Our Mission |
The SJN Care for Our Common Home (CCH) Ministry, guided by a
rich tradition of Catholic social teaching, works to bring to life the message of Pope Francis’s encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home, in all relevant aspects of parish life, including worship, faith formation, social ministry, and facilities management. In response to the Church’s moral call for action, we seek to better understand the interconnectedness of all of God’s creation and act in solidarity with vulnerable populations around the world and for future generations. We will share Church teaching on care for creation, strive to reduce our carbon footprint as a parish, and provide resources and encouragement so that all parishioners can live in a more sustainable manner as faithful stewards of creation. |
Our Motivation |
Laudato Si’ touches our hearts as well as our intellects. As Catholics, we feel a moral obligation:
We rely on the Gospels, Church teachings, and the expertise and resources of existing Catholic groups, including the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Catholic Climate Covenant, and the Global Catholic Climate Movement. We are a founding member of the Care for Creation Network of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington. While grounded in Catholic social teaching, we are honored to reach out and join forces with other faith communities in our region that are acting in a similar manner to highlight that creation is a gift from God and deserves our careful stewardship. We collaborate with both Interfaith Power and Light and the Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions. |
Our History |
A small group of parishioners, with roots in the SJN JustFaith program and the Pax Christi ministry, formed the Care for our Common Home ministry in response to the exhortation by Pope Francis in his 2015 Encyclical Laudato Si’. In anticipation of the encyclical, the JustFaith program provided an 8-week study of climate change during the summer of 2015. Once the encyclical was published, the Pax Christi ministry facilitated three monthly parish-wide discussions on Laudato Si’ that were attended by about 25-30 people. In September of 2015, following the Pope’s visit to Washington DC, the parish sponsored an evening discussion featuring a speaker from the Catholic Climate Covenant.
As the message to do something in response to Laudato Si’ resonated, a core group of parishioners approached Fr. Tom Murphy (pastor at the time) about establishing a new ministry. He enthusiastically supported the idea. We researched various types of programs and selected the Creation Care Team model developed by the Catholic Climate Covenant to launch our new ministry. Since February 2016, the CCH Ministry has been meeting monthly to pray, learn, act and advocate in response to the Pope’s moral call to action. |