Black churches in the DMV are becoming more involved in the work to build awareness in their congregations about the threat of climate change. Congregations are inspired by Biblical principles to be good stewards of the Earth. In celebration of Earth Month, check out how the following churches have engaged in protecting and preserving the environment:
Metropolitan AME Church in Northwest D.C. is a leader within the Smart Surfaces Coalition, a group of organizations from the private and nonprofit sectors that focuses on extreme heat and its devastating impact, primarily in communities that are already most vulnerable. The coalition advocates for land use and building material choices that reduce the heat island effect, which often disproportionately impacts communities that have historically been marginalized and minoritized.
“It is the Black church’s theological responsibility to care for all creation and all humanity,” said Rev. William H. Lamar IV, pastor at Metropolitan AME. “But it is also our vocation, to yell out and emphatic no, when we see communities taken advantage of,”
Rev. Dr. Jon Robinson, Smart Surfaces Senior Program Director with Metropolitan AME Church, said that the congregation is currently spearheading a grant program through the coalition that will help fund climate resilience projects by churches and community organizations around the country.
The following churches are part of Interfaith Power & Light’s (DC.MD.NoVA) network of grassroots groups that are engaged in environmental awareness and climate action:
East Washington Heights Baptist Church in Southeast D.C. and St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Laurel, MD are active in the National Wildlife Federation’s Sacred Grounds program. They have educated their communities about the value of native plants, distributed native plants to their members and neighbors and planted and tended beautiful native plant gardens on their grounds.
Stillmeadow Community Fellowship, a church in Baltimore, serves as a Resiliency Hub and is installing native plants on their property. They have restored 10 acres of wooded forest to create a Peace Park, which is used for environmental education and other climate solutions.
St. Phillips Episcopal Church in Annapolis has also been engaged in climate solutions, planting native plants, creating retention ponds, and using other sustainable solutions to mitigate climate change.
Varick Memorial AME Zion in River Terrace in Northeast D.C. has been working with Washington Interfaith Network to test for gas leaks in their neighborhoods and for pollution in gas-burning kitchens in neighbors’ homes, and advocating for the Healthy Homes Act, which the D.C. Council recently passed.
Kayla Benjamin contributed to this story.