We are a group of parish members who are deeply concerned about the crisis of our home, planet Earth, and committed to making a difference. We gather to learn more and take action in order to grow as responsible members of the Community of all Life. Creation in all its manifestations is a sacred trust we must honor and reverence.
Resurrection’s Environmental Committee seeks to:
EDUCATE & MOTIVATE
fellow parishioners and our local community to a deeper reverence and respect for God’s creation.
ACT
as a resource for our parish and our local community.
ENGAGE
fellow parishioners and our local community in activities aimed at dealing with environmental problems, particularly as they affect the poor.
Activities
The Environmental Committee focuses on four activities to advance the mission of the program:
Educate Ourselves and our Parish
Leadership Development
Public Policy/Advocacy
Special Projects
Foundation
Our distinctively Catholic foundation lies in Pope John Paul II’s 1990 World Day of Peace message and the U.S. Catholic bishops’ statement, Renewing the Earth, issued in 1991.
Key Affiliations
The Environmental Committee has close ties to the National Religious Partnership for the Environment (NRPE) and the Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light and relies on the partnership to provide resources and support for many of its ongoing initiatives as outlined below.
High School work campers dedicated one of their work camp days to the “caring of God’s creation.” Resurrection’s Environmental Committee members Sally Desavage and John Small explained the importance of our Environmental Committee and some of the committee’s projects. The High School Campers gave a “new” look to our courtyard by weeding and planting flowers, and other campers picked up trash along Old Columbia Pike. There are many simple ways that we all can do our part in caring for God’s creation!
Official Letters and Statements on the Environment
With the guidance of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), the Environmental Committee is active in the public policy arena advocating for environmental policies which protect the poor, promote environmental health and safety, ensure that the right to private property is balanced with the claims of the common good, and promotes sustainable environmental and economic development. Catholic scholars continue to explore the unique and important contributions that our faith tradition can have on environmental questions and environmental ethics.