During their first year in
existence, the Appalachian Faith and Ecology Center (AFEC) connected
many people of faith to the current issues impacting the ecological
integrity of Central Appalachia. The volunteer staff, Jackie
Hanrahan and Susan Hedge, set up their office and then headed out into
the community to share their passion.
Susan Hedge visited
congregations in Florida and assisted with three seasonal rituals in
Virginia as part of AFEC's goal of helping churches spiritually connect
to the natural environment. Although AFEC's staff can't visit
every church in the nation, they have teamed up with the Catholic
Diocese of Richmond to make a facilitator's manual --- Habits
of Creation --- available for download as a pdf document from
AFEC's website.
Greening churches is another
focus of AFEC's endeavors. The staff works with churches to
assess their environmental impact and then consider green changes like
brown bag lunches and rain gardens. AFEC's guide to greening
church picnics will be up on their website by the end of the year.
When asked what's next, Susan Hedge explained that she plans to develop
AFEC's first web-based educational program on environmental justice in
2011. Jackie Hanrahan is hard at work planning liturgical
celebrations and conference presentations.
AFEC has been grateful for the help of the Clinch River Educational
Center who served as their fiscal agent in 2010 and will continue to do
so in 2011, but the organization plans to eventually stretch its wings
and grow into a fully self-sufficient group.