Surrounded by hills, valleys, dirt roads and vast, uncultivated, semi-arid lands dotted with acacia trees and cacti sits the Archdiocese of Nyeri‘s Nyeri Hill Farm.
Approximately 103 miles (166 kilometers) from Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, and less than 2 miles (3 kilometers) from the small town of Nyeri, the more than 3,000-acre farm was established to facilitate evangelization and help eradicate poverty and disease. But over the years, its goals have expanded and the farm has heavily invested in afforestation and other environmental conservation efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change that results in more droughts, flooding and soil erosion.
Among various cash crops, an animal farm and institutions, 825 acres of Nyeri Hill Farm are dedicated to coffee and 100 acres are dedicated to tea. According to farm archives, the Catholic archdiocese ownership of Nyeri Hill Farm coffee estates dates to 1904, when the Consolata Fathers established the first coffee demonstration plot at the current site of a Consolata Mission Hospital.
Commercial coffee and tea production officially started in 1914. Currently, the diocese has two factories for coffee and tea processing, one at Nyeri Hill Farm and the other at nearby Kamwenja.
Alfred Munyua, an environmental activist and a private coffee farmer in Nyeri County, said effects of climate change — like drought — have rendered the Mount Kenya region, where the farm lies, food insecure and have imposed a reliance on food from the government and well-wishers.
« All of these problems have been instigated by drought which is driven by illegal logging and encroachment in the forest hence decline in rainfall amount, » Munyua said.
According to MyKahawa (my coffee), a platform dedicated to raising the profile of Kenyan coffee, coffee does well in areas about 1,970 feet (1,800 meters) above sea level with annual rainfall of 47 inches (1,200 millimeters.) However, Nyeri Hill Farm — an ASAL (Arid and Semi Arid Land) area — averages just 37 inches (950 millimeters) of rainfall per year.
The farm used to experience low crop yields due to lack of rainfall, so they have started to install an irrigation system to boost production. Though the process is slow and not yet fully complete, the farm plans to eventually stop relying on rain-watered agriculture. The area with the irrigation system has seen an increase in production from 88 ounces (2.5 kilograms) to 352 ounces (10 kilograms) per tree.
And to conserve water, Nyeri Hill Farm has invested in a water recycling system that reduces water waste, contamination and costs, reducing their water bill by almost 50%. The farm has also invested in hulling of the coffee husks, which it uses as organic manure.
Munyua applauded Nyeri Hill Farm for its afforestation strategy, saying that it will restore the weather pattern and help eradicate hunger. Places like the nearby town of Mweiga, which was known for little rainfall, now are getting rainfall in all seasons. That means better farm yields, especially for those who rely on rain-fed agriculture and do not have irrigation systems.
According to the Standard Newspaper, a Kenyan news outlet, though the country has seen some rain recently, the meteorological department has warned farmers that the rainfall amount won’t be enough and they should consider planting drought-resistant crops so they will have something for harvesting at the end of the season.
In addition to adapting its own operations to climate change, Nyeri Hill Farm helps local communities on matters of conservation, focusing mainly on afforestation, proper waste dumping and soil erosion management.
As part of those efforts, the farm has established tree nurseries with thousands of seedlings of various species, including native plants, which they give to the surrounding communities, parishioners and institutions, including the diocese, which takes seedlings for planting in the Mount Kenya area.
« What we need is to increase forest cover in the region which has been ruined by illegal activities in the forest, » said Joseph Wanjau, the farm manager.
He said the farm raises thousands of tree seedlings every year to battle the effects of climate change and boost the government agenda of planting 15 billion trees in the next 10 years.
According to AfricanNews, the region has suffered almost three years of persistent drought, and IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) announced that below-normal rainfall is expected in most parts of the Greater Horn of Africa (GHA) over the next three months. As the country experiences the worst drought in four decades, Bishop Anthony Muheria of the Nyeri Catholic Archdiocese warned of severe climate changes if Kenyans do not take environmental conservation seriously.
It is « the responsibility of each individual to ensure that the environment is conserved for the future generations, » the bishop told EarthBeat. He applauded the Nyeri Hill Farm for its conservation efforts.
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« If we want to make a better future for our children and great-grandchildren, then we must embrace environmental conservation. Let us plant trees. We must stop cutting trees maliciously and, instead, we protect them, » he said.
The bishop appealed to corporate leaders « to come to the rescue of the world by supporting environmental conservation activities like planting trees and cleaning rivers. »
Last year during national prayer day at Subukia National Shrine, Muheria, who often preaches about the environment, urged pilgrims to take responsibility and pray for environmental conservation.
Mary Nyambura, a farmer and a parishioner in Nyeri, said that she got most of her conservation skills from the coffee farm. She does mixed farming on her 1.5 acres in Mathari village, just a few miles from Nyeri town.
« I have learnt a lot from this farm, from conservation to farming skills which has totally improved my farm produce, » she said.
Thanks to a recent $2 million gift from the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization founded by religious sisters more than 50 years ago, will expand its lobbying portfolio on Capitol Hill to include climate advocacy.
The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, based in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and Network describe this new « collaboration in mission » as emerging from their shared commitment to « confront the existential threat of our time that is climate change, » according to a joint press release issued by the two groups.
The first $500,000 donation from the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration will complete Network’s 50th anniversary endowment fund campaign. The remaining $1.5 million will support the expansion of Network’s political ministry into the climate justice arena, which will include hiring more staff and acquiring a larger office space to start.
« We know we cannot do everything alone, » said Sr. Sue Ernster, president of the congregation. « This moment calls for a more unified Catholic sister voice … to face the enormous challenge of climate change. Whom we bring together for mission matters, just as whom Jesus called as his disciples mattered. »
Network’s decision to add the issue area of climate justice came out of its own recent strategic planning process, as well as ongoing calls from women’s religious communities and other climate advocacy organizations, said executive director Mary Novak.
Network’s aim is not to duplicate the work spearheaded by other Catholic entities, she added, but to build upon it.
« We are still listening to our Catholic colleagues to determine the full scope of what Network is called to do, » Novak said, « so that we can be a value-add to the climate justice advocacy ecosystem that exists already. We want to fill the gaps and strengthen and expand existing efforts. »
She hesitated to elaborate on specific legislation that Network will take up, calling that premature.
This August, Novak will be on-site in Wisconsin to meet with the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration to share the initial results of her meetings with other organizations that share the climate space in Washington, D.C.
She also hopes to learn more about the congregation’s long-standing commitments and partnerships in the work of integral ecology, an approach to addressing the climate crisis that Pope Francis underscored in his 2015 encyclical, « Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home. » Integral ecology sees the current environmental, social and economic crises as inextricably intertwined, requiring a holistic approach where « right relationships » are centered.
« I’ll be able to fill [the sisters] in on the results of our listening process and our discernment on Network’s initial scope, » Novak said, « and then we’re going to invite their input. … This move into climate justice advocacy really does flow from the wisdom and discernment of the sisters. »
Novak anticipates having a scope of work identified by midyear.
For the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, this new partnership with Network was forged specifically with Laudato Si’ in mind, using the « seven-year Laudato Si’ Action Platform journey to intensify actions for greater social and environmental justice, » Ernster said. The sisters have committed the use of their land near their motherhouse, St. Rose Convent in La Crosse, to model sustainability practices and spiritual values, including a green burial option for the sisters.
« Both FSPA and Network recognize the need to have monetary support [for this work], » Ernster said, « but more importantly, we share the vision to evolve the work of environmental justice into right relationships at all levels. »
José Aguto, executive director of the Catholic Climate Covenant, called this new alliance and Network’s foray into the climate justice lobby « fantastic » news. « For 50 years, Network has been lifting up the moral voice of the sisters, one of the most powerful moral voices we have nationally and globally; this is a real boon for those of us working for climate action. »
Aguto said that Catholic Climate Covenant was open wholeheartedly to collaborating with Network. Catholic Climate Covenant had set its own goal of being more intentional about potential institutional collaborations in the coming year.
« It’s about all of us within the Catholic community dialing down our institutional egos to come to more unified positions, so that the Catholic voice is one of greater influence. In other words, us living into the value we celebrate at Mass of one bread, one body. »
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Network was founded by Catholic sisters in 1972 in the spirit of the 1962-65 Second Vatican Council to respond to the issues of the day showing up in congregations’ various ministries. The goal was to create a nationwide network of women religious who would engage in political activism at the federal level for social justice.
Early lobbying priorities included poverty, congressional reform, minimum wage, child care, consumer protection, the environment, farmworker rights, health care, opposition to the Vietnam War, prison reform, tax fairness, welfare reform and women’s rights. This agenda has evolved over succeeding decades as new issues such as immigration reform have emerged on Capitol Hill.
Network’s recently completed six-year strategic plan (to coincide with the timing of federal elections) prioritizes influencing federal policies that dismantle systemic racism, center equity and reparative justice, build economic security, secure democracy, and protect the Earth.
« Our foundational commitment is to center racial justice and equity at the heart of our ministry, » Novak said, « and hold ourselves accountable to communities of color, both inside and outside of our organization. It’s part of the large mosaic where we understand ourselves called. »
Aguto surmised that Network’s moral voice would add a powerful ingredient to the Catholic climate advocacy space.
« One of the dimensions I imagine the sisters will bring to their dialogue with legislators is a moral call and an ability to reach them in their hearts beyond concerns about getting re-elected, » he said. For Catholics, « this is our ‘section of the orchestra’, so to speak, and we need to reach into the hearts of legislators contrary to the way political culture is operating in America. »
Editor’s note: In 2020, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration gifted $1.5 million to the National Catholic Reporter to amplify integral ecological education and journalism in the spirit of Laudato Si’. This donation ensured that environmental reporting and stories of climate crisis, faith and action would become permanent components of NCR’s coverage.
« If I find favor with you, O Lord, do come along in our company » (Exodus 34:8).
Trinity Sunday
Ex 34:4b-6, 8-9; 2 Cor 13:11-13; Jn 3:16-18
We approach the mystery of the Trinity by keeping in mind that everything we know about God we have learned from Jesus. He is our point of entry into the unfathomable question of who God is and who we are.
The early church experienced Jesus first as a human brother and fellow human being, the man from Galilee who went about announcing a radical notion of God and the purpose of life. Unlike the images of God people heard from organized religion – a distant, unapproachable judge -, Jesus spoke of God as his « Abba » a loving father who offered his children, including sinners, unconditional love and acceptance. The essence of Jesus’ message was that God was filled with mercy and compassion, a generous father willing to take back his prodigal children, a good shepherd out looking for lost sheep. This was the Good News.
His death on the cross seemed to shatter their dream of a restored Israel, but his resurrection from the dead took believers to a whole new level of understanding, that this man Jesus was much more than a charismatic leader meant for their time and place. He was God’s chosen one, the Christ, whose death and resurrection had to do with redeeming the whole world. He had fulfilled the Law and the Prophets, overcome sin and death. He was none other than the Lord, the revelation of God present in history.
This awesome realization began a profound theological reflection in the light of their experience and of the many images and prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures that produced the letters of St. Paul and the four Gospels about who Jesus was in relation to the One God. This reflection evolved within the faith communities’ experience of the risen Christ, still with them and active through his Holy Spirit given to the baptized members of the church.
The translation of the Christian faith in Jesus through Greek concepts during a time of competing understandings of his identity led to the credal formulas of the first church councils. Jesus was the Son of God, yet equal to God the Father, and united in the Holy Spirit, three persons in one God, the divine Trinity. These words somehow contained the truth about Jesus but as a mystery that could not be explained logically. It could only be believed and lived.
How we understand this brings us back to the same starting point of our encounter with God in Jesus. We only know about God and about Jesus from our own human experience. Because we were made in the image and likeness of God, we already know something about the Trinity – the challenge of love that produces unity in diversity. We also know from experience that we only know ourselves in relationships. No human individual is complete in himself or herself but only becomes fully alive in community. And just as our desire for maturity and wholeness leads us to community, so our journey toward God is toward the Community of God, the inner life of God as Persons united in love – the Trinity.
God comes to us in encounter. On this celebration of the Holy Trinity, we pray to encounter Jesus, our brother, who draws us through his human nature and experience toward his divine identity. This is our destiny, to share the life of the Trinity. We will know it by seeking an intimate knowledge of Jesus, who is one of us. He is also our point of entry into the inner life of God.
How to approach the unapproachable? How to imagine the unimaginable? The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity raises questions like these. The Scriptures offer tremendous help in our search to know what God is like, not because they give us a clear answer, but precisely because they do not.
The Hebrew and Christian Scriptures offer us images of God as omnipotent creator and as an artisan who fashions creatures from river mud; God dwells in unapproachable light and walks and talks with Abraham. God appears in cloud and fire, and is heard in thunder and the gentlest breeze. God speaks in the direst warnings of the prophets and the consoling words of a stranger on the road to Emmaus.
Today, Exodus reveals more than we might realize as Moses leads us up the mountain. One of the first things to notice here is the name, « Lord. » That word replaced the sacred Tetragrammaton, the four-letter Hebrew word, YHWH, the divine name. From earliest times, the Jewish people regarded that name as too sacred to even attempt to pronounce. Wherever it was written they circumvented it, usually saying Adonai (« my Lord ») to refer to God.
The early Christians respected that reverence, translating the name as Kyrios or Dominus. In 2008, the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship reminded Catholics to continue that practice. The first thing Exodus tells us today is that God’s name is immeasurably sacred. We cannot define God.
As we read this Exodus passage, we realize that only God pronounces the sacred name and follows it with a self-description. According to this auto portrayal, God is « merciful and gracious, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity. » Those interrelated words create a litany that portrays the gentle and loving ways the Lord relates to humanity. No wonder Moses begged God to come along with his unruly flock!
Today’s Gospel enlarges our sense of the divine image in two ways. First, while we are accustomed to encountering John 3:16 (« God so loved the world ») on billboards or at sports events, scholars offer a slightly different translation from the slogan we ordinarily hear.
According to Scripture scholar Edward Klink, this passage is best translated as, « For in this way God loved the world. » That subtly nuances the idea, not measuring how much, but rather how God loves, telling us that God loves through the « unique son. » Secondly, this passage from John elaborates on Exodus and the whole of the Hebrew Scriptures as it explains that God’s love is always demonstrated in action: Every moment of Jesus’ life demonstrated how God loves the world.
Today’s Scriptures insist that the God of Christianity is a God who loves real people in real time. Anyone who understands this would, like Moses, invite this God to accompany them along the road of life. That’s a bit of what we can derive from our selections from Exodus and John.
Today’s selection from the end of Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians was chosen because it is one of the few passages in Scripture that clearly speaks of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Speaking of the Trinity, it draws us into what is the most mysterious of Christianity’s beliefs.
While the New Testament does not really develop a Trinitarian concept of God, Jesus subtly introduced the concept of the Trinity by referring to his relationship to his father and in his promise to send his Spirit. Paul’s letters are more specific when they refer to God under the three distinct names of Father, Son and Spirit. Over a period of nearly 400 years, these references, combined with prayer and theologizing, came to fruition in what we now pray as the Nicene Creed.
What then, does this feast day mean for us? What are we celebrating? Based on today’s Scriptures, we can say that this feast focuses our attention on God’s self-revelation as loving and deeply involved with humanity from the moment of human consciousness. More specifically, this feast invites us to contemplate the depth of God’s love and God’s desire to draw all into divine life. It celebrates the love of God revealed in Jesus and our invitation for God’s Spirit to be active in and among us.
We cannot adequately name God, yet we experience the unapproachable mystery inviting us to awe and drawing us close. Through creation and revelation, we can experience uncountable ways in which the unimaginable one lures us to share divine life. Now, we can bask in miniature glimpses of God. We await the day when « we will be like Christ because we will see him face to face » (1 John 3:2).
Editor’s note: This story, originally published by Faithfully Magazine, is part of « Growing a Green Church, » an ongoing series focused on churches’ efforts to steward their buildings and land effectively in the context of a changing climate. The project is produced in collaboration with The Christian Century, Episcopal News Service, Faithfully Magazine, National Catholic Reporter, and Sojourners, with support from the Solutions Journalism Network and funding from the Fetzer Institute. Find more stories in the series here.
A Black church in California has set out to develop a microgrid that could generate up to $1 million annually. The project, spearheaded by Gemini Energy Solutions and Green The Church, is part of a larger effort to empower Black churches — and their communities — to join the clean energy movement.
Although transition to green energy has become more common, Black and Hispanic Americans, disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards, are still missing out on its benefits. A 2019 study published in Nature Sustainability found that Black communities are significantly absent from the rush to solar, even when factors like homeownership and income are accounted for. The racial disparity could be due to higher costs and a lack of access to financing.
According to Dr. Anthony Kinslow II, one way to help accelerate the transition and level the playing field is to empower Black churches, often the nucleus of their communities. Kinslow is CEO of Gemini Energy Solutions, which provides energy audits.
« I think the greatest chance we have of that happening, addressing our climate goals, is the Black church leading, » Kinslow, a lifelong churchgoer, told Faithfully Magazine.
Those belonging to historically Black churches believe, more than other Christians, that climate change is an « extremely or very » serious problem, that the Bible addresses environmental issues, and that « God gave humans a duty to protect and care for the Earth, » according to the Pew Research Center.
Gemini Energy Solutions and Green The Church, a nonprofit that promotes green theology, have joined forces to help 100 Black churches transition to clean energy hubs this summer. Gemini is currently in the early stage of assisting five churches with feasibility studies that could secure funding for their microgrids.
But Gemini’s growing partnerships likely would not have happened without Glad Tidings International Church and its pastor, Bishop Jerry W. Macklin.
« At the point where we are, there are shortages of water, shortages of energy, the heat. … It affects everybody that’s here. And I think now people are beginning to understand that this is everybody’s problem, and everybody has to be a part of the solution, » Macklin said in a video highlighting his church’s intention to transition to clean energy.
Known for spearheading transformation in its Harder-Tennyson community, once beset by drugs and violence, Glad Tidings International Church may be the ideal prototype for Gemini Energy Solutions’ clean energy hub movement.
About a 25-minute drive from Oakland, the Hayward church is a member of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), the nation’s largest Pentecostal and predominantly Black Christian denomination. Macklin is also the First Assistant Presiding Bishop of COGIC, one of seven historically Black Christian denominations in the U.S.
Through its Northern California Community Development Corporation (NCCD), Glad Tidings has created more than 120 affordable housing units. The church, which owns five buildings spread across four blocks, also offers various services to the public, including employment and mental health resources.
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In another push at transformation, Glad Tidings has linked arms with Gemini Energy Solutions to retrofit their worship, administrative, and community outreach facilities. The plan is to make the campus carbon-free by replacing its HVAC systems and gas stoves and installing 500 LED lights, among other renovations.
But the centerpiece of its transition is a money-making microgrid.
This June, Glad Tidings is expected to break ground on a solar-powered microgrid estimated to generate millions in the years to come. The revenue will support the development of a new community center, which will host classes about energy efficiency. The church sees this venture as a way to extend services to the community and do its part to fight climate change.
Glad Tidings will become a clean energy hub by installing solar panels on its buildings and solar carports at its parking structures. The solar array will generate 1 gigawatt of energy annually, enough to power nearly 100 homes. The church will also maintain 12 bidirectional electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and two EVs. In addition to stationary batteries, the EVs will serve as backup power during emergencies, making the church a resiliency center for the community.
It is common for churches to transition to solar and store that energy locally for freedom from the grid, as seen with Florida Avenue Baptist Church, the first African American church in Washington, D.C., to transition to solar power. In addition to reducing its carbon footprint and energy bill, the church receives a monthly payment for selling surplus energy to utilities.
But what makes his clean energy hub scheme unique, said Kinslow, « is the revenue-generating allocation » and focus on church ownership.
Most churches lease their solar panels and EV charging stations. Instead, Gemini Energy Solutions advises churches to own the hardware. It also advises churches to create a limited liability company to serve as co-developers in the project.
In Glad Tidings’ case, Gemini projects that its microgrid could generate $400,000 to $1 million annually, based on EV charging rates. In addition, the amount the church usually pays for energy, about $30,000 yearly, will be redirected to its LLC.
« I thought [the revenue model] was a fascinating idea, » said the Rev. Dr. Ambrose Carroll Sr., founder of Green The Church, whose reach extends to about 5,000 churches.
« It hit[s] some of the points that my colleagues always ask about, » Carroll said. » ‘Who’s going to own it?’ ‘What do they want from us again?’ And it’s like, no, this is empowerment. »
Glad Tidings received grants from nonprofits and a loan from Inclusive Prosperity Capital, Inc. for the $1.4 million project. Kinslow admits that the microgrid could only move forward because of $300,000 in grants from California.
Yet, he believes his revenue-generating microgrids can be set up in any state, regardless of available incentives.
The main hitch in Glad Tidings’ microgrid project, Kinslow said, was related to supply chain issues delaying delivery of the switchgear needed for the fast-charging EV stations. The switchgear is used to control the flow of electricity to and from the stations.
The microgrid could be completed by September if one of Gemini’s solar developers acquires the switchgear in time. Otherwise, « final inspection for this project wouldn’t be till mid-February, » he said.
Carroll, of Green The Church, said now was the time for Black churches « to use not what somebody gives us, not to beg, but to use what we have » — land and buildings — to « capitalize in a way that we begin to build and move into industry. »
« We want to wake up the sleeping giant that is the Black church on this issue because there has not been a successful social issue without the Black church at the table, » Carroll insisted.
Though his model has yet to be fully tested, Kinslow believes empowering thousands of Black churches to become clean energy hubs is more than possible.
If every COGIC church, which numbers about 12,000 in the U.S., transitioned to clean energy, « that would be $4 billion in annual revenue generated for the Black community, » he claimed, using calculations reflecting one-fifth of Glad Tidings’ energy consumption and its minimum projected revenue.
Such a mass transition could create thousands of jobs, he added.
« Those numbers are not anything to sneeze at, » Kinslow said. « Those are numbers they’re probably not accustomed to seeing. A billion — not million — dollars. »
