Written by: Irene Ross
The mission statement of the Sisters of St. Joseph, Brentwood, is: Empowered by God's love, rooted in the Gospel of Jesus, and faithful to the vision of one sacred Earth community, we live and work to bring all into union with God and one another.
A recent tour of their 212-acre Brentwood property highlighted just how much their ecology reflects that philosophy. The Sisters of St. Joseph properties are known for ecological initiatives as well as a garden ministry, a solar farm, wetlands, woodlands, pine barrens and much more.
Members of the Creation Care Community visited on October 4, St. Francis Day, to round out the Season of Creation.
There were three main takeaways from the visit.
1. The Sisters have an interesting history.
The Sisters of St. Joseph order was founded in France 375 years ago, but was disbanded with the suppression of religious orders following the 1789 French Revolution. It was re-founded in 1807.
In 1836, the Sisters of St. Joseph arrived in Missouri to teach deaf children. Eventually they opened schools, colleges, hospitals and order houses around the U.S., including Brentwood, L.I., in 1896.
The Sisters have always focused on prayer and service to all people, without distinction. Currently, there are Sisters of St. Joseph in 50 countries.
2. SSJ Brentwood combines traditional values with modern technology for the most efficient preservation and conservation.
On our tour, we saw:
- A constructed wetland, an innovative water treatment system. Wetland basins filter untreated water and draws out nitrogen before it gets absorbed into the groundwater.
- A solar array, made up of 3,192 solar panels, which supplies about 63% of the SSJ Brentwood campus’ electricity.
- A rain garden, which captures the runoff from rooftop water drains and parking lot/roadway storm drains. Underground filters remove toxins to create fresh, clean water that irrigates flowers, shrubs, and food produce.
- farms, gardens, and a meadow. SSJ operate their own Garden Ministry. They grow vegetables, herbs, flowers, and fruits, and raise bees and chickens, providing for those in need. They also lease plots of land to individual farmers and organizations. A meadow created from former lawn space is filled with native grasses and provides a habitat for wildlife.
- A cemetery in which they practice green burials – i.e., without embalming – which returns the body to the earth more naturally. The SSJ cemetery, interestingly, includes an unmarked burial plot for members of the Shinnecock Nation whose remains were returned by the federal government.
3. “Dear Neighbor” is central to the spirituality of the SSJ. It is living God’s love to all without any hesitation or debate.
A core commandment of Jesus is “love your neighbor as yourself.” Even in planting both native and non-native flora, SSJ shows deep respect and concern for neighbors, especially the Indigenous community on Long Island.
We invite you to explore the Brentwood SSJ property for yourself.
About The Creation Care Community
The Creation Care Community of the Diocese of Long Island consists of individuals who share a care for creation and a commitment to finding ways, as Christians, to address environmental degradation and climate change.
We in the Diocese of Long Island are called to act. Without intentional action we will heedlessly contribute to the destruction of the environment and to climate change.
The CCCDLI Leadership team assists in the formation of parish Green Teams to lead the work of fulfilling this mission and spreading the word about how to respond to the climate crisis. We are also actively engaged in expanding solar energy use, reducing waste, and increasing tree cover throughout the Diocese.
Story submitted by the Creation Care Community of the Diocese of Long Island.