OCTOBER 2026

Philip Reasor, parishioner and recent environmental science degree graduate of Berry College, helps support ongoing efforts to suppress invasives and restore native plants at St. B’s.

We’ve wrapped up St. B’s first time to participate in the Season of Creation. Here are some of the ways we marked it as a community during Sunday services:

Tree image and descriptive write-up in the bulletin

Added the Creation Collect of the Day, Proper 21, Year A

Creation-themed music (see “What to Listen to” below)

Specific mentions in sermons

Animal blessing - Sunday, Oct 4 at 3:00! 

The Season’s emphasis was “Living Water.” Parishioner Laura Benneyworth has compiled facts about water worldwide, both fascinating and concerning. Read them here.

A Rocha USA recently invited the St. B’s CC ministry to present at the kick-off retreat for the 2026-2027 Churches of Restoration cohort. St. B’s participated in this cohort in 2024 and continues to benefit from the relationships and training it provides.

St. B’s is invited with other A Rocha Churches of Restoration churches to a bird hike and grounds tour at Franklin First United Methodist Church, 8:30-10:30am. The tour includes bird spotting, the “giving garden,” and a geothermal field planted with native grasslands. RSVP to Gretchen by Oct 9.

Urban Green Lab (UGL) hosts the Nashville Sustainability Roundtable: a gathering of professionals in the Nashville area to discuss sustainability in the workplace. It is the only convening of its kind dedicated to guiding companies and organizations to be more sustainable. The October roundtable will be held at St. B’s! From 10:30am-12:00pm, the CC ministry will present about sustainability initiatives in our parish and then lead a campus tour. Parishioners are invited to attend.

Save the date! A group from St. B’s will tour Larkspur Conservation on Sunday, Nov 22. Timeframe: leave St. B’s at 1:00; tour from 2:15-4:15; return to St. B’s around 5:30. More info to come but you can go ahead and sign up here!

Grant writing: looking for people with grant writing experience! contact Gretchen

Weed Wrangle plot: light work to tend the plot cleared of invasive species. Contact Jim Pichert.

Waste management: contact Gretchen

Bussing station at upcoming events 

Help prepare materials for congregational education.

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

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

Keep adding questions about recycling/composting to this live Q&A doc. We have plans for how to harness and share the data eventually!

Tell us what you’re good at fixing, or what broken items you have that need fixing, on our Repair Fair doc. In a future Repair Fair, we’ll match people’s skills and needs to keep usable items out of the landfill!

"Each week as I make my way from the parking lot to the sacristy to vest for our worship services, I pass by our columbarium. A holy and sacred place, the beautiful plants and flowers that sit at the bottom of the niches always catch my eye and give me pause. My favorite flower is the Catharanthus roseus, commonly known as a Madagascar periwinkle, or grave plant. It thrives in hot, dry conditions and often makes a way for itself in places that have difficulty sustaining life. The presence and beauty of this flower reminds me that even in the midst of the most difficult situations we face, even death, there is beauty and life to be found. It is a reminder that life finds a way - which is the hope that we cling to in the resurrection. I am so grateful for this little reminder of God’s incredible work as I prepare myself to lead the people of St. B’s.” —Rev. Heather Daugherty

On Sun Sept 20, during the offertory, the chamber singers presented “For This Joy,” a new arrangement by Susan LaBarr of a 17th-century hymn melody with text by Charles Anthony Silvestri. The piece celebrates the richness, joy, and beauty of creation. Lyrics are here (click “Preview”). Video recording here, at minute 45:42.

On Sun Sept 20, during the offertory, David Madeira presented an original adaptation of “This is my Father’s World.” His lyrics include the first stanza of Maltbie D. Babcock’s 1901 composition; then expand to imagery of mothers and children and to lament for the degradation of what God has made. The song concludes with a call to solidarity to faithfully love this, “our only world.” Video recording here, at minute 56:59.

On Sun Sept 27, the children’s homily choir presented “All Things Bright and Beautiful.” It’s a lovely hymn by the prolific writer Cecil F. Alexander, inspired by Gen 1:31 and the Apostles’ Creed section, “Maker of Heaven and Earth.” Thanks to choirmaster Pam Goodenough for leading the children! Video recording here, at minute 53:45.

“God saw all that God had made, and it was very good.” (Gen 1:31, NIV)

O God, you show your glory throughout your Creation, calling it very good: Grant us the fullness of your blessing, that we, stewarding your garden, may become partakers in your joy; through Jesus Christ the Wisdom of Creation, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. (from Season of Creation A Celebration Guide for Episcopal Parishes)

We'd love to hear from you! 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