The Green Sanctuary Committee

GREEN SANCTUARY COMMITTEE MEETINGS
3rd Wednesday of the month, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

CONTACT US AT:

greenteam@vistauu.org

Mission Statement

Mission of the Palomar Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Green Sanctuary Committee is to:

• Educate ourselves, our congregation and our community about environmental issues and what changes we can make personally, and as a congregation to address these issues.
• Motivate and generate a commitment from ourselves and our congregation to make earth-friendly choices.
• Provide an example of sustainable practices in our community.
• Build a connection between spiritual practice and environmental consciousness which affirms the earth as sacred.

Goals/Responsibilities/Tasks:

• Encourage and direct PUUF's transformation to a certified Green Sanctuary fellowship and maintain this certification;
• Conduct an environmental audit and create an action plan consisting of activities in the areas of worship and celebration, religious education, environmental justice, and sustainable living;
• Increase awareness of local environmental issues and injustices;
• Encourage and inspire ecological responsibility, sustainability, commitment, and action from individuals, the congregation and the community;
• Assist PUUF set an example of environmental consciousness as a faith community, to live our faith in a way that decreases our impact on the earth, and to make the world a better place.

Membership

Membership is open to all. Youth are welcome. Leadership will be rotational, giving many the opportunity to serve.

Committee Structure 

Coordinator: To be elected from within membership of the team and to serve for one year, July 1st to June 30th. The outgoing coordinator will mentor the incoming coordinator.

Green Sanctuary Committee Position Statement: New Building Project

Because the new building has been delayed, there has been time to rethink the original design. Questions and concerns have been raised about its compliance with developments in sustainable building design and energy conservation. At recent a Executive Board meeting Green Sanctuary Committee members presented a position statement regarding the new building. We offer it here for the purpose of extending the conversation to the entire congregation.

"It is the position of the Green Sanctuary Committee that Palomar Fellowship should build, in accordance with its values and finances, an environmentally sustainable fellowship campus using appropriate new construction guidelines such as those set forth by the US Green Building Council (LEED Silver or better).

"We believe that a truly, demonstrably green building will draw attention to Palomar Fellowship and attract visitors and new members whose values and concerns are in line with ours, and will serve as a model for what is possible in our region. Building an environmentally sustainable building will ultimately help us afford to build and maintain that building.

"Ensuring that the current new building design meets such standards OR designing a new facility that meets such certification standards will incur a financial cost to the fellowship. The Green Sanctuary Committee affirms that avoiding this cost would be damaging to the environment AND would represent a failure of the Fellowship to live its values to 'care for the earth and all life that it sustains.'"

There will be opportunities for group discussions in the near future. Phase I work will not be impacted.

Following is a summary of projects and activities sponsored by the Green Sanctuary Committee
during 2007-08:

Green Sanctuary Assessments

A Household Sustainable Living assessment was included within the Green Sanctuary Sunday service in November 2007 to capture a snapshot of families' current levels of sustainable living.

Committee members split up the various components of the Congregational Audit to interview those PUUF members who are in charge of various functions of the congregation, i.e. buildings and grounds, RE, the kitchen, the office, finance, and Sunday services. We evaluated the results and wrote a summary which was presented at a brainstorming session on May 2, 2007, open to all at PUUF. We invited attendees to make suggestions for possible project themes based on areas the committee had determined were open to growth. Another session for anyone interested was held on Sunday, June 22, between the services.

Communication

Monthly articles about sustainable living ideas were printed in the Telescope.

Worship

The Green Sanctuary Committee led the Sunday worship on November 25, 2007, and participated in the Earth Day service on April 20, 2008.

Religious Education

We facilitated two discussion series from Northwest Earth Institute: "Global Warming: Changing CO2urse," and "Choices for Sustainable Living." We had about 12 participants in the first, and most of them continued on to the second, as well as a few others, about 16 total. There were a number of positive results:

1. Everyone experienced increased awareness of the issues we discussed, especially for a few who had little previous understanding of the concepts, as well as personal commitment to making lifestyle changes. This led to...
2. Enthusiastic support for the Green Sanctuary program.
3. One of the participants came from outside PUUF and has become a central member of the Green Sanctuary Committee.
   

Outings

To add a "fun" dimension and to extend Green Sanctuary participation to families and kids, we offered two outings:

1. Hawk Watch at the Environmental Research Center in Ramona (13 adults and 6 kids) and
2. Whale watching with Captain Joe out of Oceanside Harbor (38 participants, including about 6-8 kids)

These outings were fun and educational and made Green Sanctuary more appealing to everyone. We intend to hold more.

District Assembly

Green Sanctuary Committee members met with Green Sanctuary members from other Cluster congregations prior to the 2008 District Assembly to design a program to raise money for San Diego Food Not Lawns.

Rev. Beth, Rev. Carol, and Peg Crilly designed and facilitated a workshop at DA around the teachings of Joanna Macy.

Committee members

Susan Thayer, Nicole Fish, Peg Crilly, Kathleen Moscato, Marianne Swift-Gifford, Kelley Grimes, Katia Hansen, and Karen Holmgren, who has served as Coordinator and "passed the torch" to Susan Thayer at the end of the 2007-08 fiscal year.