Episcopal Church opens creation care grants with regional focus

The Episcopal Church relaunched its creation care grant program with applications due by October 26, 2025. The church will award grants up to $15,000 for projects in nature restoration, regenerative agriculture, climate advocacy, and environmental justice. This marks the first grant round since late 2024. The program now emphasizes alignment with the church's expanding eco-region framework, which includes 12 networks covering 55 Episcopal dioceses. Proposals will be evaluated by these regional networks and should demonstrate understanding of local environmental contexts, potential for partnership, and meaningful community involvement. The Rt. Rev. Cathleen Bascom, the church's eco-region network coordinator, noted the urgency of regional response to climate challenges including forest fires, water shortages, tornadoes, floods, and sea level rise. The General Convention endorsed the eco-region networks in 2024. Development of the Episcopal Eco-Region Network Initiative, now facilitated through partnership with the Center for Religion & Environment at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, has been a primary creation care focus under Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe. The Rev. Stephanie Johnson, a Connecticut priest and co-convener of the Episcopal Church Green Caucus, said the local-level grant model allows communities to address their specific environmental needs. The 2025-27 churchwide budget allocates $375,000 for creation care grants, with $125,000 per year.

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Source: Episcopal News Service — https://episcopalnewsservice.org/2026/08/18/episcopal-church-invites-applicants-for-creation-care-grants-with-new-emphasis-on-eco-regions/