St. George Pollinator Garden Designated Monarch Waystation

On Friday morning, March 20, the St. George Church and School dedicated its Seeds of Hope Pollinator Garden with the help of St. George Church Rector Ram Lopez, St. George School administrators, St. George School Ambassadors, Creation Care ministry members, and parents. At that event, the Creation Care ministry presented a Certificate of Recognition as Monarch Waystation #55002. The certificate says in part “Monarch Waystations provide critical resources for monarchs throughout their annual cycle of reproduction and migration.” Those of us who worked in the garden last spring actually watched as three monarch butterflies emerged from chrysalises on the same workday! How did the garden come about?

EPISCOPAL COVENANT TO CARE FOR CREATION

In Jesus, God so loved the whole world. We follow Jesus, so we love the world God loves. Concerned about the global climate emergency, drawing from a range of approaches for our diverse contexts, we commit to form and restore loving, liberating, life-giving relationships with all of Creation.

LOVING FORMATION

For God’s sake, we will grow our love for the Earth and all of life through preaching, teaching, storytelling, and prayer.  The Seeds of Hope Garden provides a living classroom and sanctuary where these activities can unfold for church and school

LIBERATING ADVOCACY

For God’s sake, standing alongside marginalized, vulnerable peoples, we will advocate and act to repair Creation and seek the liberation and flourishing of all people.   (I see this lived out in the community garden that we visioned)

LIFE-GIVING CONSERVATION

For God’s sake, we will adopt practical ways of reducing our climate impact and living more humbly and gently on Earth as individuals, households, congregations, institutions, and dioceses. Seeds of Hope serves to contribute meaningfully to this goal as well as serving as a model for SG community to follow in their own lives and homes

In the spring of 2024, a group of parishioners at St. George Church in San Antonio began to brainstorm what a Creation Care Ministry would look. After dismissing overly ambitious plans like starting a community vegetable garden and building a prayer garden with labyrinth, we settled on starting a pollinator garden to draw butterflies, bees, bugs, and birds.  Fr. Ram Lopez suggested we refurbish a straggly, sloping piece of ground between the Leadership Center and the sanctuary, where the great numbers of people passed every day. Appropriately, Fr. Ram suggested the name Seeds of Hope Pollinator Garden, a “seed” was planted, and the unattractive piece of ground became our project.

After developing a budget, we decided we needed to seek additional funding to supplement community donations, so we applied for a United Thank Offering grant. To our astonishment, UTO selected the St. George Pollinator Garden as a grantee!  

We created a plan to terrace the slope into three levels, divide the levels with limestone blocks, dig up the clay ground, fold in mulch and compost, and plant Texas native plants that would draw critters. Lots of hard work continued throughout the summer of 2025, into the next school year, and into 2026.

Many hands contributed to the work to create the garden including the St. George Scout Troop, the Creation Care Ministry volunteers, and the St. George School and Church parents and staff. Other people who could not physically work in the garden donated funds to the effort.  

Any gardener knows the work to maintain the garden’s health is not over. Many devoted stewards continue to assist in providing a habitat for critters that all contribute to God’s kingdom.

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