Meet the Ministry Leaders: Environmental Guild

29Sep

Do you know the Environmental Guild’s first project at St. David’s?

The annual Creation Care Fair is this Sunday and Kathy Cramer with the Environmental Guild shares her passion for God’s creation and a little bit of St. David’s history.

When did you become involved in Environmental Guild?

Since 2010, when I joined St. David’s. Barbara Grove recruited me. I think it’s been around since some time in the early 2000s.

Why is Environmental Guild important to you?

It’s a tangible way for me to express my concern for protecting our environment and my love for God’s creation, by inviting others to share in the stewardship of our beautiful world.

What is one event or memory of this ministry that is meaningful for you and why?

When our beehives were installed at Barking Dog Ranch in Lockhart a few years ago, we had a family visit to the ranch, and Mother Katie blessed the hives; that in itself was a delightful experience. But watching the children petting the goats and chickens, and just enjoying the outdoors, was even more meaningful to me. I felt we were planting the seeds of environmental stewardship in the children. It’s been a few years, and we have lots of new youngsters at church, so I’d love to repeat the field trip!

Learn More About St. David's Bees

In what ways have you seen God working to help the ministry grow or change over the years?

Because St. David’s was the first church in Texas to become a Green Faith Sanctuary, and because we were pioneers in a number of areas – such as installing solar panels on the garage roof – we’ve become a resource for other churches in the diocese. One of our members, Lee Doar, has served on the Bishop’s task force on sustainability, and we are planning to create some sort of an online resource for area churches. If anyone with expertise in the world of online communications wants to join us in this endeavor, we’d welcome your input!

Read the story by the Episcopal News Service: St. David’s Unveils Largest Solar Project in Downtown Austin.

What’s one thing most people don’t know about this ministry?

Every time you grab a coffee mug from one of the church’s “coffee trees,” you’re keeping a Styrofoam cup out of the landfill! Building those trees and collecting the mugs was the Environmental Guild’s very first project.

The coffee mug trees continue to aid the Environmental Guild's mission in Sumners Hall.

How can St. David’s parishioners support the ministry?

Keep bringing items to our collection drawers in the lobby – batteries, printer ink cartridges, corks, eyeglasses, CDs, small electronics – for us to recycle. And join the Environmental Guild – we welcome new members with new ideas for ways in which we can all become more faithful stewards of God’s green earth.

This Sunday is the Creation Care Fair. What are you most excited about?

I’m excited that we’ll have so many people participating – Master Gardeners and Naturalists, the Refugee Collective, Austin Energy and more. The funds we raise in our silent auction (our only fundraising event of the year), will go towards maintaining our beehives – despite this summer’s drought, we hope to have a honey harvest in the spring – and supporting our other sustainability initiatives.

Parishioners explore the Creation Care Fair, Oct. 5, 2025.