Episcopal Life Online Daybook -- Today is Friday, April 20 in Easter.
* Today in Scripture:
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/82457_ENG_HTM.htm * Today in Prayer: Anglican Cycle of Prayer: http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm * Today in History: On this day in 1718, David Brainerd, missionary to New England's Native Americans, was born in Haddam, Connecticut.
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Multimedia: Martha Gardner discusses Earth Day, environmental ministries, Farm Bill
[Episcopal News Service] In keeping with Earth Day April 22, Martha Gardner, consultant for environmental ministries in the Episcopal Church's Office of Peace and Justice Ministries, speaks about how the Episcopal Church and some of its congregations are committed to preserving the environment through green and power-saving initiatives.
Gardner also encourages use of resources provided by the National Council of Churches (NCC) to help congregations engage in the Earth Day Sunday theme. This year's edition, "Our Daily Bread: Harvesters of Hope and Gardeners of Eden," offers background on farm- and food-related issues, with worship resources and study ideas for youth and adults.
The packet also includes information and resources for the "Sow Justice" campaign, Christians working together to advocate for a more just farm and food policy.
A video stream of Gardner's interview is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81231_ENG_HTM.htm.
Further information about the NCC's Eco-Justice program and its resources that include sermon starters, ideas for youth and adult study, suggestions for individual and congregational action, sample liturgies, and a bulletin insert -- is available at http://www.nccecojustice.org.
An earlier Episcopal News Service article is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_84323_ENG_HTM.htm.
The Episcopal Public Policy Network (EPPN) has also recently focused its attention on this year's renewal of the Farm Bill and why advocacy on the bill is so important -- particularly its connection to the Millennium Development Goals and feeding poor and hungry people at home and around the world.
In addition to highlighting the Farm Bill on Earth Day and promoting the NCC resources for congregations, EPPN encourages environmental stewardship through the "Sowing Seeds: Growing a Movement" conference on June 9-12, when thousands of people of faith will gather in Washington, D.C., to launch a renewed movement to end hunger and poverty in the United States and around the world. "The focus of this advocacy based conference will be the Farm Bill and its effects on poverty here in the United States and around the world," an EPPN release states. "Leaders of more than 40 faith traditions and many fabulous speakers will be a part of this spirit-filled event." For more information visit: http://www.bread.org/about-us/national-gathering.
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Catalyst: "Beyond Earth Day: Fulfilling the Promises" from University of Wisconsin Press, by Gaylord Nelson, Forward by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 176 pages, hardcover, c. 2002, $26.95
[Source: University of Wisconsin Press] Gaylord Nelson is known and respected throughout the world as a founding father of the modern environmental movement and creator of one of the most successful and influential public awareness campaigns ever undertaken on behalf of global stewardship: Earth Day.
Now in his eighties, Nelson delivers a timely and urgent message with the same eloquence with which he has articulated the nation's environmental ills through the decades. He details the planet's most critical concerns -- from species and habitat losses to global climate changes and population growth. In outlining his strategy for planetary health, he inspires citizens to reassert the environment as a top priority.
A book for anyone who cares deeply about the environment and wants to know what people can and must do now to save it, Beyond Earth Day is a classic guide by one of the natural world's great defenders.
To order: Episcopal Books and Resources, online at http://www.episcopalbookstore.org or call 800-903-5544.
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