Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Green Sanctuary Plans
Green Sanctuary Plans
The Green Sanctuary Committee has been working diligently towards the long-term goal of being accredited by the UU Ministry for Earth as a Green Sanctuary. A Green Sanctuary is a congregation that lives out its commitment to the Earth by creating a sustainable life style for its members as individuals and as a faith community. There are numerous steps along the way. Once of the most important is giving you a chance to get involved!
After consulting with the other committees of FPW, we now have a working draft of the 12 action items that will be our focus going forward. It is now time that we turn to you, the congregation, to ask for your participation to make them a reality.
On March 9, the service will, in part, include a segment outlining our plan and how you can get involved. There are numerous opportunities to work on short or long term projects – whatever will fit your schedule! A general description of each project follows. Take a look, see what peaks your interest and then let us know how you’d like to help!
Worship and Celebration Projects
1. Integrate an on-going program of marking the seasons in our regular church services (e.g., summer solstice)
2. Conduct periodic environmental action services (at least one per year)
Religious Education Projects
3. Develop an Environmental Resource Center for loaning books/films/power monitors/etc., and to serve as a source for answers to questions (ie. Is it better to wash mugs in the dishwasher or use disposable cups? What do I do with my spent batteries?)
4. Hold Environmental Fairs at church and support other educational activities (films, lecture series, Faire on the Square).
5. Sponsor a month-long environmental program for the children’s RE program each year.
Environmental Justice Projects
6. Sponsor clean up programs along the Charles River, starting with a community clean up day, and possibly other pollution reducing initiatives.
7. Provide support and sponsorship for an environmental justice organization (such as Trees for Armenia).
Sustainable Living Projects
8. Sponsor a regular series of Simplicity Circles
9. Work with the town of Watertown, local schools, and local environmental groups to sponsor the Clean Energy Choice program (fundraising to buy a solar electricity system for a school).
10. Define and reduce the Congregation's energy consumption – by sponsoring several initiatives to help the congregation as a whole work toward changing personal energy consumption
11. Define and reduce energy consumption of church itself
12. Define and reduce energy consumption of the bank (on church property), the pre-school (in the church building), and renters who use our space.
If you have any questions, please see one of the committee members: Norah Mulvaney-Day (co-chair), Brian Hebeisen (co-chair), David Morrison, Mike Anctil, Eileen Ryan, Peter Cudhea, Mark Harris, Mark Caggiano, Judi Fitts and Kathy Button.
The Green Sanctuary Committee has been working diligently towards the long-term goal of being accredited by the UU Ministry for Earth as a Green Sanctuary. A Green Sanctuary is a congregation that lives out its commitment to the Earth by creating a sustainable life style for its members as individuals and as a faith community. There are numerous steps along the way. Once of the most important is giving you a chance to get involved!
After consulting with the other committees of FPW, we now have a working draft of the 12 action items that will be our focus going forward. It is now time that we turn to you, the congregation, to ask for your participation to make them a reality.
On March 9, the service will, in part, include a segment outlining our plan and how you can get involved. There are numerous opportunities to work on short or long term projects – whatever will fit your schedule! A general description of each project follows. Take a look, see what peaks your interest and then let us know how you’d like to help!
Worship and Celebration Projects
1. Integrate an on-going program of marking the seasons in our regular church services (e.g., summer solstice)
2. Conduct periodic environmental action services (at least one per year)
Religious Education Projects
3. Develop an Environmental Resource Center for loaning books/films/power monitors/etc., and to serve as a source for answers to questions (ie. Is it better to wash mugs in the dishwasher or use disposable cups? What do I do with my spent batteries?)
4. Hold Environmental Fairs at church and support other educational activities (films, lecture series, Faire on the Square).
5. Sponsor a month-long environmental program for the children’s RE program each year.
Environmental Justice Projects
6. Sponsor clean up programs along the Charles River, starting with a community clean up day, and possibly other pollution reducing initiatives.
7. Provide support and sponsorship for an environmental justice organization (such as Trees for Armenia).
Sustainable Living Projects
8. Sponsor a regular series of Simplicity Circles
9. Work with the town of Watertown, local schools, and local environmental groups to sponsor the Clean Energy Choice program (fundraising to buy a solar electricity system for a school).
10. Define and reduce the Congregation's energy consumption – by sponsoring several initiatives to help the congregation as a whole work toward changing personal energy consumption
11. Define and reduce energy consumption of church itself
12. Define and reduce energy consumption of the bank (on church property), the pre-school (in the church building), and renters who use our space.
If you have any questions, please see one of the committee members: Norah Mulvaney-Day (co-chair), Brian Hebeisen (co-chair), David Morrison, Mike Anctil, Eileen Ryan, Peter Cudhea, Mark Harris, Mark Caggiano, Judi Fitts and Kathy Button.
A Successful MLK Unity Breakfast
A Successful Unity Breakfast for MLK Day
The Rev. Liz Walker, TV journalist, film producer and human rights activist, was the keynote speaker at Watertown’s 8th Annual Unity Breakfast, held on Martin Luther King Day. Rev. Walker, who for twenty years anchored WBZ TV’s evening newscasts, is currently the creator, executive producer and host of Sunday with Liz, a WBZTV newsmagazine show. She is a 2005 graduate from the Harvard Divinity School, and is an ordained minister at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Jamaica Plain.
In the summer of 2001, Liz traveled to war-torn Sudan to investigate the controversial slave trade in southern Sudan. She was so outraged by the human rights atrocities in Sudan that she co-founded “My Sister’s Keeper”, a grass roots program that advocates for women and children through economic and educational initiatives. MSK’s first project is the construction of the Akon School for Girls in southern Sudan. Liz returns to Sudan often, most recently visiting the region of Darfur, where as many as 400 thousand people have been killed and 2 million displaced in the first genocide of the 21st century.
Rev. Walker is also the founder of Liz Walker Journey Productions, an independent non-profit film company that recently completed A Glory from the God, a documentary focused on the crisis in Sudan. By showing the film as part of community forums that invite public conversation, Rev. Walker seeks to increase public awareness about the genocide in Sudan and human rights issues around the world. This year’s Unity Breakfast was a fundraiser for those efforts.
Final report - $4,000 was sent to Liz after the breakfast, and she made an additional $1,000 selling hand made bracelets.
The Rev. Liz Walker, TV journalist, film producer and human rights activist, was the keynote speaker at Watertown’s 8th Annual Unity Breakfast, held on Martin Luther King Day. Rev. Walker, who for twenty years anchored WBZ TV’s evening newscasts, is currently the creator, executive producer and host of Sunday with Liz, a WBZTV newsmagazine show. She is a 2005 graduate from the Harvard Divinity School, and is an ordained minister at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Jamaica Plain.
In the summer of 2001, Liz traveled to war-torn Sudan to investigate the controversial slave trade in southern Sudan. She was so outraged by the human rights atrocities in Sudan that she co-founded “My Sister’s Keeper”, a grass roots program that advocates for women and children through economic and educational initiatives. MSK’s first project is the construction of the Akon School for Girls in southern Sudan. Liz returns to Sudan often, most recently visiting the region of Darfur, where as many as 400 thousand people have been killed and 2 million displaced in the first genocide of the 21st century.
Rev. Walker is also the founder of Liz Walker Journey Productions, an independent non-profit film company that recently completed A Glory from the God, a documentary focused on the crisis in Sudan. By showing the film as part of community forums that invite public conversation, Rev. Walker seeks to increase public awareness about the genocide in Sudan and human rights issues around the world. This year’s Unity Breakfast was a fundraiser for those efforts.
Final report - $4,000 was sent to Liz after the breakfast, and she made an additional $1,000 selling hand made bracelets.