As temperatures rise and extreme weather events grow more common, the consequences of climate change can begin to feel overwhelming. “Oftentimes it just seems like such an enormous thing to have to think about,” said Reverend Shada Sullivan, pastor at The Church of the Holy City, in Wilmington, Delaware. “What can we as individuals do about this issue?”

Sullivan’s congregation is answering this question through thoughtful and solutions-oriented church programming—and it’s not the only one.

Here’s how the Church of the Holy City and three other historic churches, each funded by the National Fund for Sacred Places—a program of Partners for Sacred Places in collaboration with the National Trust for Historic Preservation—are turning their properties into refuges for plant and animal life, as well as for congregants and community members, amid escalating threats from climate change.

The Church of the Holy City (Wilmington, Delaware)

An open and affirming ministry of The Swedenborgian Church of North America, The Church of the Holy City prides itself on offering welcoming spaces for neighborhood pollinators.

“In our tradition, we have a deep respect for nature,” explained Reverend Shada Sullivan.

That respect for nature made the idea of planting native and insect-friendly plants attractive to the congregation when Sacred Grounds Wilmington, a collaborative program between the National Wildlife Federation and Delaware- and Wilmington-based organizations, was just starting.

That program helps faith communities install wildlife habitats on their grounds. The Church of the Holy City was one of two pilot sites. The program has since expanded to over 20 sites citywide. “The program created an infrastructure for supporting congregations specifically on that journey towards creating an area of wildlife habitat,” said Sullivan.

The Church of the Holy City’s sun garden and two shade gardens dot the grounds around its nineteenth-century stone building, which had to be taken apart and reconstructed in the early twentieth century as Wilmington grew. The church received a grant from the National Fund for Sacred Places in 2024 to help replace degrading masonry and mitigate water infiltration that was endangering many of its stained-glass windows.

St Peter’s–San Pedro Episcopal Church (Salem, Massachusetts)

This Episcopal church in Salem has been serving locals for almost three centuries. Founded in 1733, its multicultural and bilingual congregation now gathers in a building dating to the early nineteenth century. A 2023 grant from the National Fund for Sacred Places will help the church fund needed repairs to its historic building.

St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church (New Orleans, Louisiana)

"Places of worship have a calling to help people in need, and they also have traditionally served their neighborhoods," Meriwether said. "The congregations also serve as a reservoir of volunteer folk who come out and actually open these places up [after a storm]."

A 2019 grant from the National Fund for Sacred Places helped St. Charles's congregation preserve its space and prepare for extreme weather by funding repairs to the building's envelope, which were completed in 2024.

Christ on Capitol Hill (St. Paul, Minnesota)

Scandinavian immigrants first organized what would become Christ on Capitol Hill in St. Paul in 1868. The congregation moved into a Beaux-Arts style building in 1915, across the street from the Minnesota State Capitol. In 2024, the church received a grant from the National Fund for Sacred Places to support rehabilitation to prevent wall deterioration and improve safety and public access to its historic building.

Visitors, both human and insect, also come to Christ on Capitol Hill to enjoy its vibrant gardens, packed with native plants.

Congregation members Sharon Hardy and Roger Hardy, a couple who joined the church when they moved to Twin Cities about 15 years ago, care for the gardens. “We are both farm kids, so working with soil and gardening...is kind of in our blood,” Roger said.

It was Sharon, a master gardener, who decided to plant more native perennials. “We recognize that there are a lot of different species that are endangered, monarch butterflies being one of them, and we want to do our part to make our space more climate-friendly and make the world a better place,” she said.

The couple estimates there are now over 40 native plant species growing in the church gardens, including milkweed, where monarch butterflies lay their eggs each year.