2011 Celebration of St. Francis: Creation Care Sermon Contest

On October 1, 2011, over 100 members and friends of Earth Ministry celebrated the Feast of St. Francis with a celebratory evening of worship featuring a sermon contest at Keystone United Church of Christ.  In this year's contest, four finalists were selected to present their inspired messages calling the Christian community to action on behalf of God's good creation.  Each sermon presented was unique and provided a different perspective on the ways we can be called to care for creation through our faith traditions.  We all appreciated their words and took them to heart.

The winners of this year's sermon contest were selected by the attendees of the event who voted with their dollars.  Two awards were presented, the Franciscan Philanthropist Award, to the contestant whose sermon raised the most money in support of Earth Ministry's work and mission, and the People's Choice Award, to the contestant who received the most number of votes regardless of the amount of money donated. The two winning sermons will be published in the Winter Issue of Earth Letter and all four sermons can be read by clicking on the links below. You can also watch videos of the sermon from St. Francis by clicking on the links.

Congratulations to

Rev. Stephanie Johnson,
winner of the Franciscan Philanthropist Award,

and

Dr. Gilson Waldkoenig,
winner of the People's Choice Award! 

Abundance* by Rev. Stephanie Johnson, New Haven, CT *Winner of the Franciscan Philanthropist Award

Margins and Hope* by Dr. Gil Waldkoenig, Gettysburg *Winner of the People's Choice Award

Changing Forms of Light by William Scarvie, Bainbridge Island, WA

Did Francis Have a Weed Whacker? by Rev. Paul Graves, Sandpoint, ID

Thank you to each of our participants for sharing your insightful and thought-provoking creation care sermons!

We were blessed that all four of them could join us to honor the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi. And many thanks to all who entered the contest this year.  The judges had a difficult time narrowing their choices to just four finalists and the final votes were very close as the audience determined the winners.

In addition to the sermon contest, pianist Jim Fisher provided beautiful creation-themed music for the evening and forty-four Greening Congregations were recognized and blessed in their good work. 

While the votes were being tallied from the sermon contest, those gathered viewed the touching film, "Sacred Earth," which is available for check-out through Earth Ministry's resource library.

Thanks to all who attended and supported Earth Ministry. We raised over $3000 in support of religious environmental stewardship!