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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December 2024 Movement Café: Advent Worship
December Movement Café: Advent WorshipDecember 18th 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.Advent Worship The December 2024 Movement Café offered an online worship opportunity with the theme, “Tending to Advent: Preparing the Way.” This service of word and music was offered to nourish our spirits and help us tend our souls. The texts for the...
COP29 Wraps Up – Faith in Stories From the COP
Photo credit: COP29 at Baku: Photo by Paul Kagame CC BY-NC-ND 2.0The United Nations’ Council of the Parties (COP29) began on November 12th, the 29th gathering of global leaders, envoys, corporations, non-governmental organizations, and people of faith. Decisions made at COP affect every living thing on the planet, but these decisions especially affect hundreds of millions of the most vulnerable. The talks wrapped up on November 25, three days later than scheduled. The delay was caused by lack of consensus as the most powerful, and most...
The Big Silence 2024
The Big Silence A 4-Day Mostly Silent Retreat January 13–16, 2025July 20–23, 2025www.TheBigSilence.orgThanksgiving to New Year’s Day often feels like a sprint from one activity to the next until you stumble into the new year exhausted and in need of a big deep breath—physically and spiritually. Do you have a plan to recalibrate for 2025? Plan now to come to The Big Silence Retreat, January 13–16, 2025 at the beautiful St. Francis Springs Prayer Center in Stoneville, NC. Now in its 13th year, this retreat is co-led by two United Methodist...
December 2024 Tips
The famous “three” were attuned to nature and saw in a star-studded sky the one that would guide them to travel—most likely bringing with them support folks, family, and friends—to One who was worthy of their efforts. They brought their gifts as an expression of worship. And they went home another way to keep the Precious One safe. May our journey to this Christmas be filled with such wisdom. 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...
November 2024 Newsletter
In October we were so fortunate to have a Movement Café featuring the good work of United Methodist institutions of theological education in relation to creation justice. We learned about the creative and difference-making curricular and co-curricular programs at four of our United Methodist schools of theology—Boston University School of Theology, Drew Theological School, Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary, and Methodist Theological School of Ohio. Their programs are representative of excellent creation justice work being done at...
4th Annual Fall Festival: Saint Matthews UMC Greensboro, NC
By Karlah Burton On Saturday, October 5, 2024, the Creation Care Ministry at Saint Matthews UMC, hosted a fall festival—an Earth advocacy/healthy eating based fair. In 2023, SMUMC became a commissioned “Green Church” as designated by the Western NC Conference. The Green Church Initiative of the Western NC Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church suggests (Item B-7, Discipleship) that participating churches host a creation care fair inviting outside organizations to do displays and booths that help raise awareness. This year the list...
November 2024 Movement Café
November Movement Café: Relationship, life, and Practice in Regenerative Monastic Community with Elaine HeathNovember 20th 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.Relationship, life, and Practice in Regenerative Monastic Community with Elaine HeathRead more about the Café and Spring Forest HERE and on UM Insight, Missional United Methodist...
We Are Not Alone: Our 50 Year Journey to Eden
By John Pitney 50 years ago, September 28, 1974, Debbie and I were married in a ceremony with way too many clergy, down by the duck pond on our seminary campus, the Methodist Theological School in Ohio (MTSO). Surrounded by a sacred human community of seminary students and faculty with family gathered from far flung coasts, we sang our songs, vowed our vows, placed rings on the proper fingers and shared the joy of our first wedded kiss. In that Garden we got our start, hand-in-hand before the altar of a gnarled stump made wise by its...
Drew Theological School’s Commitment to Creation Justice
By Albarka Wakili At Drew Theological School, Creation Justice is a core value—an intentional, lived practice that shapes student engagement, faith formation, and community outreach. Through the leadership of the international, multi-racial, and gender-inclusive student group TERRA (Transforming Environmental and Religious Resources into Action) and the Drew Theo Community Garden, we aim to nurture a deeper understanding of God’s creation and emphasize our shared responsibility to care for it. This semester has been especially...
November 2024 Tips: Give Thanks!
November brings the anticipation of the day set aside for turkey and all the fixin’s, family, and football. However, turn around the words to become “giving thanks,” and discover new possibilities. We are invited to live every day—not just one—with an “attitude of gratitude.” That invitation also bids us turn our attitude into action—for which, others will also be giving thanks. 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...
October 2024 Newsletter
In a little over a month families will gather for Thanksgiving. Many families and friends will be on pins and needles hoping the conversation does not turn divisive. The bitter divide in our nation has damaged families and churches, in part, because we have confused being partisan for doing politics. The word politics rises from the Greek word for village or city. Politics in its best form is reasoned, civil conversations seeking the greatest good for the whole community. In that sense, the Gospel is deeply political. We are called in our...
Reckoning Methodism. A Review.
By Rev. Richenda Fairhurst Title: Reckoning Methodism: Mission and Division in the Public Church. Imprint: Cascade Books, from Wipf and Stock Publishers From the publisher: Reckoning Methodism addresses the brokenness of The United Methodist Church (UMC) in the United States. …Constructively, this book seeks historical clarity, collective repentance, charismatic learning, and institutional courage as United Methodists reckon with inherited animosities and divisions. This book provides no answers or programmatic fixes. Rather, it...
Social Holiness and Energy Transformation
by Richenda Fairhurst In the meeting tent, outside the veil that hangs in front of the covenant document, Aaron and his sons will tend the lamp from evening to morning in the Lord’s presence. It will be a permanent regulation for the Israelites in every generation. Exodus 27:20-21From its beginning, Methodism has been about how to be in the world, but not of the world. The endeavor for Wesley meant reaching as many people as possible with a message of salvation—that we as humans are so beloved by God, that God reaches for us, that God is even...
Energy Options and Environmental Stewardship
by Richenda Fairhurst The energy we choose to power our homes, churches, and lives have a direct impact on life on planet Earth—God’s Earth. If we choose dirty fuels, the mess we make will last far beyond our lifetimes.In an earlier post, I introduced some basics about how the idea of “net zero” came together and what it means. To quickly re-cap: The carbon in the Earth’s atmosphere has increased over the last 150 years from 280ppm to over 420ppm. As a result, the planet is warming and this warming is having dire effects: melting ice caps,...
Politics, Methodists, & Environmental Holiness
Slides by Rev. Keith Sexton from the September 2024 Movement Café on Politics, Methodists, & Environmental HolinessLinks Slide 3: https://democrats.org/where-we-stand/party-platform/combating-the-climate-crisis-and-pursuing-environmental-justice/ Slide 4: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/2024-republican-party-platform Slide 8: https://democrats.org/where-we-stand/party-platform/combating-the-climate-crisis-and-pursuing-environmental-justice/ Slide 9:...
An Environmental Holiness Quiz
By Darryl W. StephensWhat do you know about environmental holiness? Try this quiz before reading any further. There may be more than one right answer per question. After completing the quiz above, how do you think you did? Methodists have proclaimed a strong environmental witness through much of our history, from stewardship and conservation to creation care and environmental holiness. Let’s explore the theology behind this witness to equip your ministry within the community of creation. Ellen Ott Marshall coined the phrase...
October 2024 Movement Café
October Movement Café: Creation Justice and UMC Seminaries and Higher EducationOctober 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.Creation Justice in UMC Seminaries and Higher Education Dr. Tim Van Meter is an Associate Professor at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio (MTSO) where he also serves as the Coordinator for Ecological Initiatives....
Casting Our Votes with Creation Justice in Mind
The upcoming election with candidates running at all levels, from President to City Council Member, is an opportunity to be mindful of how our voting can impact care for God’s good creation. In this article you will find a description of key provisions related to creation justice just passed at the UMC 2024 General Conference. You will then find a table that compares the creation justice stances on key issues of the two presidential candidates with documentation in the dropdowns. After the table, there are words of encouragement and practical...
Blessing of the Ballots – Four Prayers
by Rev. Richenda Fairhurst Getting Started. Prayer of invocation: Divine One, God of All and Bringer of Life, your Earth is a wonder of crystal water, pine forests, and wind-swept plains. In a moment I will mark my ballot. Grant me a heart of faith and discernment as I participate in this public process of voting. Let the light rise within me. Amen. Delivering your Ballot. Prayer at the ballot box: Creator, Deliverer, Light of lights. As I post/submit my ballot, let there be hope! Bless this ballot and the ballots of my...
October 2024 Tips: Scary Things/Hope & Action
Life has always been filled with scary things. From ancient times festivals have helped humanity manage what is frightening, including death. With Christianity came All Hallows Day, also known as All Saints Day (November 1) and All Souls Day (November 2) venerating the martyrs and all who have died. Preceding those was All Hallows Day Evening or Halloween, as it came to be called. The festivities provide a time to laugh in the face of fear and to take away its power. Climate change and the degradation of our world are super scary. Yet as...
September 2024 Newsletter
Did you know that in the 1980s there were 5 staff members at the General Board of Church and Society (GBCS) who worked on issues of Environmental Justice full time? And, in 1986 there were 46 people who chaired Environmental Justice efforts in United Methodist conferences. At this last August Movement Café, Jaydee Hanson spoke about his own role at GBCS at that time as manager of a program called Environmental Justice and Planetary Survival. However, at the end of the 1990s, program funding was cut and most staff positions were eliminated. As...
Net Zero & Why the New Caretakers Coordinator Really Matters to Its Success
During the 2024 General Conference of The United Methodist Church, creation care legislation approved by delegates brought net-zero commitments into church law and polity. The denomination added new guides and imperatives into both the Book of Resolutions and the Book of Discipline, passing the General Conference committees and plenary by whopping margins: 85% and 91%. Two key priorities emerged: a pledge of support to achieve net zero and the mandate to establish a Caretakers of God’s Creation Coordinator position in every annual conference....
September 2024 Tips: Time to Come Clean—and Green
To “come clean” usually means to ’fess up about something not so good, so that you can make a “clean break” and begin again in a more positive direction. Sometimes the reveal comes from learning something new that sparks a desire to do better—for God’s sake. Perhaps these Tips will help you come clean. 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...
Caretakers of God’s Creation – A New Creation Care Coordinator for Each Annual Conference in the United Methodist Church
A renewed mission for creation justice is blooming in The United Methodist Church. During General Conference 2024 in Charlotte, North Carolina, legislation was enacted by delegates from across the denomination to raise creation care and justice to its rightful place as a key mission and ministry of the church. In support of this, a key legislative mandate goes into effect on January 1st, 2025. A new addition to the Book of Discipline, under Section IX. The Annual Conference then ¶ 629.1 & 2, calls for every annual conference to name a...
September 2024 Movement Café
September Movement Café: Politics, Methodists, and Environmental HolinessSeptember 18th 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.Politics, Methodists, and Environmental HolinessResources from the Café An Environmental Holiness Quiz Politics, Methodists, & Environmental Holiness Slides Learn more about the Creation Justice Movement and the...
September BONUS Movement Café
September Bonus Movement Café: Faith Votes and the EnvironmentSeptember 12th 2024 2pm PT / 3pm MT / 4pm CT / 5pm 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.Faith Votes and the Environment Thank you to all who made our September 12th conversation on faithful voting a success! The conversation started with Mike Kennedy, Faith Votes Campaign Manager for Interfaith Power and Light, who walked...
August 2024 Newsletter
Beloveds! In the past week our planet has experienced the two highest recorded temperatures on record. Especially in the context of privilege, suffering through a few nights of heat is relatively painless. We must learn to leverage our community for the sake of reliance and solidarity with those on the front lines of climate justice. It’s not often what we think of on Sunday morning, or whenever we commune with the Creator. I’ve become more deeply committed to normalizing care and concern for creation as a part of the worship and work of...
August 2024 Movement Café
August Movement Café: Caretakers of God’s Creation Annual Conference PositionAugust 21st 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.Caretakers of God’s Creation Annual Conference Position The August Movement Café enjoyed great hope and energy around a new key position in every conference in The United Methodist Church: a Caretaker of God’s Creation...
Preaching Voices of Creation in Scripture
By Rev. Dr. Nancy Victorin-Vangerud…Let’s listen how this planet hums with so much wing, fur and fin. –Aimee Nezhukumatathil¹In a recent post on his blog “Creator, Creature, Collards,” pastor and agrarian theologian Rev. Jerrod Davis passes on advice gleaned from Dr. Katharine Heyhoe, chief scientist with the Nature Conservatory and author of the highly acclaimed Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World.2 As an evangelical Christian, Hayhoe communicates with people from diverse religious perspectives...
Season of Creation 2024 Worship Materials Available Now
The Worship Team is excited to announce that there is a new worship series for Season of Creation 2024 available in the Resource Library! “First Fruits and Fig Trees: To Hope and Act with Creation” is a 5-week series, complete with prayers, calls, benedictions, a communion liturgy, sermon notes, worship planning ideas, a devotional guide, children’s moment resources, music suggestions, an invitation to participate in a chant with the whole connection, and much more. Designed to be used in September 2024, the series picks up on the ecumenical...