Granting Funds for Local Projects
With a mission statement that guides us to “equip, empower, connect, and support God’s people as they respond to the sacred calling of creation care,” the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference Creation Care Ministry Team decided in early 2024 that “support” also needed to include funding. We developed a system that enables local churches to apply for grants up to $500 to assist them with projects, such as
- Food security and safety (e.g. installing an in-ground or raised bed garden, distributing food, composting waste, pollinator gardens)
- Ecosystem improvement projects (e.g. restoring streams, transforming lawns with native plants or clover, planting native trees or pollinator gardens, capturing water run-off/rain gardens )
- Energy efficiency projects (e.g. weatherization/caulking, installing LED lighting, upgrading a church appliance)
- Education and community outreach projects (e.g. hosting an event or series including, and not limited to, a community recycling event)
- EarthKeeper projects (e.g. undertaking a local plan)
- EarthKeeper training (e.g. assisting with tuition and associated expenses for a member to become an EarthKeeper)
- Creating or strengthening a Green Team (e.g. 2023 TWK Conference Green Team Formation Resolution included four areas for Green Team action including worship, educational opportunities, practices, and advocacy. Practice, for example, could include initiating or enhancing recycling at a local church)
- Other (e.g. proposing new and creative ideas)
In the two years of availability eight congregations have received funding for upgrading the lighting in the sanctuary or fellowship hall, ditching plastic—switching to eco-friendly cutlery, creating a children’s butterfly and pollinator garden.
On the TWK Creation Care website are instructions, a sample application, and the application forms, as well as information about what to expect once the application is submitted. Other conferences are welcome to use our experience and plan as a model.
Rev. Ann Cover and Rev. Gregory Waldrop co-chair the Ministry Team.
Training for Next Steps
In November of 2024 the first Ohio Episcopal Area Green Church Movement (GCM) Training was held, helping local churches take steps to better care for God’s creation in their congregations and communities. In 2025, three additional GCM Trainings were held in Columbus, Ashland, and online. A total of 47 churches attended the trainings from both East and West Ohio Annual Conferences, typically with a team of two or three people from each church.
During the trainings, churches were encouraged to start or expand a Green Team—a group of church members and staff who work toward green solutions that make sense for their particular congregation. Churches that have attended the trainings have dreamed about adding native pollinator plants, instituting recycling and composting programs, changing out Styrofoam coffee cups for real mugs, and more.
Green Church Mini Grants provide limited funding for a church’s green project. In order to receive funding, churches must sign the Green Church Pledge and complete a sustainability audit. Each grant supplies $100–$750 for a green project; grant applications typically are available in the fall.
For more information about the Ohio Green Church Movement, see Green Church Movement | West Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church
Bob Downs, West Ohio