Presbyterians for Earth Care - Webinar Next Week - Beat the Heat! Plus Environmental Voting

WEBINAR NEXT WEEK! COOL CHURCHES, COOL PRESBYTERIANS How much do selective building materials, roof colors, awnings, and other temperature-reducing measures make a difference in saving energy and money when cooling built structures? Join us for a discussion about the summer HEAT and how to reduce the temperature at our church buildings and our homes through our choices.   Webinar Date: Monday, August 26, 2024 Time: 7:30 pm EDT (6:30 CDT, 5:30 MDT, 4:30 PDT) Presenter: Linda K. Smith, Director of Sustainability for Central Arkansas Water (retired) and former Community Director of U.S. Green Building Council Linda K. Smith is a “mostly retired” chemical engineer with a passion for pragmatic environmental action.  Over her 40 year engineering career, she has worked for the world’s largest petroleum company, regional water utilities, and nonprofit environmental agencies.  She graduated in 1984 from the University of Arkansas with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and spent 15 years working in the petroleum industry in technical sales and engineering support with accounts in the Midsouth region.  Following early retirement, she spent three years in nonprofit leadership roles with two different local nonprofits. Beginning in 2009, her career focused on energy efficiency and climate action planning.  From 2009-2020, she worked as the Community Director for the U.S. Green Building Council for four states in the South-Central Region promoting LEED sustainable design and construction.   In 2021, she was named the Director of Sustainability for Central Arkansas Water focusing on development and implementation of the Net Zero Carbon 2050 Climate Action Plan for 500,000 drinking water customers surrounding Little Rock.   She “mostly” retired in the spring of 2024 but stays involved as a consultant to Metroplan for the implementation of a $49M EPA Climate Protection Grant. Linda is a member of the Little Rock Parks and Recreation Commission, an ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) , and a Board member of Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center.  Linda is married to David H. Smith, has two adult sons, and two beautiful grandchildren.  She enjoys hiking, biking and kayaking.

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Make your Earth Care Voice Heard! Everyone is needed to speak up for the environment.   Presbyterians for Earth Care will be sharing voting resources over the next couple of months leading up to the election. To get started, be sure to check out the Environmental Voter Project which helps to identify non-voting environmentalists and convert them into a critical mass of consistent voters who will make a real difference.  You can also check out the recording and resources from a recent webinar hosted by PEC and co-hosted by Blessed Tomorrow, featuring several well-recognized presenters, Climate on the Ballot.  Finally, PEC will be emailing out a survey in the coming weeks to help us determine what kinds of resources we could better provide to help you and others when it comes to prioritizing earth care through our vote. Go out and Vote in November!

SEPTEMBER WEBINAR! EDIBLE LANDSCAPES & CLIMATE RESILIENT COMMUNITIES The presentation will cover the benefits of trees to building climate resilient communities in historically marginalized areas, the value of fruit-bearing trees, integrating edible plants into a landscape, regenerative agriculture practices in small urban spaces, and sharing fresh local food with populations facing food insecurity. Webinar Date: Wednesday, September 25, 2024 Time: 7:30 pm EDT (6:30 CDT, 5:30 MDT, 4:30 PDT) Presenters: The Rev. Dr. Shelly Barrick Parsons, Exec. Director of Capital Trees and Scharmel Roussel, Exec. Director of Arkansas Interfaith Power & Light Shelly Barrick Parsons serves as the Executive Director of the non-profit Capital Trees in Richmond, Virginia, building a greener and more livable city through increasing public landscapes and tree canopy, sustainable management of completed projects, and community engagement and education.  She holds a Ph.D., M.A. in Christian Education, and M. Div. from Union Theological Seminary.  Shelly spent many years serving in pastoral roles and in non-profit leadership.  She has earned Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional Level 1 certification. Scharmel Roussel serves on the national steering committee for Presbyterians for Earth Care and as executive director of Ark. Interfaith Power and Light. She serves as a ruling elder at First Presbyterian Church in Conway, Arkansas. She is co-chair of Ark. Citizens First Congress. She is the 2024 Ark. Peace Activist of the Year (Ark. Coalition for Peace and Justice). Ark. IPL has been awarded several environmental justice grants related to regenerative agriculture from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA), Natural Resource Conservation Services (NRCS), and Climate Reality. A current “Grow More Food Where People Live” grant supports community gardens producing fruits and vegetables going to food distribution efforts in low-wealth areas; the grant trains a multitude of urban farmers, student interns, and volunteers on the benefits of earth-friendly agriculture methods that conserve water and protect soil health. For Ark. IPL, sustainable food systems are related to reducing human impact on the planet and ultimately increasing food security.

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We’re Hiring! Presbyterians for Earth Care is looking for a part-time Conference Organizer to help us plan our next national conference (Fall 2025).  If you have event planning experience and the time to devote to putting together the event, along with our Planning Team, we’d love to hear from you! CLICK HERE for the job description and compensation details!  Submit your resume to pec@presbyearthcare.org.  Please email us with any questions!

God’s Green Resourceful Earth: Africa Inland Church - Kisumu, Kenya God's Green Resourceful Earth is an earth care partnership formed with Africa Inland Church in Kenya by The Rev. Dr. Trisha Tull and Bishop Tom Ochuka.  CLICK HERE to learn more about the partnership, its accomplishments, and how you can help. A group of 6 people will be visiting GGRE in Kisumu, Kenya in September, including PEC Treasurer Jo Randolph, PEC Coordinator Mindy Hidenfelter, and PEC members Trisha Tull and Rick Randolph.  Keep an eye out for more updates on the PEC website, social media, and blog!

How can we help you care for God’s creation?  Drop us an email and let us know at presbyearthcare@gmail.com Help us grow! Please let us know if there is anyone we should add to our list!  Just reply to this email.  Thank you! Please help us to continue to assist individuals and churches in creation care work by donating to PEC through our website by CLICKING HERE.  Thank you!

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