” begin in trying to get everyone on the same page?" [Full story]

 

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"Nick Fisher loves food—knowing where food comes from, that is. A senior at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, Nick joined the Luther Gardens summer program because he wanted to learn more about the campus food system.

'I wanted to be a part of the system that gets vegetables from seeds to my plate in the cafeteria,' says Nick, who spent much of this past summer in the dirt. 'I like knowing where my food comes from, and I've seen great things in the dining locations.'

 

Grace Gast (pictured left) agrees, but this Luther sophomore’s interest in community gardens stems from parental influence." [Full story]

 

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Wind Power for Luther College (Iowa)

 

"Luther’s continued efforts to exist sustainably are aimed at decreasing campus consumption and lowering costs for basic campus resources such as water, electricity, and heat. The most notable of these efforts recently has been the wind turbine project.

 

Luther’s plan to purchase and construct a wind turbine has been in the works for quite some time, and the timeline of the project has not always been clear.

 

However, Manager of Trade Services Jay Uthoff says that students can expect to see the turbine under construction by the fall of 2011." [Full story]

 

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Colorado Congregation Opts for Greener Energy System

 

An attempt was made to fix the leaks, which proved temporarily helpful; however, it was a costly solution. As soon as one leak was fixed, another would pop up. This combined with the fact that the sanctuary had no cooling system prompted the property committee and Church Council to investigate other options and building upgrades. The final straw came around Thanksgiving in 2007 when the heating system nearly quit altogether. Shortly after Christmas that year, 80 percent of the church—including the sanctuary—had lost heat..." [Full story]

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"In early 2008, Pastor Brian Brandt and the members of Central Lutheran Church in Portland, Oregon, entered a discernment process. The goal was simple: determine what they as a congregation liked about themselves as well as what they might want to change or areas for growth.

[Full story]

 

 

Read an article on what ELCA social ministry organizations are doing to become greener in the January issue of The Lutheran magazine.

Learn how to foster a greener Christmas from an article on the Living Lutheran Web site: "I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas."

 

 

 

 

In April 2012, an article in Gather magazine highlighting three women leaders in the environmental movement--all connected to Lutherans Restoring Creation--and their unique journeys to help this church become greener.