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On April 25-26, Will Masters and I attended the inaugural gathering of the Episcopal Grasslands Network at the Grace Episcopal Cathedral in Topeka, Kansas. It was fantastic and worth the 8 hour drive, to and from.
First the setting. Grace Cathedral is beautiful, as are its grounds - nearly 2 acres including a prairie demonstration garden (soon to become a prairie labyrinth), a vegetable garden, a meditation space and artwork and outdoor chapel that honors the black Episcopal church that used to be two blocks away.
The Episcopal Grasslands Network came out of the national church’s commitment to Creation Care. Last year, the General Convention approved funds to form three eco-regional networks as a way for congregations to support each other and share ideas for how to be better stewards of creation within their ecoregion. The grasslands network is the first of these and includes Province 7 primarily. Representatives attended in person from North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming and ourselves from the Texas Panhandle, and Reverend Rachel Fields from Vermont who is helping to lead a similar network, the Northern Hardwoods of New England. There were also several people from the national office, which, among other things, has developed a tool for mapping church projects across the country - see www.Restor.Eco.
We learned about several ways congregations are using church lands to foster creation care – from a farm (in Vermont) to mini-demonstration gardens for pollinators and native grasses. We’re hopeful that additional funding will be made available to help cultivate programs like these here in our diocese. We invited the Bishop, her team and other Grasslands Network leaders to visit Amarillo and see the ecological work of our community, including the Community Gardens at St. Peters and a nature hike at Wildcat Bluff. We hope to coordinate this with St. Andrews and our friends including Ogallala Commons.
If anyone is interested in following up or just learning more, please feel free to contact maryemeny@gmail.com or will@ogallala.life.
Submitted by Mary Emeny, St. Andrew’s, Amarillo
Read more about the event here.
