Ramah
Presbyterian Website
The Charlotte Observer
HUNTERSVILLE - Ramah Presbyterian Church is into
nature.
How else to explain its birdhouses, owl boxes, nature trail,
wildlife workshops and hundreds of flowers planted for insects, butterflies and
birds? The church is the first in the state to be certified under a new N.C. Wildlife Federation program recognizing
congregations that also tend to nature.
FAITH, short for Fellowship Actions Impacting the Habitat,
recognizes churches that aim for wildlife-friendly habitats, whether with bird
feeders and fountains or daffodils and black-eyed Susans and their
life-sustaining nectar.
Founded in 1783, Ramah Presbyterian has 50 wooded acres in a
county known more for its congested highways and ozone watches.
Ramah (it's pronounced Rayma) volunteers planted flowers
that butterflies and Eastern bluebirds need for nourishment, with plans for
more. Five baby house finches sleep in their nest in a hanging fern on the
porch of the education building.
It recently put up an Eastern screech owl nesting box on the
grounds and one for the Northern Flicker woodpecker.
"We packed shavings into it as hard as we could,"
said member Alen Baker, also a federation vice president. Flickers don't like
their nests for free, he said. They'd rather work for them.
The church, which has 240 members, will hoist barred owl
boxes 15 feet up in trees. Baker and others will ring the church cemetery with
bluebird boxes.
And they'll improve the rough-hewn nature trail originally carved
out for an Eagle Scout project, turning it into an "interpretive
trail" with signs identifying trees and other plants, Baker said.
Observer photographer Gayle Shomer and I walked the grounds
last week with Baker and Tim Gestwicki, federation regional director in
Charlotte.
"I would be willing to bet 80 to 100 different species
of birds could be documented on this site," Gestwicki said.
"You're hearing three or four right now," Baker
said, looking up at a stand of trees.
It was great to get into the woods and its cooling canopy
and cross a wooden bridge over a creek that's part of the Yadkin River
watershed.
But a church doesn't need dozens of acres to be in the
program, Gestwicki said. Even a small churchyard in an urban setting will do.
Myers Park Baptist, for instance, is considering the program, he said.
Churches could create native-plant worship gardens,
bluebird-box trails, butterfly gardens and meditation areas, he said. Gestwicki
hopes to coax pastors into incorporating a wildlife message in stewardship
sermons.
To survive, Gestwicki said, birds, insects, chipmunks and
other creatures "all need food, water, cover and places for their young.
The same things we do."
More About FAITH - For more information, contact Tim Gestwicki,
N.C. Wildlife Federation Deputy Director of Conservation Programs,
at (704) 332-5696 or by e-mail at tim@ncwf.com . The federation is an affiliate of the National
Wildlife Federation and previously started wildlife programs geared to N.C.
industries, schools and homeowners.