Dear Earth Caretakers,
Hello, members and friends of Presbyterians for Earth Care. My name is Elspeth Cavert and I am serving as the new PEC Coordinator. I’m very glad to be filling this role for Presbyterians for Earth Care and I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself!
I grew up in Minneapolis and was lucky to be able to spend my childhood enjoying Minnesota’s outdoors and developing a love for nature through bike rides along the Mississippi, skiing on city lakes, and taking trips to Lake Superior. I stayed in Minnesota for college, and this past spring I graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul where I majored in Environmental Studies and Political Science. My environmental studies classes led me to view environmental problems as social justice issues that we must commit to solving for the sake of the entire planet’s health and future. In my time at Macalester, I also learned firsthand about the diverse ways that different organizations and individuals are beginning to address these issues. I worked on projects researching air quality improvement, helped to create a college carbon neutrality plan, and taught environmental education classes to kids!
I hoped to continue working on environmental issues after college, so I was very excited when I was accepted into Lutheran Volunteer Corps (a year-long volunteer service program) and placed with the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Programs. My work for the National Council of Churches encompasses both my role as the PEC Coordinator as well as outreach and educational work on a variety of different environmental issues for the Eco-Justice Programs. As Coordinator, I am managing PEC’s website, social media, email accounts, and mailings as well as doing other administrative work.
Though in the past I have mostly worked with secular environmental organizations, I am very excited and passionate about working with people of faith who are speaking out against the destruction of Creation. I’m inspired by the voices of PEC and other faith groups who recognize and describe climate change, pollution and fossil-fuel based energy as morally wrong and contrary to God’s Creation. I’m glad that I will be able to continue to receive this inspiration and help PEC’s Creation care efforts as I continue my work. I also look forward to continuing to learn from everyone who is involved with PEC, and I encourage you to contact me at presbyearthcare@gmail.com with any questions or concerns!
Thanks for all your Creation caring!
Peace,
Elspeth Cavert
PEC Coordinator
Please Note: We forgot to include the music notation in our previous blog post about the "Let the Earth Breathe" song. We want to make sure everyone can enjoy this song and share it with their congregations, so we've updated the post with the link. You can also click here for the music!