Care for Creation Timeline
1993
ELCA adopted a Social Statement “Caring for Creation”
- Expresses a call to pursue justice for creation through active participation, solidarity, sufficiency and sustainability, and states the commitments of the ELCA for pursuing wholeness for creation — commitments expressed through individual and community action, worship, learning, moral deliberation and advocacy
- Caring for Creation – Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (elca.org)
2018
EarthKeepers Task Force is formed
- Help Augustana become a Caring for Creation congregation
- Raise issues and facilitating conversations about topics such as recycling, the health of our soil and water sources, sharing our garden’s abundance, chemicals being used for food production, food waste and much more.
- Our logo, a brief overview of what we see in it.
- Symbol: The circle being held up by a hand depicts us as Christians caring for God’s earth. It reminds us of our responsibility to care for everything in/on/of the earth.
- Colors: The colors depict water, plants and the sky. The circular motion of the whole image reminds us that EVERYTHING and EVERYONE is interconnected and constantly undergoing change.
- Bible verse: Reminds us that our earth is a GIFT from GOD. As such, we need to treat it and all who live on it with loving care.
- Font: The font being used places emphasis on the word Earth. This reminds us that we need to “live lightly” as we care for our Earth for generations to come.
Augustana Council signed the Care of Creation Covenant
- We affirm God’s creation in all its glory and beauty. We acknowledge God as the source of all things. We acknowledge Christ as the redeemer of all things. We acknowledge the Spirit as the sustainer of all things. As a result, we strive to respect all of life as sacred. We accept our vocation as Earth-keepers who care for creation. We accept our responsibility to live justly in relation to our fellow human beings in ways that all creatures may mutually thrive together.
- We agree to assess the impact that our activities and the use and maintenance of our property may have upon creation—in such matters as energy and water use, cleaning products, lawn care, paper use, food choices, recycling and waste, and transportation. We will strive to make choices that lessen our negative impact on Earth and that serve to renew and restore Earth community.
2019
- Augustana replaces disposable plates, cups and flatware with compostable materials.
- Augustana “trash” cans replaced with compostable, recyclable, and traditional landfill receptacles.
- Kids Kingdom incorporates activities around Caring for Creation.
2020
- Augustana replaces sanctuary windows/roof and office roof
- 2020: EarthKeepers facilitates research and drafting of solar array proposal
2021
- Church Council signs Memorandum of Agreement with Sundial Energy
- Congregation approves building of solar panel array to provide 75% of our electrical needs
2022
- Solar array goes online
