Forum: Creation, Discernment, and the Plastics We Carry

A Forum on the Environmental and Health Impacts of Plastics
Sunday, October 4, following the 10:30 a.m. service

Join us this St. Francis Day — and on the culminating day of the Episcopal Church’s Season of Creation — for a forum exploring one of the subtle yet broadly encompassing ways we’re called to discernment: our daily relationship with plastic. 

This program builds on St. Margaret’s 2022 Lenten commitment to reducing single-use plastics, when parishioners placed blossoms on our sculptural cherry tree as signs of personal commitment, heard testimonials from fellow parishioners, and welcomed a presentation from the Sierra Club. This fall, we return to that work with fresh eyes and updated science. 

The Rev. Richard Weinberg will open with a brief theological framing, connecting creation care to St. Margaret’s fall theme of discernment — the practices by which we notice, question, and choose how we live in relationship to God’s creation, in ways both large and small. We’re honored to welcome Dr. Diane Bild, a Washington-based physician who spent her career at the National Institutes of Health and is a member of both P-SNAP (the Physician and Scientist Network Addressing Plastics and Health) and Beyond Plastics. 

Dr. Bild will present on the environmental and human health impacts of plastics, with practical guidance for what individuals, households, and congregations can do in response. This gathering is organized by St. Margaret’s Creation Care Committee, led by parishioner Patty Nicoson, and grows out of ongoing conversation among members interested in creation care and climate concerns.