When congregations decide that responding to climate change is part of their mission, the first step is to establish a task force to explore the issue. This committee is often called the “Creation Care Committee” or a “Green Team.”
Green Teams are addressing a complicated issue. With no straightforward, elegant solutions to the global pollution pandemic available, everyone struggles to start. The best approach is to offer a number of programs and initiatives that can run separately or at the same time.
NYIPL offers a few insights and one offer:
- Give the team three years
- Expect a long learning curve.
- When one initiative stalls (and it will), start another program that is sitting in the queue.
- For-profit business contractors do not understand congregational structures. They expect only three phone calls and one presentation before a decision is made. Committees, boards, clergy – these are foreign processes to them.
- SUSTAINABILITY PLAN – NYIPL has a three year toolkit/manual to guide Green Teams through the process. Contact us to arrange a copy.