News and Views

 

By Melissa Lauber

Campers at West River United Methodist Center planted hundreds of clumps of marsh grasses along the riverside Aug. 3, putting the finishing touches on a Living Shoreline project, the first project of Maryland’s Resiliency Through Restoration Initiative.

 On hand were Maryland’s Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford, Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources Secretary Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio, Kate Fritz of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, and Anne Arundel County leaders to cut the ribbon on their innovative environmental project that has been six years in the making.

 Overseeing the Living Shoreline project were Chris Schlieckert, the Director of Camping and Retreat Ministries for the Baltimore-Washington Conference, and environmental specialists and engineers from Underwood and Associates, a company that specializes in landscape architecture and ecological restoration, and representatives from Sustainable Science.

“In recent years, West River has taken on a new ministry of caring for creation as a response to God’s call to stewardship and justice. The Living Shoreline project transforms the waterfront in ways that will bring renewed health and wellbeing to the riverscape and the Chesapeake Bay,” said the Rev. Tony Love, who delivered remarks on behalf of Bishop LaTrelle Easterling.

The Living Shoreline replaces a wooden bulkhead. Now, instead of standing as a barrier between the soil and water, the shoreline and adjoining waste-water management area will actively engage the water using cutting-edge best practices in the environmental field that are designed to work with nature, not against it, Schlieckert explained.

The cobble beach, vegetated breakwater, and other components will provide resiliency for the camp against sea-level rise, combat erosion, and establish vital habitats for species. It also celebrates and contributes to the beauty of creation.

The $1.2 million initiative, paid for with state money, was a model of collaboration between the church, government, and nonprofits. The 885-feet of Living Shoreline and the 430-feet stormwater conveyance system were designed for the future of climate change and addressing the challenges of rising tidal waters and increasingly severe storms, Rutherford said. The West River project was the first of 15 resiliency projects in Maryland to break ground.

“The work you’re doing here today,” Haddaway-Riccio told the campers, “is more than planting a plant and moving a stone. You are restoring the Chesapeake Bay in a significant way.”

Throughout the summer, campers at West River have focused on the theme of “The Water of Life,” touching on their baptism, Jesus providing living water and the sacred gift of water in the world today. Schlieckert said.

Each camper has been encouraged to grow in their relationship with God, self, neighbor, and nature, said Schlieckert. Creating the Living Shoreline has encouraged this growth, which will continue as campers return home to their communities.

The BWC’s Retreat and Camping Ministries’ commitment to the environment “is a witness to possibility,” Love said. “The Living Shoreline is a cornerstone for increased stewardship efforts and a wake-up call for us, as individuals and churches, to increase our practice of social and environmental holiness as we continue to care for God’s creation.”