Care For Creation

St. Francis Pledge: “I pledge to pray, live and advocate Laudato Si.”

Care for Creation Ministry

To answer Pope Francis’ call, the Care for Creation Ministry meets regularly to facilitate individual parishioners and the parish as a whole in living more in harmony with creation. We work with the interfaith community on local issues and on speaking in a unified voice calling for political leadership on this urgent issue.

If you would like to become a part of this ministry group or if you have questions, contact the ministry leader, Pam James, at stfccreation@gmail.com. We are also a member of Interfaith Creation Care of the Triangle, an interfaith effort to care for creation and address climate change.

Why We Care

Read Pope Francis’ encyclical letter – “Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home”.
View an explanation of Climate Change from Dr. Phil Sakimoto.
Read Pope Francis’ follow-up encyclical letter to Laudato Si’ – “Laudate Deum: To all People of Good Will on the Climate Crisis”.

What You Can Do with Us

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Ministry: support a local farmer who provides subscribers with fresh, sustainably produced, organic veggies.
Francis Community Garden: volunteer to help plant, nurture, gather, and donate organic food right on St. Francis’ campus for Interfaith Food Shuttle on Saturdays.

What You Can Do on Your Own

Check out “52 Easy Things and 52 Hard Things” you can do to better our planet!
Check out our Zero/Low Waste Shopping Sheet, a list of trusted shops and products of sustainable brands that positively impact our planet.
Build your own nest box! Did you know we have installed 12 Brown-Headed Nuthatch boxes around our campus?
Take part in our Reflective Tour around the St. Francis Campus.

Future Possibilities for our Ministry

Care for Creation is always looking for new initiatives we can take on to better the world we live in, promoting a healthy environment for all. If you are interested in helping the ministry with any of these initiatives below, reach out to us at stfccreation@gmail.com.

Respond to the Food Deserts of our city with transportation or food delivery services.
Collect and distribute left-over food from stores.
Re-establish the Care Givers Ministry (?)
Host formation events to education parishioners on a number of topics, such as solar energy, SEER ratings, Energy Star, and more.
Off-set the parish carbon footprint.
Eliminate disposable water bottles on campus.
Work on Parish-wide recycling
Work on Parish-wide composting

Other Local Organizations Sharing our Mission

Life around the Table – A local ecumenical organization focused on food and faith. They offer a wonderful conversation resource titled “Eating Together Faithfully” that explores food systems from a Christian perspective.

Sound Rivers – An organization focused on monitoring and protecting the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico Rivers here in North Carolina.

Solar CrowdSource – A community organization with a mission to reduce the cost of solar and make clean, sustainable energy available to all.

Interfaith Creation Care of the Triangle – Founded by 20 faith communities, this coalition works to support communities through education, advocacy, faith & worship, and earth friendly practices.

We Plant it Forward – Provides a hands-on approach to environment education, preserving and restoring the natural environment through community engagement.

Articles & Resource Sites