Mission

The Mission of the EarthSpirit Team is to develop environmental awareness and model personal and institutional stewardship of the natural world.

We are inspired by our spiritual connection with the Earth and our desire to live out our Unitarian Universalist faith in a manner that sustains the planet. We are an ongoing team within the Social Justice Ministry Team of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego and focus our attention on implementing the UU Ministry for Earth's Green Sanctuary Program.

• We actively promote reusing, reducing, and recycling at First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego.
• We seek to conserve and to utilize the resources of our planet in a compassionate and just manner.
• We educate all in ways to be more respectful of the limited resources that are available.

You are invited to join us for our meetings or to get active in some type of environmental activity at the church.

For more information, please contact us.

Approach
In May through July, 2006 the EarthSpirit Team surveyed the current environmentally focused activities at church. It then chose several actions to help the congregation work toward a vision of a sustainable future. Actions focus on religious education, worship, facilities, and personal lifestyles of church members and friends, and once these actions are completed, we hope to be designated a “Green Sanctuary” congregation.

Living Out Our Faith
The seventh principle of our Unitarian Universalist (UU) faith focuses on “respect for the interconnected web of all existence, of which we are a part”, and the Green Sanctuary Program exists to allow UUs to act on this principle. Our church’s mission statement also calls us to be “sustaining of the planet”, and the EarthSpirit Team formed to give us ways to do that. More than ever, environmental problems are becoming life and death issues, calling us to reflect deeply about what it means to be a human being in the world - the very essence of religion. Across the continent people of faith are coming together to care for our precious planet, learning how best to live on this Earth with minimal damage and in a way that promotes justice for all beings, including those who will live here after we are gone. Our team wants our church to be a vital part of that movement.

Church Involvement
While the EarthSpirit Team will lead us through this long-term improvement, we will need the help and blessings of each and every person at First Church! This program will help our congregation live out its commitment to the Earth by creating a sustainable lifestyle for our members as individuals and as a faith community. We'll do this implementing our Action Plan, with the congregation’s assistance . We will share experiences that bring us closer to one another and our precious planet and prepare us to make future choices for our church while caring for the environment.

Vision
We can imagine that as we become more earth-friendly we might have a nature centered campus, active composting, carpooling/walking/bicycling to church activities, more renewable power, recycling and use of recycled and non-toxic products, networking with other religious groups on environmental issues, diverse environmental themes in religious education programs and worship, vegetarian/vegan food options at all events, and construction using green building methods.

Co-Chairs
Co-chairs of the EarthSpirit Team are Marge Wurgel and Bonnie Hough. Contact us for more information or join the team if you want to help us further the EarthSpirit mission.