Dear Right Reverend Chane and Dean Lloyd, We, the undersigned, respectfully request that you reconsider your decision to close the Washington National Cathedral Greenhouse on June 29, 2008. It is our wish to keep the Greenhouse open as it is a vibrant spiritual, historic, ecological and educational resource for all who visit the Cathedral. The Cathedral Greenhouse serves six key functions 1. Liturgical and Educational: The Cathedral Greenhouse provides spiritual, historical and contextual education and enjoyment for the relationships of plants and growing cycles to the seasonal celebrations of the liturgical cycle of the church year. For example-the annual advent wreath workshops, herbs and greens, etc. 2. Financial: The Cathedral Greenhouse is a commercially viable resource of healthy indigenous plants at competitive prices which are not otherwise available and supports the gardens of the Cathedral grounds. The expense of shutting down operations and then, inevitably, restoring a greenhouse function to the Cathedral property has not been analyzed and any precipitate action would be inefficient and wasteful. 3. Historical and Authentic: Cathedral herb gardens and related greenhouses have been an integral part of the cathedral complex since the middle ages. 4. Stewardship and Global: In an era of awareness of global warming and mankind

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