Environmental Justice
We commit to acts of justice through creation care.
Call to Action
Creation care is important to us at St. Francis, starting with our own backyard. We are a Good News Garden, which means “We believe that when we commit to planting more (be it beehives or herb gardens,) praying more (with our words and our deeds) and proclaiming more (through our stories and our bounty) in order to share the loving, liberating, and life-giving Good News of God’s love with all people, we will find ourselves, our church, and our world transformed.” To get involved with creation care at St. Francis, reach out to the Green Team.
Recommended Reading
For a deeper dive into the relationship between creation care and spiritual life, we recommend the book For the Beauty of the Earth: A Lenten Devotional by the Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade. Purchase the book from Chalice Press here.
Our Partners
Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake and the Gunpowder Valley Conservancy partner with us in our stewardship of the land and water. We recommend that you learn more about their good work!
How does the Green Team care for creation at St. Francis?
Read more below about the many ways the Green Team tends to our natural environment at St. Francis. To get involved with anything you read about here just send a message to the Green Team!
St. Francis Community Garden and Orchard
In our Community Garden we grow strawberries, raspberries, tomatoes, beans, peas, garlic, peppers, cucumbers, and many herbs such as oregano, chocolate mint, chives, thyme, sage, marjoram, basil, cilantro, and parsley. The harvest is shared at Welcome Table Wednesday dinners and in our Indoor Choice Pantry. We want all to flourish and grow in health and right relationship with our Earth. Some people take turns watering and weeding, some farm a specific plot, some stop by for an occasional snack following the service on Sunday. You are invited to participate however you feel called, no gardening experience necessary– thumbs of all colors welcome!
Apiary
St. Francis is home to an apiary. We maintain multiple beehives on our grounds. These little pollinators feed on the bounty of our gardens and produce honey in return. Each Autumn we hold a Honey Harvest!
Trees
Jacob's Garden
Rain Gardens
Bird Boxes
Wildlife
Gratitude to our friends at Gunpowder Valley Conservancy!
A newly installed rain
garden or microbiome retention.
Honeycombs full
to bursting!
Sunflowers growing tall!
Tending to a bird box.
Strawberries from our orchard!
Ripening tomatoes on the vine!
Beekeeping for all ages!
The Community Garden is for everyone!
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The Rev. Dr. Amy Slaughter

she/her
Rector
About Me:
Preacher, justice seeker, Episcopal priest, community organizer, theologian, parent of three artistic young adult children. Native North Carolinian. Bookish. I believe God is up to something beautiful in this world, and I’m grateful we get to be a part of it.
My Role:
Rector is an old-fashioned word for pastor and administrative head of a church. As Rector I get to do what I love: support and nurture a faith community in the Episcopal tradition. Rectors are generalists; I get to wear a lot of hats, sometimes all in the same day. Preaching and presiding at Sunday worship, connecting one-on-one and in small groups at Welcome Table Wednesday, checking in with folks in crisis or in immediate need of care, meeting with those mourning a loss or celebrating an upcoming baptism, writing sermons, showing up at county meetings to make our neighborhood a better place and so much more. Mostly, I listen deeply – for what God is doing here and in the world, for what people need, and for how St. Francis can keep becoming a community where everyone belongs and everyone matters.
My Dream for St. Francis:
Listens to the Spirit, practices wide and generous welcome, shows up for each other and our neighbors, and isn’t afraid to ask big questions and have hard conversations.
A Few of my Favorite Things:
Hobby: Spending time by the water recharging and reflecting; journaling
Book/Movie/TV Show: Narrative non-fiction that reads like fiction – faves include Patrick Radden Keefe
Fun fact:
I come from a theatrical family and began working as an actor myself as a kid.


