We recently received this notice from the Presbyterian Hunger Program: “Congratulations on your 10+ year of recertification as an Earth Care Congregation! The steps your congregation has taken to care for God’s earth are inspiring!” Since 2010, this PC(USA) program certifies and celebrates environmental ministry across a congregation’s life.

The review process looks at four major areas: worship, education, facilities, and outreach in the community. This program currently has 4.5% of all PC(USA) congregations and continues to grow each year. Earth Care Congregations exist as important examples for congregations across the country. One of the goals of this program is to inspire churches to care for God’s earth in a holistic way, through integrating earth care into all aspects of their church life. By the time a church has recertified for several years, the earth care ethic becomes ingrained in a congregation’s culture, spreads to the surrounding community, and impacts the personal lives of individual church members.

You can see a map of all the 2026 Earth Care Congregations here.

And you can learn more about the ECC program by watching this short video: Presbyterian Church (USA) Earth Care Congregations

The Earth Care Congregation program is housed under the Presbyterian Hunger Program, which believes that hunger, poverty, and environmental destruction are linked areas of concern, constantly interacting with, and impacting one another.