Care for Creation

Presbytery of Baltimore
CREATION CARE GROUP

Speakers Bureau

The CCTG Speakers Bureau provides local congregations with a resource for engaging, informing, and exciting your members about a wide range of topics related to the Care for Creation.  These people volunteer their time and talents to share their expertise with general audiences, and are experienced public communicators. The topics listed for each speaker are representative, and can be adapted as necessary for any given audience.

 

If you or your congregation are interested in arranging for one of these speakers to give a presentation at your church, please contact the Speakers Bureau coordinator, Bill Blair, or call 410-337-9044.

 

 

Mr. Ed Blacka, First Presbyterian Church of Howard County, is a Master Gardner and Composter, with years of experience and volunteering and talking about environmental matters.  His specialty is composting, and he makes it accessible to everyone!

Topics: Composting Demystified, Backyard Composting, Composting 101, Gee Whiz -- COMPOST!!

Contact:  Ed Blacka  

 

Dr. Bill Blair, Babcock Presbyterian Church, JHU Physics & Astronomy Dept., is an astronomer and science educator who has turned an eye toward our home planet.  Bill knows how to “bring it down to earth.”

Topics:  Global Warming and Climate Change from Scientific and Christian perspectives.

Contact  Bill Blair 

 

Dr. Bill Breakey, Maryland Presbyterian Church, Professor Emeritus; Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Moderator, Chesapeake Covenant Congregations. 

Topics: Stewardship of the Chesapeake Bay, Climate Change and the Food We Eat, Greening your Church.

Contact:  Bill Breakey

  

Ms. Patricia Collins, Maryland Presbyterian Church, past Moderator of Baltimore Presbytery (2003-04), is a Christian Educator who also specializes in God's Creation/Earth Programs, and Program Development in urban congregations in Racial/Ethnic ministry.

Topic: Engaging Children and Youth in the Environment.

Contact:  Patricia Collins  

  

Dr. Ted Durr, Maryland Presbyterian Church, has served 14 congregations in the Baltimore/National Capital area. He is emeritus professor of sociology at University of Baltimore and has taught at College Park and St. Mary's Seminary. He believes that Care for Creation is a 'natural' common cause for people of all faiths, around which they might cooperate.

Topic: The Environment You Never Saw, The Bible You Never Heard, and The Future You Never Imagined.

Contact:  Ted Durr

 

 Ms. Ajax Eastman, Brown Memorial Woodbrook Presbyterian Church, has been involved in conservation and environmental issues for over 30 years and presently serves on the Maryland Agro-Ecology Center and the Maryland State Parks Advisory Commission.                

Topic:  Wildlands, Preserving Maryland's Natural Heritage.

Contact:  Ajax Eastman

 

Dr. George Fisher, Brown Memorial Park Avenue Church, Emeritus Professor of Geology, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, and Adjunct Faculty Member, Ecumenical Institute of Theology, St. Mary’s Seminary and University.

Topics: Caring For Creation – the Biblical Perspective, Ecology and Biblical Theology in Conversation, What Can Churches Say About Environmental Issues?

Contact:  George Fisher  

 

Mr. Steve Johnson, First Presbyterian Church of Annapolis, is a former
management consultant now in the home stretch of writing a book, "Taking
Integrity to Scale: Replacing Chronic Problems with Real Solutions."
Topics:　 Global Warming and Climate Change, Renewable Energy Strategy,
Taking Integrity to Scale.
Contact: Steve Johnson  

Rev. Mary Gaut, Pastor, Maryland Presbyterian Church, Towson, which was recently named a “Great Green Congregation” by the National Council of Churches.  Mary leads this dynamic congregation on an active path toward caring for creation.

Topic:  Biblical Underpinnings for Care of Creation.

Contact:  Mary Gaut

 

Ms. Amy Mussen, Brown Memorial Woodbrook Presbyterian Church, is a sustainability professional with engineering background.  She blogs about her adventures in greening both work and home at http://almgreen.blogspot.com
Topics:  Greening your home in Baltimore, carbon footprint measurement
Contact:  Amy Mussen 

Ms. Angela Smith, Director, Baltimore Food and Faith Project at the JHU Center for a Livable Future, part of the Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Topics:  Environmental sustainability, Social and economic justice issues, and public health issues, especially as they pertain to agriculture, food systems, and food accessibility.

Contact:  Angela Smith

 

 

June 2009 listing.

 

"In the Beginning ...

..God created the heavens and the earth... and God saw that it was very good."

With these words, at the very beginning of our scriptures, the Hebrew story-tellers affirmed the beauty and holiness of the natural world.   We start from there.  [more]

Welcome to our Web

The purpose of this web site is to help individuals and congregations in their ministry of Caring for Creation.  We aim to provide encouragment, information, ideas and resources for use in the wide variety of circumstances that congregations and people encounter in their daily lives.

Resources to Help You

There are many web sites that can help you.  We also have a series of papers on Biblical and other topics related to earth ministry, suggestions of books that will help you develop deeper understanding of creation and creation care, and listings of speakers who are willing to make a presentation at your church and video resources for classes and forums.

Creation Care Ideas for Churches

There are many relatively simple things a church can do to care for creation and help build a more sustainable future.  Many congregations in the Baltimore Presbytery have developed model programs and actions.