Events – FPC Conway

Small lifestyle changes help Earth Sustain life

As Christians, we are called to be good stewards of the earth. Many countries now face extreme famine because water sources are depleted, and the reality of climate change is a reminder we can all take steps to conserve water, use less plastic, and consider other ways to be kinder to God’s creation.

Unless this newest touchdown on Mars proves otherwise, Earth is the only planet with the key to sustain life: water. While the spring rains fall generously, the brutal heat of August will remind us that water deserves our respect and attention. That’s why Earth Day should be an every day event. April 22 serves as a reminder that when we each take small steps toward earth care, the cumulative effect of our efforts can quite literally save the world.

Below are a month’s worth of actions to consider for your daily routine. Click on the blue underlined words for a link to more information about that topic. Pick a dozen that best fit your lifestyle, and work on them throughout April. You might find it’s easier than you thought to change the world.

Integrate a simple act of green into your daily routine. Turn off the water while brushing your teeth.
Try a foodprint calculator to find out exactly how your meals impact the planet.
Unsubscribe to catalogs and donate to The Canopy Project to save the trees! For every $1 that is donated, one tree is planted!
Add Ecosia.org as your web browser. In addition to planting trees for accumulated searches, its servers run on 200% renewable energy so every search request removes 1kg of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere!
Plastic pollution can create big problems for human and ecosystem health. Everyday actions, however, can lessen the problem. Learn about simple ways you can act to combat plastic pollution every day.
Enjoy spending time outside? Support the Great Global Cleanup and pick up trash while enjoying your outdoor activities.
Plastic pollution is one of the most important environmental problems that we face today. Calculate your personal plastic consumption, then use our tips to help break
Take a shorter shower and use a water-saving shower head.
Add your voice to the campus climate project and advocate for stronger environmental commitments from your college or university.
Save electricity and turn off lights when you leave the room.
We’ve missed decades worth of opportunities for climate action, too. Now, we’re running out of time for mistakes. Contact your representative and tell them that the health of people and the planet should be the top priority
Most people by now know that single-use plastic grocery bags are going the way of the dinosaurs. Although they are billed for their “convenience,” they are extremely inconvenient for the planet. Pledge to use a reusable grocery bag.
How much do you know about the threats that our oceans and marine creatures that call them home face from plastic pollution? Take our quiz and learn more today.
Change your paper bills to online billing. You’ll be saving trees and the fuel it takes to deliver your bills by truck.
Meal prep is one of the biggest ways in which you can help reduce your foodprint. Check out our Foodprints for the Future campaign to see the many other ways you can get involved to help stop food waste.
Encourage your school or organization to serve more plant-based meal options and to educate students or employees about the impacts of animal agriculture on our food system.
Always read labels! Use environmentally-friendly, non-toxic cleaning products to avoid washing toxic chemicals down the drain!
Buy local food to reduce the distance from farm to fork. Buy straight from the farm, frequent your local farmers’ market, or join a local food co-op.
Reduce your meat consumption to curb carbon emissions from the livestock industry. Learn more about your food’s impact on the environment.
Send a letter or call your local elected leaders, urging them to ban plastic bags and other single-use plastic items.
Help protect pollinators by pledging to go pesticide-free! We need pollinators to ensure the persistence of our crop yields and ensure healthy sustainable ecosystems now and in the future. Sign the pledge to limit the use of harmful pesticides in your garden.
Every action makes a difference to combat plastic pollution. Explore the possibilities and commit to taking the first step to ending plastic pollution.
Buy organic food to keep your body and the environment free of toxic pesticides. Support farmers and companies who use organic ingredients.
Let’s teach our kids how to steward the Earth! Sign the petition calling on governments to take bold action on universal climate and environmental literacy for our school kids.
Use a reusable water bottle to make a big impact on your plastic consumption
How much do you know about clean energy? Test your knowledge by taking our quiz and make small adjustments to reduce your carbon footprint.
Practice sustainable fashion. Donate your old clothes and home goods instead of throwing them out. When you need something, consider buying used items.
Avoid single-use plastic items, and if possible buy products in glass or paper. Glass products are easily reused and paper is a much friendlier product to the environment.
A Billion Acts of Green are happening across the planet. From students in classrooms to organizers in their communities to officials in government there are ways for anyone of any background to make a difference. Add your act of green.
Join EARTHDAY.ORG and thousands of groups around the globe as we stand up for three days of climate action summits from April 20-22. Hear from activists, educators, researchers, musical artists, influencers and more. Mark your calendar and learn more.

As an Earth Care Congregation, FPC stewards finds ways to go green

Job 12:7 “But ask the animals, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you;⁸ ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you.”

In 2012, Betsy Gillaspy-Williams attended an environmental conservation conference in Alaska, and when she returned to Conway, she started looking for ways to put those ideas into action. When she found that PC(USA) had a program, she assembled a team to move our church through the application to become a PC(USA)Earth Care Congregation (ECC). The team’s first step was an audit in the four areas covered: Worship, Education, Facilities, and Outreach. FPC garnered enough points to complete the ECC application, and the next step earned our Session’s affirmation of the Earth Care Pledge.

For the past eight years, FPC’s Green Team has found ways to add more earth care disciplines: Education has included a VBS earth theme and class lessons, and Worship earned points with hymns and sermons on God’s call to steward His world and its creations. FPC has a deep history for caretaking this planet, and when our current property soon became the building that now serves us, past Sessions approved many energy-conscious options during construction. Those concepts continue. From light bulbs to HVAC, the Property committee plan migrates old equipment to include green standards.

Since 2012, FPC outreach through the past eight years has included an Earth Day fair for children and youth with activities, exhibits and take-home projects like flower seeds in a cup. FPC continues to find ways to celebrate in our outreach. The Green Team will host future Earth Day events to encourage children and youth through activities that incorporate ways to be a better friend to the earth. Our youth groups have had camping trips and have participated in activities at Ferncliff, one of 26 certified as a Green Leaf Seal facility. Ferncliff continues to exemplify as well as teach others about God’s creation, our practice to be faithful members of God’s natural world, and our inspiration to do more for environmental justice.

The FPC Green Team includes FPC members dedicated to serve as good stewards of the environment and to protect the Earth and the resources that God has given us at our church, in our homes and in the great outdoors. We are small yet mighty.

An Earth Care Congregation church affirms the Earth Care pledge to integrate environmental practices and thinking into all facets of congregational life including worship, education, facilities and outreach.

Living Last Supper Video Series

Join us for 12 evenings of reverence and reflection as Jesus’s apostles bring you on their journey of service to the King of Kings. Their stories are celebrations of learning about and from Jesus until they learn that one of their own has been conspiring against Him. This year, the “living last supper” will come to you as 12 separate devotions beginning on the evening of March 21^st and ending on Maundy Thursday. This “pre-recorded” re-enactment allows you to witness one apostle each evening and fully reflect on his journey with Jesus that ended abruptly and tragically on a single night over 2000 years ago.

Films debut each evening on this site at 6:00 pm beginning March 21^st and ending on Maundy Thursday (April 1).

The entire production will also be presented on this site and on Conway Corp channel 21 on April 1 at 6:00 pm.