At 7 p.m. a gathering of Earth Keepers, Land Conservancy advocates, gardeners and others will meet to begin developing a plan for the care of the woods and wetlands of the “Trinity Triangle” (our church property, bordered by Fulton Street, Robinson Road and Cascade Road).  The following invitation was sent out by Pastor Bob to Trinity’s ‘earth keepers’ and gardeners in mid-September:

Pastor Dan Schewe and I would like to invite you to a time of brainstorming and shaping a vision for the care of our property, the so-called “Trinity triangle” which is bordered by Robinson Road, Fulton Street and Cascade Road.  We are privileged to be stewards of that stand of woods and wetlands, along with our developed property and its lawn, gardens and landscaping that surrounds our church building.  A number of us have spoken of the need to develop a management plan, of working with land conservancy and DNR leaders and Trinity’s own gardeners, of seeking to increase native plantings, of clearing away dead trees but doing so in a way that does not displace wildlife, and of planning to intentionally take care of this bit of green space on the east side of Grand Rapids.

This invitation is going out to about 40 Trinity’s people – we may invite some of our neighbors to join us in the months ahead.  The concept of gathering those with such interest and engagement becomes very local with this initiative.  How shall we properly care for the bit of land entrusted to this congregation, woods and wetlands in the midst of a major urban metro, in a way that makes manifest good stewardship in our care of creation?

I am inviting you to join us for this initial conversation on Thursday, October 7 at 7 p.m.  We will meet in the Courtyard fellowship space at Trinity for a brief meeting to launch this initiative.  Thank you for considering this invitation.