Creation Justice Blog
News and Stories From Across the MovementSearch by topic for resources to help you make creation justice a priority in your community. We add new topics all the time so check back frequently!
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May 2025 Newsletter
As United Methodists there are many opportunities for us to take action and speak our values of Justice and Care for Creation into the world. This edition of our monthly update newsletter provides stories, resources and action alerts from United Methodist boards and agencies, Annual Conferences, and local congregations. We hope it inspires you to speak out and work within and beyond our church structures to make a difference too. Let us know what actions you are taking and how we can support you.
May 2025 Creation Justice Tips
The first commandment from our Creator was to “tend the garden.”The task of caring for creation may seem daunting, but especially when we do it together, we discover God in new ways. Share these Tips with your family, friends, and congregation. Choose any or all. Forward them to someone you care about. Cut-and-paste to put them with your email signature, in your letters and emails, worship bulletins, newsletters, social media, or website.May 2025 The Bible reminds us, “God saw everything God had made and indeed, it was very good”...
Last-Minute Tips for Earth Day
If you find yourself with no plans for observing this special day, no worries! Here are 10 things you can readily do by yourself, with family, or with a friend or two. Photo: pexels-allan-mas Share these Tips with your family, friends, and congregation. Choose any or all. Forward them to someone you care about. Cut-and-paste to put them with your email signature, in your letters and emails, worship bulletins, newsletters, social media, or website.Earth Day 2025 Immerse yourself in nature’s beauty. Take a walk wherever you can and look...
Creation Care Toolkit for Annual Conferences 2025
2025 brings us another season of conferencing for The United Methodist Church. Every annual conference brings opportunities to network, learn, and communicate together as conference leadership seeks to renew ministries for another year. During annual conference, there will be a number of opportunities to bring creation care concerns to the gathered people of the annual conference. These opportunities include proposed legislation, reports to the conference body, the conference ministry fair, special lunches or network opportunities. To help...
Virginia Climate Summit Gathers Leaders to Grow Passion for Creation
Cover image: Attendees listen during a workshop session at the Virginia Conference Climate Summit. Speakers came to Ashland, Virginia from within the conference as well as from surrounding states to share insights and expertise. Photo courtesy Rev. Ellen Comstock.By Rev. Richenda Fairhurst In March, the Virginia Annual Conference was the first of two to organize creation care-themed gatherings as United Methodists continue to call for moral action on climate justice. Offered as the Climate Summit: Hope in Action for Creation Justice, the...
UMCJM Worship Working Group: Believing into Christ Eastertide Launch and More to Come for Fall
By Rev. Laura Baumgartner We are excited to hear about so many congregations who are beginning to worship with the Eastertide worship series, Believing into Christ, for 2025. And it’s not too late to start! All materials are available here. Each of the six weeks has a different focus on an intersection between environmental justice and another form of justice. The lectionary texts from Revelation are paired with the gospel readings that tell stories of the Risen Christ. Resources for liturgy, communion, work with children and youth, small...
May 2025 Movement Café: Conference Green Teams
May Movement Café: Establishing or Renewing a Conference Green TeamMay 21, 2025 10am PT / 11am MT / 12pm CT / 1pm ETSponsored by the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement, the informal, virtual space of the Café facilitates conversation, connection, and community focused on creation care and justice issues.Establishing or Renewing a Conference Green Team With Annual Conference season beginning, we are gearing up a May Movement Cafe centering the work and efforts of annual conference green teams. (These can be called environmental...
Creation Justice Proposals at 2025 Annual Conferences
One of the tools available to United Methodists to take action on Creation Justice is the opportunity to propose legislation at their Annual Conferences each year. The Creation Justice Movement has created several model resolutions that build off of the actions at General Conference last year. We are tracking legislation that has been submitted thus far. If your conference will be considering legislation that is not listed below, please let us know at umcreationjustice@gmail.com. Southeastern Inviting Local Churches to Conserve Energy,...
Divestment Summit in Cal-Nevada Brings Action for Divestment
Speakers at the California Nevada Conference Divestment Summit shared prayer, expertise, and visuals in person as well as broadcast over zoom. Present in Sacramento were, left to right, top, Bishop Sandra Olewine; William H. Morris, keynote; Jake Barnett, Wespath; bottom, Dan Cohn, IEEFA; Julia Frisbie, Faith Foundation Northwest. Photos and compilation by Richenda Fairhurst.By Rev. Richenda Fairhurst A growing majority of people of faith are reclaiming biblical and faithful creation justice teaching for the church. This teaching is...
April 2025 Newsletter
The rapid dismantling of public agencies and services at the federal level coupled with unrelenting climate chaos is disturbing, disruptive, and sometimes overwhelming. It can be hard to know where to start. This newsletter is full of stories of ways United Methodists are taking action right where they are. We hope it will inspire your next step in your unique location. Here are a few ideas to get you started: Learn about the science of climate change and talk about it. Turn to the United Methodist Social Principles and other denominational...
Caretakers of God’s Creation—Wisdom From the First Coordinators
Interviewed by Rev. Richenda Fairhurst Across the denomination, annual conferences are naming those with a calling toward creation care to a new position established just last year at the 2024 General Conference. These essential new coordinators are the Caretakers of God’s Creation. The first ones are already in place, with many more to join them this summer, when United Methodists will name new Caretaker Coordinators at their annual conferences across the denomination. The United Methodist Creation Justice Movement (UMCJM) has been...
Developing a Green Team Steps for Success
“The Earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” – Psalm 24:1 1. Gather Your Core Team 🌱 Start with at least two or three committed individuals—Jesus said that’s enough for him to be present! Identify additional people passionate about creation care and justice, to join the team Seek out a mix of skills and interests, including advocacy, education, and hands-on sustainability efforts. Invite someone to commit to praying for the team’s mission and growth. 2. Engage Your Church Leadership ⛪ Talk to the pastor and church council about forming a...
Bonus Café/EnRoads Workshop
BONUS April Movement Café: EnRoads WorkshopRescheduled for Summer 2025 TBD 10am PT / 11am MT / 12pm CT / 1pm ETSponsored by the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement, the informal, virtual space of the Café facilitates conversation, connection, and community focused on creation care and justice issues.EnRoads WorkshopThis Workshop will create a space for green teams and conference leaders from across the denomination to investigate and plan for climate solutions in their contexts. EarthKeeper Bill Middlecamp will introduce the...
Protect the Protectors
By Rev. Dr. Becca Edwards Since the Trump Administration took office in January, we have heard many troubling announcements about changes made to the federal workforce. As United Methodists who feel called to work for a healthy environment and safe climate, perhaps the most troubling news has been the reduction of workforce and suspension of funding for research at two government agencies: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The EPA oversees regulations, enforcement of the...
April 2025 Movement Café: Resilience Hubs
April Movement Café: Resilience HubsApril 16th 2024 10am PT / 11am MT / 12pm CT / 1pm ETSponsored by the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement, the informal, virtual space of the Café facilitates conversation, connection, and community focused on creation care and justice issues.Resilience HubsLet's talk community resilience and climate change. Every church and every community from "safe havens" such as North Georgia, to known hot-zones such as Louisiana and Florida. At the April 16th Cafe, we will speak with those leading the resilience...
April 2025 Tips: Our Heart is Connected
The same letters, a definite connection!Heart/Earth—Earth/HeartAs Christians, we are to love God above all else.How do we show love to our Creator?By loving God’s Creation. Put your HEART into loving EARTH. Share these Tips with your family, friends, and congregation. Choose any or all. Forward them to someone you care about. Cut-and-paste to put them with your email signature, in your letters and emails, worship bulletins, newsletters, social media, or website.April 2025 Tips Remember that our creation justice work of restoration,...
March 2025 Creation Justice Newsletter
Beloved, how are you? The dark season of Lent that we will be traveling this month seems especially fitting during this time of unrelenting climate and political disruption. We hold onto the assurance that something new is even now waiting to be born. Spring will come. Easter is coming. In the meantime, during the chaos and uncertainty, I take great solace in the connections I have with so many amazing leaders in the growing UM Creation Justice Movement and the clarity and purpose we have found in our work together, including these in this...
Two Stories of Resilience
Palisades Fire, January 2025, from California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection CC BY-NC 2.0By Rev. Richenda Fairhurst The January Fires “Our communities can be resilient through the love that we show for one other.”—William Morris, Green Team leader and volunteerduring the January fires in Los Angeles.The word “resilience” pops up much more frequently in creation care circles than it used to. There’s a growing understanding that given our current direction, the next storm, the next fire, and the next heat wave may well be more...
March 2025 Tips: Consider the Lilies
Constantly bombarded with ads that promise a better, easier life, Christians find it challenging to remain faithful to the One who said, “Consider the lilies of the field…” and “Where your treasure is….” * To love God and neighbor, planet and people, cut through the noise with these practices. Share these Tips with your family, friends, and congregation. Choose any or all. Forward them to someone you care about. Cut-and-paste to put them with your email signature, in your letters and emails, worship bulletins, newsletters, social media, or...
Sanctuary From the Storm
Everlasting bonds of tenderness are forged amidst the hardness of life’s struggles, thanks be to you, that in my soul and the soul of every human being sacred hopes are hidden, longings for what has never been are heard and visions for earth’s peace and prosperity are glimpsed. —Sounds of the Eternal: A Celtic Psalter, by J Philip NewellOn this particularly cold winter day, spring seems far away. In the midst of unrelenting climate and political disruption, a world shaped by justice and peace feels nearly impossible to imagine. But I’m...
March 2025 Movement Café: The Science and Solutions of Climate Change
March Movement Café: The Science and Solutions of Climate ChangeMarch 19th 2024 10am PT / 11am MT / 12pm CT / 1pm ETSponsored by the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement, the informal, virtual space of the Café facilitates conversation, connection, and community focused on creation care and justice issues.The Science and Solutions of Climate ChangeFor the March Movement Cafe, join us as we focus in on the nuts and bolts of climate change. Our guest is UMC EarthKeeper Bill Middlecamp, who will take us through a presentation that gets to...
Eco-Missions: Greening Our Response to Disaster and Missions
The Western North Carolina Conference is blessed to have two Global Ministries EarthKeepers leading disaster recovery. Brian Mateer is the Director of Missional Engagement and the Conference Disaster Response Coordinator, and Ben Rogers is the Conference Mission Response Coordinator. As participants in the EarthKeepers training, they brought an environmentally focused idea and developed it into a plan of action. Brian’s project was to develop eco-focused mission trips for disaster recovery, and Ben’s project was to reduce the ecological...
Refugia and Resilience Hubs: An Emerging Response and Resources
Refugia, as a biological concept, are places in nature that survive and even grow amid severe “disturbance.” Resilience: the hardiness to withstand difficulties and to recover quickly.Resilience Hubs are an exciting unifying concept that is emerging in the climate movement and also bubbling up in our own Creation Justice Movement meetings and conversations. Resiliency Hubs are “energy efficient, community-serving places that have the resources and connections needed to support community members both in moments of crisis and in the everyday.”...
How to Take Next Steps Toward Divestment
“We see a lot of churches moving their money.” —Julia Frisbie, Executive Director of the Faith Foundation Northwest The February Café featuring Fossil Free UMC and speaking to the question of divestment was a big success. In the run-up to General Conference, thousands of United Methodists and supporters around the world, individually or as part of United Methodist churches, groups, and agencies signed a petition asking The United Methodist Church to divest from fossil fuels. Progress continues! Some key bullet points for quick answers are up...
February 2025 Newsletter
“The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). These are difficult times for people who seek peace, justice, and healing for our human family and for the whole community of life. In Los Angeles, as the devastating fires still smolder and toxins contaminate neighborhoods, rains threaten to bring landslides to the scarred earth. In Washington D.C., as the need for strong climate action increases, the new administration is canceling positive climate programs and has declared an “energy emergency” in pursuit...
Model Resolutions for Annual Conference Season, 2025
Annual conferences begin accepting submissions of resolutions and petitions as soon as February, 2025. Over the last few years, the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement’s Annual Conference Organizing Team has worked to get creation justice resolutions over the finish line by providing sample resolutions for conferences. Further, a number of resolutions were submitted to—and accepted by—the General Conference of The United Methodist Church in 2024. For the 2025 annual conference season, the next step for many will be to communicate this...
Progress Report on The United Methodist Church’s Goal of Net Zero
By Bob Downs In our 2024 General Conference, The United Methodist Church adopted two resolutions calling for the church to achieve net zero emissions of greenhouse gases. The first resolution, Recognizing United Methodist Support for Global Green New Deal Initiatives and Legislative Efforts, was originally drafted for the General Conference scheduled for 2020, and it addresses a variety of efforts to care for God’s creation. The second resolution, Commitment to Net-Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions, focuses on the denomination and...
Net Zero Needs Fossil Fuel Divestment
The Methodist Church in Britain, a connectional part of The United Methodist Church, divested from stocks in oil and gas in 2021. Photo credit: Baildon Methodist Church, West Yorkshire, by Tim Green, 2020, CC BY 2.0 By Jaydee Hanson The United Methodist Church cannot meet its net zero goals unless it diversifies from investments in fossil fuels. The net zero goals are targets that all of the agencies of the church and our bishops agreed to meet by 2050. This means that all of our activities as the church at a general level would have...
What If We Get It Right? A Book Review
During the 2024 General Conference of The United Methodist Church held in Charlotte, North Carolina, a group of United Methodist clergy and lay people joined an interfaith rally and march. The speakers, signs, and the short march called for an end to the big money funding of fossil fuels. Many of us with environmental concerns and a care for climate stewardship have come across the work of Dr. Anya Elizabeth Johnson. Her latest book, What If We Get It Right? continues the discussion of the much appreciated, All We Can Save, incorporating...
Next Step for UMC Net Zero Agencies: Divest from Fossil Fuels
By Sharon Delgado “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). In the above passage, Jesus tells us to value spiritual treasures above our material treasures. This passage also reminds us that how we use or invest our material treasures expresses our spiritual values, for “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” These words are especially relevant in the context of a rapidly heating planet. We United Methodists have a heart for God’s creation and for climate justice. As I write, the Los Angeles...