From The Interim Pastor:

Earth Day Garden
  It's just after Easter and I think we're starting to see a change in the weather in Bellingham. The tulips are blooming and kayaks are sprouting on the tops of car roof racks. The pop of basketballs on asphalt and the whine of lawnmowers at work mingle in the air as children burrow out of their winter nesting to laugh and play on the swing set outside my window.
 

This seasonal shift in weather delights the senses, but most of us are well aware that beyond our normal weather cycles, greenhouse gases are creating an unwelcome rise in climate temperature. Those greenhouse gases are related to increasing industrialization which adds to air and water pollution and worldwide land "development" which equates to habitat loss and water degradation that threatens animal species and human health. These problems can seem so big, too big for any of us to make any difference, but us church folk have another idea that is even bigger.
We've got faith. We know the power of love is the power of community. We know that every person can make a difference and a lot of little changes put together can create miracles. So I want to proclaim the gospel of change, pronouncing that yes, we can change our habits, change our consumption, change our thinking and change our world.
 

There is a lot of good news about the changes that are possible for us to make. First, most of the earth-friendly changes we can make SAVE US MONEY. That's right. Switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs, insulating our homes against heat loss and buying more fuel efficient vehicles either require less fuel or produce less waste and that means cost savings for us. Second, several earth-friendly habits are GOOD FOR US. Those include buying organic and/or free-range foods, growing our own pesticide-free vegetables and using non-motorized transportation (walking, bicycling) whenever possible.
 

Other changes, larger changes in the ways our world works are more complex or expensive, but that's where faith, love, community and, oh yeah, the power of prayer comes in. For the past several months, Scott and I and several other clergy types have been meeting with a group calling ourselves the Bellingham Multi-Faith Clergy Group. Clergy from Garden Street UMC, Christ the Servant Lutheran Church, First Christian, Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship, Congregation Beth Israel, St. James Presbyterian, First Congregational and First Presbyterian have been planning an Earth Day Celebration that will take place on Sunday, April 22nd at Fairhaven Park at 3:00 p.m. We'll sing and pray and follow our worship with service projects at the park and an optional nature walk. Everyone is invited and all are welcome to participate in whatever aspects of the event call to them.
 

As people of faith, we are continually called to change, to learn, to grow in love. Care for the earth was God's first charge to us and our intentional commitment to tend for our home is holy work. I hope you will join us at Fairhaven Park on Sunday the 22nd and I hope you will continue to call on each other for support, information and guidance for what we can do as a church community to restore wholeness to our "original blessing," our Mother Earth.
 

Rev. Jennifer Yocum