Evangelical Reformed United Church of Christ (ERUCC) is a historic downtown church in Frederick Maryland. Their faith is 2,000 years old, but their thinking is not. They believe in God’s continuing testament. This is why they are committed to hearing God’s ancient story anew and afresh in their lives and in the world today. They try to remain attentive to God’s creative movement in the world.
They are dedicated to offering an extravagant welcome to all. They are an open and affirming congregation for the LGBTQ community and helped found and support the Religious Coalition for Emergency Human Needs that serves persons who are homeless or experiencing other emergency needs. As a church they voted to become a Creation Justice Church of the United Church of Christ by approving the following covenant.

Creation Justice Covenant
As a church, and as individuals, we pledge to care for our planet and to seek justice for those whose lives have been adversely affected by the neglect of our environment. This also means that we will recycle responsibly, use the earth’s resources with as little waste as possible, support efforts at reducing the effects of climate change, help protect endangered species, reduce our carbon footprint and stop air and water pollution.

The Green Team supplies leadership and momentum but the entire congregation adopted and supports the Creation Justice Covenant.

Some of their actions to support this covenant include:
1.Working towards becoming a zero-waste congregation through recycling, composting and washing dishes.
2. Sponsoring spiritual, educational and fellowship walks in the the outdoors
3. Leading classes, book talks and film discussions related to creation care
4. Transitioning lawn and weedy areas to native plants
5. Collaborating with local organizations in tree plantings, stream clean-ups and community garden work
6. Joining with the Multi-Faith Alliance of Climate Stewards to host educational events (Climate Change, Electrify Everything, Native Plants, Eating for Health and the Climate, GreenTeam Networking)
7. Holding a worship service annually dedicated to creation justice
8. Receiving power from Community Solar as a church and promoting the option to congregants
9. Working with IPC, IPL, MACS and Mobilize Frederick to advocate for laws that support a healthy and sustainable environment.
10. Hosting a purple air quality monitor in a partnership with the UCC Central Atlantic Conference and University of Maryland.

For more information on Evangelical Reformed United Church of Christ, click here.