wfn.org | H2Oly Water Events June 25-6, 28, On Chesapeake Bay Protection

["Carol Fouke" <cfouke@ncccusa.org>]

Media Coverage Advisory/For Immediate Release
Faith Works to Save the Bay:
"H2oly Water" Training Events Focus on Protecting the Chesapeake
 
June 23, 2004, WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In response to the growing environmental
threat on the Chesapeake Bay, the National Council of Churches USA, in
partnership with local faith-based organizations, has organized a training
event in Annapolis, Md., to help local church leaders learn how they can help
safeguard precious Bay water resources. 

On Friday, June 25, a reception at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's
LEED-certified green building will kick off the Annapolis event and include a
tour of this state-of-the-art facility and a screening of the movie
"Thirst!," a documentary about water privatization.

Clergy and lay leaders from around the Baltimore-Washington area will attend
"H20ly Water: Source of Life," a full-day program at Calvary United Methodist
Church on College Creek on Saturday, June 26. The program will begin at 9
a.m. and include basic information about the Chesapeake Bay and how to
motivate and inspire congregations to take action. 

The training, which is based upon a theological framework for understanding
the importance of preserving water resources, includes lunch, workshops,
hands-on demonstration projects, fellowship and a worship service. 
 
In addition, on Monday, June 28, there will be a clergy training on an
historic Skipjack sailboat so that clergy have an opportunity to learn about
the Chesapeake Bay from both a scientific and theological perspective.
Featured instructors include Rev. David Radcliffe from the New Community
Project and Dr. Matt Baker, a scientist from the Smithsonian Environmental
Research Center. 

"As members of the Christian community we are called to protect God's gift of
water," said Cassandra Carmichael, NCC's Director of Eco-Justice Programs,
Washington, D.C. "These training events will help empower clergy and lay
leaders to heed this call to preserve and protect the Chesapeake and its
waterways."

The NCC's focus on water grew out of a survey conducted in 2003 at NCC's
bi-annual Eco-Justice Conference in Seattle, Washington. Overwhelmingly, at a
ratio of 2:1, participants in the Seattle conference said the most important
environmental issue for them - and the one that resonates the most within
their congregations - is water. The training events were developed to respond
to this congregational need.

There will be on-site registration. Media coverage welcome; registration fees
waived. For more information about training events or how to register,
contact Cassandra Carmichael at cassandra@toad.net, 443-822-3720.

-end-

Media contact: Leslie Tune, 202-544-2350 x 11; ltune@ncccusa.org
<mailto:ltune@ncccusa.org>