Tom and Linda Stovall are active members of Bread of Life Presbyterian Church in Dubuque, IA. Tom was a former board member of Iowa Faith & Climate Network and Linda serves on their church’s mission team. After forming a creation care green team at their church several years ago, Tom and Linda have been passionately educating and encouraging their congregation to live more sustainably and care for God’s creation.
“What motivates me is my two little grandchildren,” says Linda. Both Linda and Tom hope to leave a better world for future generations. “As a person of faith, God gave us all of this beautiful stuff and charged us to take care of it,” says Tom. “It’s important that we follow God’s commandment to care for creation.”
Now active for over nine years, the green team at Bread of Life has earned their church recognition as an Earth Care Congregation—a Presbyterian certification where churches take the “Earth Care Pledge” and complete activities in areas of worship, education, facilities and outreach.
“We just became an Earth Care Congregation for the seventh year in a row, and we’re quite proud of that,” Tom says.
Forming a Climate Care Team
In 2017, Linda and Tom attended a green team training session along with a few other members of their congregation. The training session was hosted locally in Dubuque by Iowa Faith & Climate Network. Following the event, the Bread of Life group became inspired to start their own green team. Tom became the chair and has served in that role since.
With a solid team of about 10 people, they’ve focused their activities around four areas: worship, education, property, and advocacy/outreach, which also supports their certification as an Earth Care Congregation.
Community-Minded Garden
One of the green team’s large-scale projects was establishing a vegetable garden that provides produce to the local food pantry. Linda shared that their church’s mission team helped the garden get started initially with some funding.
Despite the amount of work it takes to keep the community garden operating, they’ve had up to 30 volunteers that help till, plant, weed, harvest, and transport produce to the food pantry. They also have several master gardeners in their congregation who help lead the garden each year.
“People show up whenever the call goes out that we need help,” says Tom. “We are well blessed with that.”
Several weeks ago, Bread of Life held an Earth Day service where the congregation was invited outside to the garden, and their pastor led a special blessing of the soil, the gardeners, and the people who will benefit from what is grown.
“[Pastor Stephanie] is really supportive of our green team and the things we do,” says Tom.
During the service, Linda and another woman gave a children’s sermon about the importance of pollinators and gave out seed packets so the kids could plant their own gardens.
]Mowing to Monarchs Project
Through Dubuque County’s Mowing to Monarch’s program, the Bread of Life green team turned several sections of the church’s campus into prairie areas filled with wildflowers.
“Last summer somebody was working in that area and we found a bee that they thought was [endangered],” says Linda. Soon word got out that their church had found a rusty patched bumblebee in their prairie. “That made people pretty excited,” Linda shares.
Other Creation Care Projects
Over the years, Bread of Life’s green team has implemented a variety of projects and hosted events, including:
- Installing a bike rack on campus to encourage people to ride their bike to church.
- Adding collection areas on campus for batteries and other recyclable materials.
- Hosting a weekly Green Team Tips section in their church bulletin and on social media.
- Adding drinking fountains for filling up reusable water bottles.
- Giving out reusable shopping bags to congregation members.
The team also participates in several local and statewide networks, including Presbyterians for Earth Care and the Iowa Faith & Climate Network. Through these groups they are able to advocate for environmental and climate issues.
“It’s just really neat to be part of that movement,” says Tom. There’s always strength in numbers.”
After several years of working on creation care initiatives, Tom and Linda applied for their church to become an Earth Care Congregation. This certification requires churches to reapply every year, and they’re proud of having this recognition now for seven years in a row.
“Earning that recognition from the Presbyterian Church as an Earth Care Congregation, to me it was very special… that we were able to maintain that year after year by caring for God’s creation.” says Tom.
Climate Care: A Long-Term Approach
Tom and Linda know that it can take years of conversations and advocating for their cause to help others understand the issue and become convinced. It was through this same approach that they were able to convince the property committee—who were very proud of the church’s lush green lawns—to use more environmentally friendly options.
“That took awhile, but we did it,” Linda shares. Now their campus is chemical-free and the landscapers are starting to replace plants and shrubs with native ones. They’ve even added plant identification signs to help educate their congregation about the native varieties.
To help them stay grounded on this marathon approach, they meet annually with the team to set goals for the year. With so many different directions they could take, focusing on three or four at a time ensures that the work doesn’t feel scattered or overwhelming.
What’s Next for Bread of Life
The Bread of Life green team is currently hosting a six-week adult faith formation class about biblical parables and how they relate to caring for God’s creation. They’re using a resource called Growing Faith, which is available from Iowa Faith & Climate Network’s website. They’re excited to have had over 15 people participating in the sessions.
Tom and Linda feel confident that they are educating their congregation and providing practical ways they can care for creation in their daily lives.
They recognize that climate issues can feel overwhelming. When asked about what people can do that will really make a difference, Tom responds with: “… well you do make a difference. Even small things you do, if other people do them as well, it amounts to a whole lot.”
Iowa Faith & Climate Network equips individuals and communities across the state with information, training, and resources to take climate action. Learn more about how you can start an environmental project in your faith community by checking out our Iowa Eco-project Map.
Deborah Douglas is a mission-driven writer and content creator who is passionate about making a difference for people and the planet. Based in Ankeny, IA, she enjoys gardening and spending time in nature with her family.