Rhonda Miller noted the land on which Ascension Lutheran Church is located offers all kinds of possibilities.

She and her fellow congregants are doing their best to fulfill that potential in a responsible manner.

On Sunday, April 27, the church will celebrate the completion of a project designed to benefit the environment and will host a community event in the afternoon.

A formal Blessing of the Greening Project will take place at 9 a.m. as part of the Sunday worship at the church, which is located at 600 E. Penn Grant Road, Willow Street.

The community and anyone who has been involved with the on-site work is invited to attend. Miller said the ceremony signifies the completion of a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) Crescendo Grant Stewardship Greening program to reduce mowing and storm water runoff and provide a pollinator pathway. Seventy-seven native shrubs and trees and approximately 2,000 native plants were placed in newly created beds.

Remittance of mown grass began in March 2024, with planting completed in October of that year. Waxwing EcoWorks served as contractor. Stroud Water Research Center assisted with a Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) grant to place 120 tree seedlings along Ascension Lutheran's eastern property border as a buffer for P68, a stream that runs through an adjoining field.

The project included an approximately 700-square-foot west wall of wet sedge meadow, a 1,500-square-foot parking lot pollinator garden, a 1,000-square-foot winter interest welcoming garden, and a variety of native trees and shrubs for a parking lot island.

Miller, who spearheaded the project, said the goal was to add beautiful, native, semiformal gardens for community enjoyment, education, and wildlife support; create a naturalistic style planting that doesn't require continuous wood mulching; and foster congregation engagement and education.

As part of his Eagle Scout project in the spring of 2024, current Lampeter-Strasburg High School senior Riley Kurau placed birdhouses and a kestrel box in conjunction with the greening efforts. "Our goal is to reduce the green desert we were mowing and be better stewards of the land in our possession," Miller said. "We worked closely with Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake and Lancaster Clean Water Partners."

The Community Environmental Event will run from 1 to 3 p.m. and feature three speakers. Mike Hudson, the Lancaster coordinator for Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake, will talk about "Sacred Waters of the Chesapeake." Alex Cooper of Lancaster Clean Water Partners will deliver a presentation on "Stream Delisting," and Matthew Carlson, an associate pastor of Akron Mennonite Church and coordinator for Creation Justice Ministries, will also give an address.

Weather permitting, there will be outdoor hands-on activities and environmental displays.

"(The church) got involved with Interfaith Partners of the Chesapeake almost two years ago," said Miller, who was introduced to the group through the Lancaster Conservancy. "They are the people who directed the project we did and helped us with the federal grant initially."

Holding the events at the church is an integral part of Interfaith's mission. "Interfaith Partners of the Chesapeake encourages you to make the people of the congregation more aware of being good land stewards," said Miller. "Make the community aware of what is going on and maybe the other churches will get interested. ... (Interfaith's) outreach is important here because we are at the head of a lot of the watershed for the Chesapeake Bay. Churches are a big part of helping the watershed for the Chesapeake. It's amazing what places of faith have done to help the environment."

New grants will be available, and Miller plans to learn more and possibly apply for them. "There are other things on the property we could definitely do," said Miller, who would like to add a water garden and build a pathway from the parking lot to the memorial garden.

"We would be happy to do more, but that was a start for the congregation," she said.