Maplewood is a green town — from its government to its residents to its businesses. Even the houses of worship here are green.

Yes, the Almighty One has gone green too in Maplewood (wasn't He/She always anyway?). Recently, Morrow Memorial United Methodist Church was accepted into the GreenFaith Certification Program for Religious Institutions.

A recent press release from Morrow Church describes GreenFaith's Certification Program as the nation’s first interfaith environmental certification program for houses of worship. Morrow joins St. Andrew and Holy Communion Episcopal Church and Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel — both in South Orange — as a participant in the national program.

“These efforts are geared towards helping us take account of what we are already doing to care for and promote better care of Godʼs good creation through our action, education and advocacy,” said Rev. Chris Heckert, Senior Pastor at Morrow. “As a vital congregation in the Maplewood/South Orange community, we are excited to take steps toward better stewardship of our resources, while modeling it for the greater community.”

Fred Profeta, former Deputy Mayor for the enviroment, founder of Sustainable Jersey and president of EcoMatters LLC, is on the GreenFaith committee at Morrow.

To gain GreenFaith certification, houses of worship earn recognition as environmental leaders by carrying out more than two dozen environmental activities over two years. Throughout the process, GreenFaith provides extensive support through webinars, a list-serve, web-based resources, and support from GreenFaith staff.

So just how does a house of worship go green?

Since 1992, GreenFaith says it has been helping religious institutions with everything from eco-themed worship services and religious education to ‘green’ facility management and environmental justice advocacy.

“This Program is a challenging, important way for houses of worship to become environmental leaders,” said the Rev. Fletcher Harper, GreenFaith’s Executive Director.  “As Morrow Memorial Church goes through the Program, their members will experience the transformation that comes from sharing a religious commitment to Creation.”