God's Earth Ministry

		Welcome to GOD’S EARTH MINISTRY Sponsored by Immaculate Conception Catholic Church
		G.E.M. is an interfaith group devoted to inspiring all faith communities on the Peninsula to care for the earth God entrusted to us. Founded in January 2009, our group is sponsored by Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. We are now comprised of Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Baptist, Unitarian and Catholic members and are eager to include all faiths on the Peninsula.
		Our concerns are based on science and our faith. Climate change affects us all but hurts the poor the most. The EPA’s website states the following: “Some nations will likely experience more adverse effects than others, while other nations may benefit. Poorer nations are generally more vulnerable to the consequences of global warming. These nations tend to be more dependent on climate-sensitive sectors, such as subsistence agriculture, and may lack the resources to buffer themselves against the changes that global warming may bring.”
		We plan to make the connection between our faith and our role as members of the community of God’s creation. This knowledge will motivate us to cherish, protect and heal creation. By reducing our carbon footprints and having less impact on earth’s limited resources, we will be able to help others do the same. We will champion the fact that science alone cannot fix our problems. Mankind’s respect for creation is the primary solution.
		What we’ve done and are doing

		We opened our first public meeting at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church with Rev. Pat Watkins, a Methodist Minister, walking us through the Bible, showing us how God has entrusted us with our planet, His creation. At that time (January 12, 2009), Rev. Watkins was the Director of Virginia Interfaith Power and Light. Now, in March, 2011 and since sometime in 2009, he is the Executive Director of Caretakers of God’s Creation, a ministry of the United Methodist Church in Richmond, Virginia.
		Sea level rise in Hampton Roads was the topic of our next public meeting. It was held at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Hampton on October 13, 2009 with Skip Stiles, Executive Director of Wetlands Watch and a member of Gov. Kaine’s Commission on Climate Change, giving a talk entitled “Sea Level Rise in Hampton Roads.” This was followed by a panel discussion featuring Joe Stanley, the then-Director of Virginia Interfaith Power and Light, Debbie Blanton, Director of Hampton Clean City Commission, and Patty Von Ohlen of St. Andrews Episcopal Church.
		Our third public meeting, held on February 9, 2010 at Hilton Baptist Church in Newport News featured Dr. Doug Dwoyer, Project Director of Hampton Roads Research Partnership and a retired NASA Associate Center Director for Operations. The title of his speech was “The Impact of Climate Change on Hampton Roads.”
		In September, 2010 we sponsored a table at Hampton Bay Days to educate attendees about rain barrels and recycling and the urgency of taking care of God’s earth.
		In the summer of 2010 we started recycling used athletic shoes taking them to Nike’s Outlet Mall store in Williamsburg for their “Reuse-a-Shoe” program (which turns athletic shoes into athletic surfaces such as courts, tracks, fields or playgrounds). We have a collection box at Immaculate Conception and our members collect shoes at their churches (specifically Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Hilton Baptist Church, Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, St. Mary Star of the Sea, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Peninsula, and Wythe Presbyterian Church). We are ready to expand that recycling effort to other places besides our churches. At this time, March 2011, Nike is in the process of changing their “Reuse-a-Shoe” program and we are awaiting those changes before we expand beyond our G.E.M. churches.
		Since August 2010, we have been collecting plastic caps and tops to be recycled. At first, we were collecting them for an environmental store in Norfolk. Before we were ready to take our caps there, their recycling source stopped and we were referred to Aveda, a company that recycles plastic tops and caps into their products’ containers. We have a collection box at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church and our members collect bottle tops and caps at their churches. G.E.M. members periodically take the caps to Aveda (1000’s of them, so far!) and get them ready for Aveda to put a label on them and mail them to their corporate headquarters.
		In August 2010, we published a Peninsula Recycling Guide and a brochure explaining who we are and what we are trying to accomplish. In September 2010, our website was established.
		We are concerned about the need to improve energy efficiency, plastic bags and plastic bottles contaminating our landfills and our oceans, chemicals polluting our waters and the lack of recycling services to some of our citizens (some churches, apartment and condo dwellers).
		At this moment (in March 2011) we are working hard to get the word out for the Energy Efficiency Stewardship Workshop on April 5, 2011 that Virginia Interfaith Power and Light and God’s Earth Ministry are sponsoring which Immaculate Conception Catholic Church is hosting. Our speakers hail from EPA’s Energy Star Program, Virginia Natural Gas, Green Jobs Alliance and Sustainable Building Solutions.
		We are in the midst of planning to sell water bottles to encourage our church members to use reusable water bottles and to stop using one-use plastic water bottles that are either put into our landfills or, to a lesser extent, recycled. We plan to have the sale in May and are in the midst of establishing the dates and ordering the bottles.
		For Fiscal year 2010-2011, we are focusing on three areas: education, energy efficiency and legislative action. Please use this website to access information that can help you take care of God’s creation. We have also included links to other organizations who are working to stop the progression of global warming and save God’s earth.