NEXT MEETING; SUNDAY MARCH 2, 2008, Noon in Plymouth Room

Minutes: Caring for Creation Meeting 2/3/08, Compiled by Leslie Reindl

Present: Ed Dykhuizen, Morgan Holcomb, Jan Johnson, Jane Livingston, Pam Newsome, Pat & Bob Penshorn, Julian Sellers, Jerry Storck, Leslie Reindl, Rolf Westgard, Paula Fischer

1. We welcomed a new member, Rolf Westgard, and introduced ourselves. Rolf introduced himself as being a member of the Geological Society of America and of the American Association of Petroleum geologists. He passed out copies of articles he wrote, to show his interests.

2. April Lunch and Learn on Climcate Change. At our January meeting we discussed incorporating the video we bought from Christians for the Mountains about mountaintop removal in the Appalachians to get coal. Julian also researched the pro’s and con’s of carbon offset trading; Judy was to provide a recommended Internet site for determining one’s personal carbon footprint. We discussed this program at length, and in light of our new member, who is knowledgeable about energy issues, we came up with a program entitled “Global Warming--How Good Are theAnswers?,” i.e., instead of looking at the confirming data about global warming look instead at what is being proposed to address it (aggressive conservation, carbon taxes, carbon trading, nuclear, biofuel, wind, etc.). Rolf will do the program, and will prepare handouts for it, which he will pass through the committee beforehand.

Julian’s research: Dozens of organizations sell offsets, with all kinds of projects financed. No way of judging these projects. Julian suggests basing our thinking on Environmental Defense’s research and its recommendations of four organizations, with criteria it used to judge proposals. Next meeting we should decide on a recommendation for the congregation.

We will do something with the Presbyterian overture on carbon neutrality, not decidced what. Recommendations may come out of New Presbytery committee on environment, which is having a meeting on Saturday, Feb. 16, and hopes members of our committee will attend. See announcement at bottom and website to visit for info about the meeting.

3. April Earth Day. This will be Sunday, April 20. Theme suggested by Rolf is “soil,” which we all liked. We have been considering suggesting vermiculture as an activity by the pre-school, and this activity would exemplify the importance of good soil, its preservation, its building for the future. (After the meeting Julian sent an e-mail noting the destruction to the forests caused by the foraging of non-native earthworms and suggested we not pursue vermiculture. Leslie will do further research on this.) Someone in creating soil.

4. Water and bottled water. No action on this.

5. Shopping bags. Pat brought along 3-4 beautiful bags acquired from different places, as examples. Leslie advertised in the bulletin that bags would be available on our table, John misinterpreted and said available that particular Sunday, which they were not. We had one interested party, who also thought bags with the church name on them was a very good idea. Bags to be explored further.

6. Flowers in church. Morgan did some investigation but had no particular report. She asked permission to call and ask about the flower source the church uses and suggested we try to find an organic flower grower. This is still to be explored.

7. Bulletin board, table space. We now have both of these in the social Hall, at the south-west corner. committee members should keep their eyes open for interesting info to post on the bulletin board or place on the table.

8. Other. Ed works with websites and will look into creating an independent website for our committee. He will need suggestions for info to post on it.

Addendum: Leslie spoke to Heidi about Earth Day Sunday and gave her our theme, and she okayed our planning the service. We will have two meetings to flesh this out. Please begin thinking about prayers, hymns, readings.

The Environmental Stewardship Task Force was commissioned to assist the improvement of personal and congregational environmental stewardship. This is an outgrowth of the Book of Order’s call to “use the earth’s resources responsibly” and consume in ways that make available to all people what is sufficient for life” (W-7.5003). The Task Force will be hosting an Environmental Share Fair on Saturday, February 16, 2008, from 9:30 a.m.-12:00 noon, at North Como Presbyterian Church. We are invited to attend, to “eat a little and network a lot”.

I spoke to Carol Rust who started the Task Force this week; she says there will be several speakers and lots of info to share. The Task Force now has a website attached to the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area website, which is at www.ptcaweb.org. Once you get there look for “Committees” and you will find the Task Force. Click there to see the agenda for Saturday, and speakers, etc.