Join Our Faithful Green Leaders Trainings in February

Last year, faithful green team leaders from four congregations in Anne Arundel County learned new ways to strengthen their teams at IPC's first training! IPC has learned that congregations that have strong green teams are the most able to organize events and projects. More trainings in these other regions are scheduled this spring: Baltimore, Montgomery, Howard, Harford, and Wicomico counties.

The first training was in collaboration with our partner, the Watershed Stewards Academy.  The participants will go on to learn more about watershed restoration and actions they can take to heal their local sacred waters.

We were warmly welcomed at our training host site, Holy Family Catholic Church, by Master Watershed Steward Chris Gordon, who has coordinated multiple stormwater projects, educational events and writes a weekly message in the church bulletin about caring for Creation activities.  Through multiple interactive and engaging team building activities, team members from St. Andrew's by the Bay Catholic Church, Beth Shalom Synagogue and St. Margaret's Episcopal Church grew closer as they learned about the sources of one another's inspiration and passion for environmental stewardship.  A key component of IPC's training is "Building your Team," during which teams practice ways of finding new members, planning for leadership succession and conducting effective and animated meetings.  Fun meetings can motivate people to stay involved for the long haul! These team-building activities provide the foundation for Action Planning together.  Teams heard stories about congregations taking actions listed in IPC's Menu for Action then walked through the steps and questions that need to be addressed for creating and implementing an action plan. Chris Gordon led us around the church grounds to witness the projects that his congregation has implemented in recent years including the removal of invasive plants, planting over  50 trees, and the installation of a large rain garden which welcomes people as they enter the driveway.  Lastly, participants learned how a team can promote awareness and participation in their green team actions -- through effective communications!  

Interested?  Please sign up for our upcoming trainings here and contact us if you have any questions: [email protected]