Youth are amazing leaders. During the ups and downs of 2020, teens and ‘tweens from churches in Capitol Region Watershed District have been moving water knowledge to water action for their churches, communities, and neighborhoods!
Macalester Plymouth United Church, St. Anthony Park Lutheran, Christ on Capitol Hill, Galilee Lutheran, Faith Lutheran of Frogtown, Grace Lutheran plus participants from a variety of other congregations have been taking a unique approach to caring for water in 2020 and 2021. In partnership with Growing Green Hearts and Capitol Region Watershed District, the faith groups have been using Connect-the-Drops: Faith, Science and Youth Leadership curriculum by Heidi Ferris to engage in environmental STEM and watershed discipleship while hiking their neighborhoods, paddling Lake McCarrons, adopting storm drains, connecting via Zoom, planting rain gardens, and more.
Creation care with Connect-the-Drops: Faith, Science & Youth Leadership™ is FUN! Laughing, teamwork, vocation, Bible studies, ecology, and climate science all wade together in the subject of water. There’s even a youth-driven creation care service project component that taps into effective, playful strategies of environmental STEM.
“You’re not just learning here- you are leading.”
Since 2015, the Connect-the-Drops programming with Growing Green Hearts has demonstrated adaptability in a variety of youth ministry situations: small & large churches, urban, suburban, rural, high school youth group, confirmation small groups, cross-generational teams. Over 35 groups have used this service learning model to empower youth and connect with community partners. By understanding the common ground on which faith, science, and many church traditions stand…kids in the St. Paul area are working to make this world a more trustworthy place.
