Earth Day 2004

Celebrate Earth Day this year with
your friends, family, and Church members!

Earth Day is Sunday, April 22, 2007. The Kentucky Council of Churches invites and encourages all Churches in Kentucky to focus on encouraging better stewardship of God's creation during every worship service and every meeting of each Church's social justice committee. We also request that each congregation and parish in the state set aside April 22 as a time to uplift these concerns even more than usual. Please click here to download materials that will help you celebrate Earth Sunday and then visit the links below to obtain other resources for Earth Stewardship Sunday. Thank you for helping others become more active in in better stewardship of God's creation.

	Need a speaker, a workshop, a class, a video? Click here to learn more about the work of the Kentucky Council of Churches' Program Unit on Local Economies and the Environment, and the Speakers' Bureau and Resources they have to offer any day of the year!
	Please click here to download a booklet that will help you celebrate Earth Sunday in your local congregation.
	The theme for this year's Earth Day Sunday is "The Food that Sustains Us" The National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA provides many resources like Our Daily Bread: Harvesters of Hope and Gardeners of Eden that explore the need to put the Spirit of God back into the life-giving acts of producing and consuming food. The resource acknowledges the brokenness of current policies, practices, and habits, and lifts up opportunities for the redemption of all of creation through more mindful choices. Includes background information, sermon starters, ideas for youth and adult study, suggestions for individual and congregational action, sample liturgies, and a bulletin insert, as well as an opportunity to engage your elected officials concerning the farm bill.
	Kentuckians will join others across the world in celebrating Earth Day on Sunday, April 22. Spearheaded by the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet, a number of state agencies, local governments, businesses and organizations have joined together to celebrate Earth Day in the Commonwealth. Some of these partners have organized environmental activities throughout the month of April while others are providing information and resources on protecting Kentucky's environment. The state government theme for Earth Day this year will be "energy." This is the fourth year in a row for a month-long, organized campaign in celebration of Earth Day. Among activities planned are hikes, special events, college campus programs, environmental award presentations and demonstrations of new, environmentally friendly technology. Visit the state Earth Day Web site at http://www.earthday.ky.gov to learn more about Kentucky's Earth Day celebration.
	The National Catholic Rural Life Conference has additional information at http://www.ncrlc.com/greenribbon.html that can help you expresses solidarity with family farmers, rural communities and the web of creation. A "Green Ribbon" signifies that it is a time for new growth and renewed action to help farm families and rural communities stay viable. Wearing a green ribbon signifies faith in a thriving future. For more information about this green ribbon campaign please visit the National Catholic Rural Life Conference website.
	The "Food, Farms, and the Environment" summit is a top-notch educational forum for impacting the 2007 Farm Bill Friday, February 23, 2007 from 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm at the Mount Saint Joseph Ursuline Retreat Center in Maple Mount, Kentucky. The National Catholic Rural Life Conference will lead the discussion, joined by partner groups Oxfam America, Sierra Club, Community Farm Alliance and Presbyterian Church (U.S.A). This is a "do-not-miss" opportunity to learn about farm commodity, conservation, and nutrition programs within the context of social and economic justice for all. Join with us in our efforts to make fair and equitable farm policies as Congress writes new legislation this year. Will authorization of the Farm Bill maintain the conventional policies of the past? Or can we set a course for more innovative farm, food and environmental policies? How can citizens support sustainable agriculture here at home while also respecting the needs of our global community? This forum will address these questions and offer necessary reforms to federal policy on farms, food and the environment. Speakers include: -- Brother David Andrews, CSC and Robert Gronski of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference; -- Rasa Dawson, Oxfam America; -- Hank Graddy, Sierra Club; -- Kaycie Len Carter and Adam Barr, Community Farm Alliance; -- Fritz Gutwein/Andrew Kang Bartlett, Presbyterian Hunger Program, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for directions visit http://www.msjcenter.org/Directions_to_the_Center.html
	Click here to learn more about the Earth Day Network.
The Air of Injustice	Click here to learn about the disproportionate danger to African Americans caused by power plant pollution.
	Click here to learn more about KY's Environmental Quality Commission.
	At least nine electric cooperatives around the state offer a renewable resource option. Click here to see if yours is one of them, and write a handwritten letter to your power company if it is not one of them! If your electric company does not offer such a product, one of the options available to you in Kentucky is the purchase of Tradable Renewable Energy Certificates (TRCs). Click here to learn more.
	If you are inspired to go beyond Earth Day to learn more about how you can be a good steward of God's Earth here in Kentucky, please take the time to learn more about the efforts and initiatives of the Kentucky Resources Council.