Madison Church has been certified by the Presbyterian Church (USA) as an Earth Care Congregation.
The designation is awarded to churches who take an Earth Care Pledge and complete activities and projects in the fields of worship, education, facilities, and outreach.
Located in rural Madison, Virginia, this small congregation has had an active Green Team since 2007. Early projects include offering recycling bins at the church and publishing “Green Tips” for energy and resource conservation in the monthly church newsletter.
As interest in caring for God's creation increased over the years, the Green Team and the Session felt called in 2018 to affirm the Earth Care Pledge to integrate environmental practices and thinking into all facets of church life and to formally apply for certification.
Since then, efforts have become even more intentional.
For this year’s Palm Sunday service the church purchased palms grown and harvested in ways that protect the rain forests. The ecopalms also provide Fair Trade income for the growers and harvesters. Because the minimum order was more than the Madison church needed, the palms were shared with another congregation, thereby helping to educate others.
The church conserves resources through practices such as having double-paned windows and CFL bulbs, performing HVAC checkups twice per year, and decreasing the use of disposable materials.
This summer, the Green Team met with the Madison County administrator and visited a recycling processing center to better understand and coordinate recycling procedures in the county.
All these activities and many more are an outgrowth of the church's mission statement, “Bringing God's Love and Hope to Life”.
Find out how your church can become an Earth Care Congregation at presbyterianmission.org/ministries/environment. The annual application period is January 1 through February 15.
