Earth Care at FPGH

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:

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.

June 22 Minute for Mission Resources

Forest management info for Grand Haven is difficult to find, as the city is transitioning from reactive to sustaining measures most information can be found here, and at the Sustainabilty Commission site. A video about Grand Haven Forests is on YouTube, and a flier can be found here.

The Grand Haven Area Energy Plan can be found at their website.

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

For More Information

Click on the picture or the labels below the pictures for more information on each of our major focus areas

Current Earth Care Programs

Here is what we are currently promoting or have recently accompished.

June 22 Minute for Mission Resources

Current Earth Care Programs

Following Jesus in a Warming World.

Christians and Climate Change Discussions

Ottawa county parks invasive species cleanup

Eco Sunday Challenge

Reworking the Memorial garden with the help of the Boy Scouts

Plastics free July display

2025 Goals and Objectives

Following Jesus in a Warming World.

A Presentation by the Author of this book

Christians and Climate Change Discussions

Videos by Katherine Hayhoe and Small Group Discussions.

Ottawa county parks invasive species cleanup

Eco Sunday Challenge

The Earth Care team is sponsors Eco Sunday starting on June 5 and running for four months

For the second year in a row, we are encouraging you to ride your bike, walk, or car-pool to church each Sunday this summer. Each time you use one of these methods to get to church, you may enter your name in a drawing at the station that will be set up in the Gathering Area.

Winners and prizes will be awarded on the 4th Sunday of each month. Prizes for the contest are being donated.

Each month we will feature an article on the benefits of walking, riding bikes and car pooling. Follow this link to read an interesting article on the benefits of biking on carbon emissions.