In May 2005, the UUCD embarked on the important and daunting task of becoming a Green Sanctuary: a church whose members truly live with “respect for the interdependent web of which we are a part.” We recognized that Earth’s systems are in peril from human activities, and that as people of faith, we face a moral and spiritual crisis of the utmost importance. If, as Rev. Michael Dowd suggests, we are the living manifestations of the stardust formed at the beginning of the universe, we have a “cosmic loyalty” or duty not only to minimize our negative impacts on other manifestations, but also to open the minds and hearts of as many people as we can to this profound insight. Thus, our goal was and is to learn to live in harmony with nature by focusing on theological, spiritual, and ethical aspects of human activities that affect the health and sustainability of our living Earth, and then to make changes in our lives to bring our church and ourselves closer to the goal of sustainability.

In order to become a Green Sanctuary, the church was required to form an on-going oversight committee, do an extensive audit of the church’s buildings, grounds, and practices, and develop twelve projects including the subject areas of worship, religious education, sustainability and eco-justice. All members of the congregation had to be involved in one or more projects and the church had to reach out to other churches and groups and involve them in an on-going eco-justice project.  Once the qualification requirements of the Green Sanctuary program had been met in November 2006, the UUCD Congregation unanimously approved the following statement regarding our church’s Green Sanctuary efforts:

We understand that the action-plan that we completed was just the beginning of our work to integrate environmental awareness, sustainable practices, and environmental justice into our church community, our personal lives, and our wider communities. We have continued to work on these issues and plan to do so, until Earth herself is once again a healthy Sanctuary for all.