MCCN Shared Practices
Every six months, MCCN selects worthy projects we are aware of and encourages widespread participation. We hope your church will engage with at least one of these and make it a special focus during the Season of Creation in September.
Intercessory Prayer for the Climate
Join people from multiple continents in praying for the wisdom and the political will to reduce carbon emissions. This push is in preparation for COP 26 (the United Nation's 2021 Climate Change Conference) , scheduled for November 1 to 12 in Glasgow, Scotland. Climate Intercessors and Pray and Fast for the Climate offer two different ways to pray and a wealth of resources. The former organizes online periods of prayer across time zones. The latter calls for prayer and fasting on the first of every month. Thanks to Juliana Morillo of Bogata, Colombia, who introduced us to Climate Intercessors.
Address the Barriers that Keep you from Biking
You may have good intentions to use pedal power whenever you can, but it's easy to backslide. What can you do to get back in the saddle? Some people may need to learn basic bike repair; others may need to find the best way to transport groceries or other objects on their bikes. Others may need to advocate for bike lanes in their city or would benefit from the social support of a contest or incentive program. See biking resources
Interested in trying out an eBike for free? Local Motion is coming to a location near you soon with eBike lending library! Make your reservation today for 1hr of demoing 1 or 2 different eBikes at Hartland, Woodstock, or New London locations.
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LOOKING AHEAD
- WILD CHURCH Second Sundays 4pm Meadow View Farm, home of the Wolfe pack
- FAST FOR THE CLIMATE MCCN's shared practice for the rest of 2021 is to pray for the United Nations Climate Talks, (COP26) in early November. Two ways to join others around the globe are described here. One is a monthly fast. The next dates for fasting are October 1 and November 1. If fasting in the traditional sense (abstaining from food) is not possible, perhaps you want to consider fasting in a different way (remember back to our Lenten Fast for the Earth). You could not drive those days, not generate trash, refrain from purchasing anything, fast from technology or any number of fasts that would decrease consumption and ease the burden on Earth.
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OIKOS
Greek for "home" or "household"
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Meet a TCMF Permaculture Garden plant: Monarda
In the mint family, this native bee balm was loved by local Taftsville bees this summer! This photo from an early August evening shows bumble bees bedding down for the night underneath the Monarda leaves. The gardens at church have become oikos/home for many. We are in some small way fulfilling the call to steward His garden and enact reconciliation. Fun fact: Bee balm is a natural source of the antiseptic compound thymol, the primary active ingredient in some modern commercial mouthwash formulas
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Quarterly Update
SOLAR GENERATION
@ TCMF
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MARCH
APRIL
MAY
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This Quarter
Generated: 4,343 kWh
Used: 1,337 kWh
Donated: 3,006 kWh
Estimated Value to BBC: $700
Estimated Value to TCMF: $252
Total Value for Quarter: $952
Grand Total
Generated: 49,883 kWh
Used: 21,468 kWh (20,021 kWh from Solar, 1,447 kWh from the grid)
Donated: 29,862 kWh
Estimated Value to BBC: $8,173
Estimated Value to TCMF: $4,045
Total Value: $12,218
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MEMBER SPOTLIGHT - Bob Rosenberger
photo taken by Bob of an area he cleared for the view
Q: What is something you love about creation?
A: I like spending time in the forest, fields along small streams, walking over mountain trails, seeing various animals in their habitat.
Q: What is something you do to care for creation?
A: I clear trails, make new ones, open areas for views thru the trees, keep trails mowed and brush cut.
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KIDS CARE CORNER
Give Gratitude! What are you thankful for? Pick a person, a place, and a thing. Say a special prayer for each of one those. Think about a way you can show love to your special person, place and thing. God created each one of them and loves them too
GO QUESTING this fall! (for all ages!)
Interested in discovering a new place? Questing is a place-based education model of creating and exchanging treasure hunts in order to collect and share your community’s distinct natural and cultural heritage — your special places and stories. Follow the clues to the treasure box. Inside the treasure box, you will discover more information about the site, a rubber stamp, stamp pad, a sign-in field journal, and a pencil. Sign your name in the book, adding a few notes or a sketch from your walk, and collect an impression of the stamp as a memento of your journey. Then, carefully re-hide the box exactly where you found it. There are many VALLEY QUESTS you can CHECK OUT HERE! There is a special Guided Quest happening on October 23rd from 10-noon at Marsh-Billings National Park in Woodstock.
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DO JUST ONE THING
Check out this graphic from MCCN. Contemplate, where do you see opportunity, sense energy for us to focus as a church? There is a second page online that follows this graphic with more details if you want to read more.
Let the new Green Team know your ideas!
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NEW! the TCMF Green Team
Laura Beidler
Steve McCloskey
Heather Wolfe
This is a voluntary team for those interested in helping to guide our church's involvement in creation care. We will plan to meet quarterly and connect informally between meetings on an as needed basis. There were 2 signup slots on the church slate of volunteers but that can expand if there is more interest!
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A NOTE FROM STEVE
In the final week of August, I went swimming in a nearby lake on a hot day; it was not entirely planned, but I had a free window of time open up. While I expected the water to be refreshing, it felt a little too cold at first. I had to adjust. But soon I was on the water, floating, doing back floats, etc.
I was reminded of the different ways water can be seen: it can be scary and unknown. But the very thing that you can drown in also be the thing that keeps you floating. You can relax, and drift on top of the unknown.
In our lives right now, almost all of us are facing the unknown. Each of us faces unexpected challenges.
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I invite us, in light of these unknowns, to find the peace of mind to overcome fear and to float on top of the water (maybe even walk on the water?).
I have found moments of reassurance that I am not alone in the water:
“When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.”
-Isaiah 43:2
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EXPLORE MORE
Wild Church Network
https://www.wildchurchnetwork.com/
Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions
https://sustainableclimatesolutions.org/
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CONTACT US
Have ideas, stories, resources you'd like to share related to creation care?
Contact Heather Wolfe,
Taftsville Chapel's creation care liaison
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