April 22, 2009
by Greg Peterson

In Michigan's Upper Peninsula, hundreds of Lutherans will help plant 12,000 trees in honor of Earth Day, April 22. As part of the Earth Keeper Tree Project, Lutherans and other people of faith will bless and plant trees across the region at various times on May 3. Founded in 2004, Earth Keeper is supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and nine other faith groups. The ELCA's social statement about creation and the environment is Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope and Justice.

"God is in the tree-planting business," said the Rev. Thomas A. Skrenes, bishop, ELCA Northern Great Lakes Synod, Marquette, Mich. "Trees matter," he said. "What a privilege to put your hands into God's soil and help a tree grow." Skrenes and others will plant the first of 12,000 trees – 12- to 16-inch white spruce and red pine – on April 22. Other volunteers will pick up tree seedlings at local conservation district offices on May 2 for planting the next day.

"Our interfaith tree-planting effort is more than another conservation project," said the Rev. Jon Magnuson, co-founder of the Earth Keeper initiative and executive director of the Cedar Tree Institute, Marquette. "With prayers, hymns and the blessing of 12,000 seedlings, it's a gentle proclamation of a new consciousness and commitment among our faith communities to care for God's creation."

ELCA News Service
Greg Peterson is a freelance reporter and media advisor for Earth Keeper