What do Earthkeeping Circles do? What is Expected of Me? How do I Benefit? Taking the next steps

Are you looking for a faith community that is truly addressing the greatest moral issue of our time -- our continuing destruction of God's creation? A source of hope and support as we confront the suffering of all God's creatures? In Earthkeeping Circles (sometimes called Eco-Church Circles), we offer a ready-made model that calls Christians to look at the world through the eyes of God's creation. At the same time, we are asking you to help create the model.

Great changes in our stewardship of the Earth and the life on it are required if we want to save our global home and avoid vast human misery. These changes must take place at the local level, willingly and creatively, not waiting until they are imposed upon us by an angry and exhausted planet.

We invite you to join this adventure.

What do Earthkeeping Circles do?

The Order of Monthly Gatherings
(Circle gatherings will be outdoors as often as possible)
• Body Prayer
• Reading of Covenant
• Song/Music
• Prayers
• Scripture reading and reflection
• Study and Action*
• Song/Music
• Benediction
• Fellowship

* "Study and Action" includes such things as study of relevant topics, Gospel study, creating rituals, exploring our bioregion (once a month), advocay actions, environmental games, celebrating our children, meditation, and blessing of animals.

What is Expected of Me?

Our Covenant
1. Let us begin by reverencing God's Creation and expressing gratitude for our existence.
2. Earthkeeping Circles meet every month for two hours.
3. We use the weekly Bible readings as set out in the 3-year Lectionary and read them with an eye towards environmental interpretation and application.
4. We follow the Christian Seasons of the year, including the last season of Kingdomtide (between Pentecost and Advent), which we re-name "Commonwealth." We liturgically celebrate these Holy Days: Christmas, Epiphany, Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter, Pentecost, and Commonwealth, creating our own rituals when so inspired.
5. Spiritual empowerment of the members is of primary importance so that we can be at full strength for confronting the environmental and social crises.
6. Bioregional exploration is indispensable. In our minds, bioregional designations hold more significance than political entities (such as states and municipalities).
7. We see ourselves deeply engaged in the 3 contemporary revolutionary movements of environmentalism, democracy, and feminism.
8. Our understanding of Jesus Christ involves the healing of all creation.
9. We experience Nature as sacred because of the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit in all of Creation.
10. The many images we use to refer to the Divine include the feminine.
11. As a movement, our relations with other parts of the church universal are friendly and cooperative.
12. We Affirm the Good News: "If we learn to love Earth, we will find labyrinths, gardens, fountains, and precious jewels! A whole new world will open itself to us. We will discover what it means to be truly alive." St Teresa of Avila

How do I Benefit?

God willing, the Earthkeeping community experience will enhance the joy of life as we:
• Express our creativity by designing celebratory rituals.
• Take new rituals home to improve family life.
• Watch our children learn about our relation to God and nature.
• Think through lifestyle and institutional transformation as our society adapts to new solar/hydrogen energy technologies.
• Express compassion for the impoverished.
• Realize that huge corporations need not dominate our lives.
• Participate in the radical transformation of our economic system as it responds to environmental decline and oil depletion.
• Sing good old and new songs.

More information:

For online convenience, you may fill out the contact form. Of course, you may also contact us directly:

NACCE President, Rev Finley Schaef, 87 Stoll Rd, Saugerties NY 12477; tel 914/246-0181, email schaef@ulster.net

Earthkeeping News, Elizabeth Dyson, Editor, PO Box 40011, St Paul MN 55104; tel 651/698-0349, email eudyson@worldnet.att.net