RAISE, Roanoke Area Interfaith Stewards of the Earth

04/15/2026

Virginia Interfaith Power & Light is celebrating Earth Month with a fundraiser! Please donate to this very worthy organization!

Healthy People, Healing Planet

09/18/2025

Climate in the Pulpits, on the Bimah, in the Minbar 2025 is here! 💚🎉

This fall season, VAIPL is inviting pastors, rabbis, imams, and all faith and spiritual leaders to schedule worship services, sermons, events, lessons, and days of action to teach about climate and environmental justice within their faith communities. 🙏

To aid faith leaders and communities in this effort, we have curated a variety of prayers, poetry, articles, websites, videos, and other resources from a variety of faith and spiritual traditions. Click the link below to download these free resources to support you and your faith community's conversations about people and planet! 🌎

https://bit.ly/cipbm25

07/05/2025

Please join us for this Virginia Interfaith Power & Light sponsored documentary film about environmental justice!

01/01/2025

Welcome, 2025! This is a year that requires us to speak up for what is right.

But how do I talk to lawmakers and what is going on at the state level, anyway?

Virginia Interfaith Power & Light has answers for you! Register for this event, January 6th, at 6pm. It may be the most positive and productive thing you can do that day!

Join us and gain invaluable knowledge on engaging legislators during the 2025 General Assembly session, preview important environmental justice-related legislation being presented during the upcoming GA session, and learn how to implement proven civic engagement tactics in your faith community.

01/01/2025

The latest from Katharine Hayhoe - her end-of-2024 roundup of the bad, the good, and what you can do about it. Worth your time!

Clean energy soared in 2024, with solar and wind making up 90 percent of new capacity in the US alone. Meanwhile, China installed more solar last year alone than the US has in its entire history. Its carbon emissions are about to peak, if they haven’t already, and within a decade China will be gen...

01/01/2025

Begin this year with a quiet moment in nature.🌳 Let the light of the day fill your spirit with hope and remind you of the Mystery that is ever-present.

Here’s to a year of growth, healing, joy, and connection. 🌅

12/26/2024

Happy Kwanzaa to those who celebrate! This holiday includes a harvest festival, and principles that tie people to the land -- very environmental themes indeed. All seven principles can connect to environmental well being, but I am thinking particularly of ujamaa, which calls for economic practices that enhance the well being of people and planet. This visionary holiday fosters both gratitude for the past and hope for the future!

12/25/2024

Happy Chanukah to those who celebrate! This beautiful holiday that celebrates a miracle of fuel that lasts far longer than expected can also be a reminder about conservation and living lightly on the Earth. May we all be a light in dark times, illuminating a path forward towards shalom and harmony with all creation.

(P.S. I know this image isn't a Hanukkah menorah - too few branches - but I still thought it was worth sharing. It's from the Met Museum blog and the original dates from about 1300.)

12/24/2024

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! A friendly reminder that St. Francis, patron saint of ecology, created the nativity scene tradition as a way to enact Jesus' birth story and bring it alive -- and that this tradition includes not just humans but also animals. Christians say that all creation rejoices on this day. May we act faithfully and create our own reasons for creation to rejoice.

12/24/2024

Happy holidays from everyone here at Team VAIPL! This time of year is home to many holidays, celebrations, and traditions. We hope you and your loved ones have a festive and joyous holiday season. 💚 💛 💙

12/20/2024

Well, those who celebrate Christmas...Maybe we can make it a "green" Christmas?