TSTI Part of the Greening Reform Judaism Pilot Program

The TSTI Green team has been hard at work and they have an exciting announcement:

TSTI has been selected to participate in the Greening Reform Judaism Pilot Program!

The URJ has partnered with GreenFaith, a leading national interfaith environmental coalition, to provide a limited number of qualified New Jersey congregations the opportunity to enroll at no cost in the GreenFaith Certification Program and support strong environmental leadership within our Movement. TSTI is among the first Reform congregations in North America to become a GreenFaith Sanctuary, serving as an example to our community, our state, and the Movement.

Thanks to special funding from the National Religious Partnership on the Environment, the URJ will be able to completely underwrite the costs to enroll in the Certification Program. This represents a savings of approximately $1,500 for TSTI.

Our congregation, led by the Green Team and with the full support of leadership, clergy and staff, will make a two-year commitment this pilot program. Over the two-year period, our congregation will engage in a range of environmental activities, including:

• Environmental education programs for children, teens and adults;

• Environmentally-oriented worship services;

• Green building and facility management activities;

• Environmental justice education and advocacy;

• Interfaith environmental efforts with houses of worship of diverse denominations.

TSTI has been and continues to be very committed to the environment. Our Green Team has been active for a few years and has been successful in helping the Temple achieve savings and more environmentally conscious consumption. The team continues to create awareness for the Temple Community. We are excited about the opportunity to become part of the Greenfaith program because there is still work to be done in our congregation and this program will provide us with more resources, structure and direction than we currently have on our own. TSTI also welcomes the challenge to reach further on environmental issues and the opportunity to be a role model for other congregations.

Upon completion of the pilot program, our congregation will be considered a leader in the Greening Reform Judaism initiative. Members of our Green team will serve as advisors to other Reform congregations and participate in select URJ programs and events such as the URJ Biennial and the Religious Action Center’s Consultation on Conscience.