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Who are we?
Who are we?
First Presbyterian Church of Grand Haven established an Earth care Commitee in 2016 to address concerns about being an environmentally responsible church. We quickly decided to follow the Presbyterian Mission Agency's program to become certified as an Earth Care Congregation. We have been certified since 2019, meet regularly, and establish yearly goals in the four areas of concern in the Earth Care Pledge:
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Events
These are things that are happening within our Church or community that are related to Earth Care
These are things that are happening within our Church or community that are related to Earth Care
Earth Day Celebration
Earth Day Celebration
The Earth Care Pledge
The Earth Care Pledge
Peace and justice is God’s plan for all creation. The earth and all creation are God’s. God calls us to be careful, humble stewards of this earth, and to protect and restore it for its own sake, and for the future use and enjoyment of the human family. As God offers all people the special gift of peace through Jesus Christ, and through Christ reconciles all to God, we are called to deal justly with one another and the earth.
Our worship and discipleship will celebrate God’s grace and glory in creation and declare that God calls us to cherish, protect and restore this earth.
In education, we will seek learning and teaching opportunities to know and understand the threats to God’s creation and the damage already inflicted. We will encourage and support each other in finding ways of keeping and healing the creation in response to God’s call to earth-keeping, justice and community.
Our facilities will be managed, maintained and upgraded in a manner that respects and cherishes all creation, human and non-human, while meeting equitably the needs of all people. In our buildings and on our grounds we will use energy efficiently, conserve resources, and share what we have in abundance so that God’s holy creation will be sustainable for all life and future generations.
Our outreach will encourage public policy and community involvement that protects and restores the vulnerable and degraded earth as well as oppressed and neglected people. We will be mindful that our personal and collective actions can positively or negatively affect our neighborhood, region, nation and world. We will seek to achieve environmental justice through coalitions and ecumenical partnerships.
Accomplishments
Accomplishments
We work with other committees and organizations within our congregation to promote environmentally sound practices:
Replaced styrofoam cups with ceramic washable cups in coffee hour.
We Offer several adult education activities, including a video series with Katherine Hayhoe, and outside speakers.
We support and participate in the Grand Haven area Earth day celebration and exhibition
We conduct energy audits and suggest improvements to our facilities. Our facilities now use 100% LED lighting.
We have participated in beach cleanups and environmental education at Ottawa county parks.
We have helped plan and decorate for earth care worship services, including environmentally related displays for the post-service fellowship hour.
We have promoted recycling and the use of reusable utensils and containers at church events. We worked with Our local waste disposal contractor to allow the church to recycle materials other than cardboard
We have introduced waste/recycling/composting bins to receive the trash at church events and to make visible our commitment to recycling and composting. We contract with a company called Organicycle to make our composting program efficient and sustainable..
We sponsor an annual harvest table allowing members to share their garden produce
We provided impetus to install a bike rack at church and sponsor an annual eco sunday contest for those who walk, ride their bikes, or car pool to church.
We participate in the Plastics free July movement.
We maintain the Memorial Garden at our church.
We set up and operate a cooling and first aid stations at our annual outdoor worship service.
We help at church events by washing dishes to discourage the use of one time dishes and utensils.
We are looking into native and self-sustainable plantings on the church grounds to replace care intensive garden areas
Anyone wanting to participate on our team or asking for more information should contact us by email at FPGHearthcare@gmail.com
Community resources
Community resources
Here you will find links to earth care resources within our community; places where you can donate, compost, or recycle used equipment, places to volunteer for earth care activities, and places you can learn more about environmental or other earth care concerns
Here you will find links to earth care resources within our community; places where you can donate, compost, or recycle used equipment, places to volunteer for earth care activities, and places you can learn more about environmental or other earth care concerns
First CRC Recycling program
First CRC Recycling program
First Grand Haven Christian Reformed Church embraced environmental projects over two decades ago. You can drop off metal to be recycled at the garage at 1118 Colfax Avenue, Grand Haven. You can also call us at 616-842-6370 to schedule a free pick up of your unwanted metal or electronics that cannot be delivered by car. Our boundaries are: north: Pontaluna Road, south: Lake Michigan Drive, east: M231 until it meets Interstate 96, and west: Lake Michigan.
For more information on this program see their Recycling Web Page
Love in Action resale store
Love in Action resale store
Love in Action Grand haven accepts donations for its resale store. Donated Items go first to those in need, otherwise are sold in the retail store. For more information see their Upscale Retail web page.
For More Information
For More Information
Click on the picture or the labels below the pictures for more information on each of our major focus areas
2026 Goals and Objectives
2026 Goals and Objectives
Worship: Care for God’s creation is an integral part of the message presented to the congregation throughout the year.
Worship: Care for God’s creation is an integral part of the message presented to the congregation throughout the year.
- Promote and participate in an Earth Day worship service
- Schedule and deliver two “Minute For Mission” presentations – One in spring and one in the Autumn
- Recommend, and collaborate with Faith Formation to use an Earth Care themed Lenten devotional this year
- Define and implement an outdoor worship experience this year that is other than a worship service as traditionally defined.
Facilities: The facilities and grounds of FPGH will be tangible examples of the church’s commitment to caring for God’s creation.
Facilities: The facilities and grounds of FPGH will be tangible examples of the church’s commitment to caring for God’s creation.
- Encourage the FPGH Board of Trustees to continue their sustainability and energy efficiency efforts.
- Continue to maintain and enhance the Memorial Garden as a sustainable and natural area
- Develop a long-term, multi-year plan with clear objectives and metrics to further naturalize the church grounds, improve sustainability, and reduce ongoing maintenance needs.
Education: The Earth Care work of FPGH will be noticed and seen by others, encouraging broader participation in caring for the earth
Education: The Earth Care work of FPGH will be noticed and seen by others, encouraging broader participation in caring for the earth
- Redefine and refresh our summer ECO-Sunday and Plastics Free July programs or find new programs we can substitute for one or both of these efforts.
- Support Presbyterians for Earth Care, and make an effort to use or publicize their educational materials
- Revise the FPGH earth care website to provide permanent links to local resources for recycling, composting, and other Earth Care issues. Provide and regularly update dynamic content related to our current Earth Care efforts and programs. Provide publicity for our website in Newsletter articles and Minute for Mission.
- Publish Tiding newsletter articles once per month. Utilize more external materials for these articles (for example Presbyterians for Earth care)
- Formulate updated guidance on Earth friendly behaviors for those who use our facilities for events and meetings. Work with Church staff to determine the best way to promulgate these guidelines
Outreach: FPGH will be part of the environmental community making Ottawa county a model for environmental improvement.
Outreach: FPGH will be part of the environmental community making Ottawa county a model for environmental improvement.
- Sponsor and Participate in the community Earth Day celebration.
- Evaluate previous community outreach efforts and strategize ways to be more effective in that outreach in light of low engagement in our past efforts.
- Continue to host a water and cooling station in our facility at the community Coast Guard parade. Make it evident to those visiting what our Earth Care commitments are.
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