Faith, hope, and sustainability : the greening of US faith communities

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Intro

Contents

List of Illustrations

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Are US Religions Going Green?

Faith Communities and Environmental Sustainability

Religious Environmentalism

The Academic Study of Religion and Ecology

Religious Environmentalism in Practice

A Case-Study Exploration of the Greening of Religion

Key Terminology

Case Selection

Data Collection and Analysis

An Overview of the Chapters

Part I The Greening of Us Faith Communities

Chapter One Genesis and Evolution of Fifteen Sustainability Initiatives Overview of the Faith Communities

Case Cluster I: Faith Communities with Organic Initiatives

1 Trinity Presbyterian Church (TPC*), Harrisonburg, Virginia Membership: 165

2 Madison Christian Community (MCC), Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and United Church of Christ, Middleton, Wisconsin Membership: approximately 400

3 Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation (JRC), Evanston, Illinois Membership: approximately 500 families

875 adults

4 First Parish Church of Newbury (FPN), United Church of Christ, Newbury, Massachusetts Membership: approximately 40 5 Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor (VAA), Ann Arbor, Michigan Membership: approximately 600

6 St. Thomas Aquinas Parish (STA), Palo Alto, California Membership: approximately 1,800 families

Case Cluster II: Green Certified Faith Communities

7 First Universalist Church of Rockland (UUR), Rockland, Maine Membership: approximately 159

8 Trinity Presbyterian Church (TNJ), East Brunswick, New Jersey Membership approx. 425

9 Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple (AET), New Brunswick, New Jersey Membership: approximately 550 families 10 Temple Shalom (TS), Aberdeen, New Jersey Membership: approximately 300 families

Case Cluster III: Monastic Case Sites

11 Congregation of St. Joseph at Nazareth (CJN), Sisters of St. Joseph, Kalamazoo, Michigan Membership: 191 sisters

12 Saint John's Abbey (SJA), Order of St. Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota Membership: 153 monks

13 Villa Maria (VM), Sisters of the Humility of Mary, Villa Maria, Pennsylvania Membership: 158 sisters

14 Holy Wisdom Monastery (HWM), Benedictine Women of Madison, Madison, Wisconsin Membership: 3 sisters 350 lay members (Sunday Assembly attendees)

15 Our Lady of Angels Convent (OLA), Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, Aston, Pennsylvania Membership: 450 sisters

Conclusion: Faith Communities as Stewards of Spirit and Earth

Chapter Two Many Paths to Sustainability: Cross-Case Analysis

Triggers of Initiative Emergence

1 Faith Leader Prompt as Trigger

2 Local Environmental Threat as Trigger

3 Career-Related Trigger

4 Community Discernment Process as Trigger

5 External Opportunity as Trigger

Grassroots Responses

Organizational Leadership Responses