MassReLeaf Ministry: Planting Urban Trees

for Human Justice and Survival

Over the past few years, the involvement of religious organizations in the earth’s environmental stewardship movement has gathered momentum. In towns and cities across America, people of many faiths are rolling up their sleeves in practical and far-reaching ways in response to a faith-filled call to re-examine what it means to be human and how we must live on this planet for survival.

   In Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ (MACUCC) and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation www.mass.gov/dcr/stewardship/forestry/urban/ have established a state-wide environmental social action facilitation ministry - the MassReLeaf Ministry - as a part of this national religious-environmental movement. The MassReLeaf Ministry recently completed three and one half years of facilitating tree-planting projects led by local religious organizations of any faith on public and access qualified lands across Massachusetts.

The MassReLeaf Ministry responds to the “Creation Story” found in the Book of Genesis. As you may recall from this story, God gave some very precious gifts to us:

• A unique and completely nourishing natural environment to sustain all life as we know it.

• The gift of intelligent human life.

• The gift of all of the creatures and vegetation on earth as resources for our own survival.

• The responsibility and ability to nurture all of the above precious gifts for the survival of all humankind.  

The MassReLeaf Ministry is focused on the last of these gifts - our responsibility and ability to nurture all of the creatures and vegetation on earth for the survival of humankind. Its purpose is to help minister to the physical and mental health, emotional stability and community spirit of people living in deforested urban and blighted areas across the state of Massachusetts. Specific goals of the MassReLeaf Ministry are to:

• Emphasize the responsibilities of everyone to care for the welfare of others through environmental action.

• Help bring environmental justice into the lives of everyone, especially people most in need in our state.

• Participate in active citizenship with municipal governments and other local organizations as a way to successfully provide environmental benefits to the maximum number of people - people are mainly concentrated in population centers.

• Develop a greater understanding of the needs and benefits to humans provided through environmental activism.

 The MassReLeaf Ministry offers local religious organizations, working in coordination with their respective municipalities and other local organizations, unique opportunities to lead real, hands-on tree-planting projects to improve the quality of our shared environment and enhance the lives of thousands of citizens living in population centers across Massachusetts. This ministry brings the idea of human environmental justice into the neighborhoods and lives of those most in need in our state.

The MassReLeaf Ministry provides a services and materials infrastructure that enables local religious organizations of any faith to lead successful local tree-planting projects.

This ministry provides money to local religious organizations to pay for the trees needed to conduct these tree-planting projects. Also, since most people in local religious organizations have never planted large trees in a municipal setting, the MassReLeaf Ministry provides the following to local religious organizations:

1) Education about theological environmental responsibilities and the benefits provided by trees to humans in an urban setting.

2) Connections with appropriate local municipal counterparts to help plan and conduct the tree-plantings.

3) Significant project management guidance.

4) Project planning support.

5) Proper tree-planting and maintenance technique training.

6) Technical support resources to ensure success of their respective projects, if needed. 

So, MassReLeaf Ministry projects cost local religious organizations nothing more than their desire and effort to plan and conduct environmental social action service projects, similar to the way they currently support other ministries like Habitat for Humanity, Greater Boston Food Bank, Rosie’s Place and many others.

        The Benefits of Healthy Urban and Community Forests  

The environmental benefits of healthy urban and community forests are many, but some of them are summarized below for your benefit:

Our urban and community forests provide:

• noise reduction (50%)

• cooling shade (winter/summer cyclical effects

• visual screening (basic human need for privacy)

• enhanced property values (25 to 30%)

• economic growth (attractive to patrons)

• community pride (a sense of community spirit and involvement)

• reduction of crime (28 to 30% less)

• more rapid recovery from illnesses (2 ½ times faster)

 Our urban and community forests reduce levels of pollutants such as solid particles, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and others that seriously impact human physical, mental and emotional health negatively.

• Each urban tree absorbs an average of 15 times the pollution of pristine forest trees. (Population centers are where the pollution is concentrated.)

• Each urban tree absorbs an average of .46 tons of the above toxic gases per year.

• Each urban tree absorbs an average of about 5 pounds of minute solid particles that cause severe asthma, emphysema and lung cancer in humans. (Penetrate sacs of the lungs)

Our urban and community forests:

• reduce heating and cooling needs for residential buildings thereby reducing costs.

• reduce the “urban heat island effect" (localized heating due to the preponderance of black topped surfaces) to provide a more human-friendly living environment.

• reduce rainfall runoff and erosion, thereby improving water quality and quicker re-charge of local aquifers.

• function as habitat for wildlife to enrich human enjoyment of these creatures.

• contribute to the reduction of global warming for the long term security of the Earth.

 So you can see that there are enormous human benefits to maintaining healthy urban and community forests in our population centers.

               MassReLeaf Ministry Activities to Date

To date, the MassReLeaf Ministry has facilitated 23 tree-planting projects led by local religious organizations in communities across Massachusetts. 29 local religious organizations participated in these projects (along with their local municipal counterparts and other community organizations) and planted 541 trees (200 to 350 pounds each). Local religious organizations that led the planning and execution of these 23 projects are:

The First Congregational Church in Somerville

The First Congregational Church in Billerica

The First Congregational Church of Fall River

The First Congregational Church in Gardner

The Fall Greater Fall River Council of Churches (several projects/several local churches each)

Ecclesia Ministries of Boston

The Quincy Point Congregational Church

The Old First Church in Springfield (several projects)

The First Baptist Church in Worcester

The East congregational Church in Milton

The Wilbraham United Church

The South Church of Andover

The First United Methodist Church in Westfield

The Fourth Presbyterian Church in Roxbury

The Andover-Newton Theological School in Newton (with several local churches)

Saint Michaels Episcopal Church in Milton (with another local church)

The United Parish in Fall River

Activities are currently underway in preparation for Fall 2008 and Spring 2009 projects.

   How You Can Participate

If you would like to learn more about this exciting new ministry, please contact one of the following:

MassReLeaf Ministry Director - Neal Seaborn (781-237-2152) or eseaborn@comcast.net

MACUCC - Reverend Peter Wells (413-589-7034) or peter.wells@verizon.net   

DCR - Eric Seaborn (617-626-1468) or eric.seaborn@state.ma.us

If your religious organization would be interested in leading a MassReLeaf Ministry tree-planting project, grant application guidelines and forms have been simplified to make it easier for local religious organizations to complete them. These guidelines and forms can be downloaded by clicking on the following link: MassReLeaf Ministry Grant Application Guidelines and Forms.

Applications for Fall 2008 projects are due no later than September 12, 2008 and applications for Spring 2009 projects are due no later than February 27, 2009.

If your local religious organization cannot lead a MassReLeaf Ministry project at this time, you and/or your organization can still participate in the MassReLeaf Ministry by making a small donation to the MassReLeaf Ministry to help fund tree-planting projects led by other local religious organizations across the state. Your gift would make an enormous difference in our ability to fund these tree-planting projects. To donate, please make your check out to the MassReLeaf Ministry and send it to:

MassReLeaf Ministry

Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ

One Badger Road

Framingham, MA 01702

Attn: Karen Methot

Quincy Point Congregational Church Project	Ecclesia Ministries Boston Project	Old First Church in Springfield Project

United Parish of Fall River Project