FEBRUARY 2026

"Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth,” as Neko Case sang.

Advent through Epiphany, we collected 36 pounds of dead Christmas lights. This good-hearted Metro Public Works employee received them at the electronic waste recycling area at the Ezell Pike convenience center.

Also, waste reduction measures at the abbreviated diocesan convention were a success! They were also a success in terms of environmental evangelism. Scores of visiting clergy and delegates engaged creation care workers in thoughtful discussion about St. B’s practices of composting, recycling, and utilizing reusable dishes.

St. B’s parishioners have TWO opportunities to be out in the dirt in early March. 

Fri March 6, 9:00-12:00: Head Middle - tree planting with our partner school, sponsored by Root Nashville (with a bonus blood drive 7:45-10:30!). Info and sign up here. Bring gloves!

Sat March 7, anytime from 8am-2pm. It’s our 2nd annual Weed Wrangle event! You can get your hands in the dirt, tell stories about campus grounds as one of our oral historians, or help at the info tent. There will be plenty of snacks. With the help of botanists and local Garden Club members, we’ll remove invasive plants in designated areas around our campus. We will also prep the areas to be replanted with native plants that are more beneficial to the creatures that live in our ecosystem. All training and instructions will be provided that day. Come at any point and stay as long as you’d like. Dress for the weather. Click here to sign up!

Head Middle tree planting: Sign up here.

Weed Wrangle: Click here to sign up!

CC admin tasks: Doable from home (computer/phone) on your flexible schedule, approx. 1-2 hours/week, or as you can. Contact Gretchen.

Waste management: 

Diocesan-wide youth event, March 1, 2-4pm: help youth sort their Easter egg hunt waste. Contact Gretchen.

Take hard-to-recycle materials to collection centers around town. Contact Gretchen.

3 million people and thousands of species of animals depend on clean water from the Cumberland River and its tributaries. The Cumberland River Compact (CRC) promotes the health and enjoyment of waterways in the Cumberland River basin through education, collaboration, and action. The CRC partners with Metro Nashville on the Root Nashville campaign (see “Do One Thing” for more info), to plant 500,000 trees across Davidson County by 2050. St. B’s has a history of collaboration with the CRC and is planning on expanding that in the coming months and years. Chris Hornsby, former parishioner and ongoing friend of the parish, is an integral part of the relationship between St. B’s and the CRC. 

St. Ambrose is a historically Black congregation in Raleigh, NC. Their Environmental Justice ministries started as an effort to remove trash in their majority Black neighborhood, called Walnut Creek. It quickly became a mission to correct decades of environmental racism and oppression. To support their work in the community, their campus hosts a labyrinth, a rain garden, and a healing garden based on therapeutic horticulture. Read more about them here.

Many of us lost trees in the recent storm. When you have bandwidth to think about replanting, check out this guide from Root Nashville, and reach out to them at hello@rootnashville.org to get access to free, native species trees. 

Earthbound Christian: Flourishing Within Limits in the Age of Infinite Growth, by Caleb Cray Haynes

In an age of AI, space capitalism, and unlimited everything, what if the flourishing life we are made for is not “out there” but “down here” on Earth? This is a book about being human on Earth, the Christian faith, society’s fascination with technology, the worship of economic growth, the insights of Indigenous peoples, and US American values. The author, Caleb Haynes, is a Nashvillian, a Nazarene pastor, and a friend of the parish through our A Rocha partnership.

SCRIPTURE

The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. (Ps. 29:5, NIV) - [Contextualized version: “The ice of the LORD breaks the pines; the LORD breaks in pieces the maples, oaks, and hackberries of Nashville.”]

PRAYER

Holy One, you are our comfort and strength in times of sudden disaster, crisis, or chaos. Surround us now with your grace and peace through storm or earthquake, fire or flood. By your Spirit, lift up those who have fallen, sustain those who work to rescue or rebuild, and fill us with the hope of your new creation; through you, our rock and redeemer. (Jesuit Prayer)

Contact the Creation Care Committee Chair Gretchen Abernathy (creationcare@stbs.net); and Fr. Ed Smith, Associate Rector (esmith@stbs.net).

ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH

4800 Belmont Park Terrace, Nashville TN 37215

stbs.net  •   615.377.4750