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!
Most Recent
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...
August 2024 Tips: Plastic is Everywhere—Litter-ally.
Some plastic is helpful. BUT… The harm done by microplastics infiltrating our air, food, water, and even dust is increasingly recognized. Yet, recent rulings are hampering the federal regulating bodies charged with public safety, and thefossil-fuel industryplans to expand plastic production. We need to look out for Earth, our neighbors, ourselves, and our future. and continue to work for change. 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...
July 2024 Newsletter
Annual Conference Season swept over The United Methodist Church with goodwill overflowing from the General Conference session, newly forming relationships and connections, and a joy for justice. For the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement, this joy found expression in creation and environmental stewardship legislation across the jurisdictions. In this issue, read about how the church-roots of Methodism are rising with enthusiasm to care for this good Earth, our home. Many annual conferences submitted and passed resolutions to further...
Adventures of an Eco-Gal
Sara Nussel offers this celebration of the plastic recycling eco-project at her Florida UMC. My motto: God is Green! That’s the bumper sticker on the back of my Chevy Bolt. I like to talk about all things "green" that are happening in my life and, hopefully, encourage others to do the same. This includes my brothers and sisters at my church, Southwest UMC in Gainesville, Florida. Recently we started saving plastic film to earn a bench for our church garden. We are in partnership with a company called Trex that takes plastic film and wood...
How to Develop an Effective Green Team
So, the Green Team Formation resolution passed, and you are wondering where to start or how to strengthen your church’s green team… How to Develop an Effective Green Team, offered by BeADisciple.com and led by Crys Zinkiewicz, may be your answer. Set for August 12–16, this online microcourse begins with a three-hour Zoom class that covers— Why Christians Care—The Very First Commandment (Genesis 2:15) Hope and Action—Me Power/We Power Getting Started—Engage, Empower, Encourage What YOU Can Do—Ideas and Planning Tools Over the next four...
Creation Justice & Divestment in the Western Jurisdiction: A Run Down From Annual Conference Season 2024
Rev. Richenda Fairhurst offers creation care and divestment materials at the ministry fair during the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference. Photo by Patrick Scriven for the PNW Conference.2024 has been a busy time for United Methodists seeking action on the climate crisis and environmental stewardship. Church members in local churches are stepping up and bringing big legislation to The United Methodist Church to create accountability structures as well as to inspire leadership. They are also creating pathways to bring creation care resources...
Revised Social Principles Focus on “Community of All Creation”
By Darryl W. Stephens“God is in all things, . . . and is, in a true sense, the soul of the universe.” —John WesleyThe Revised Social Principles document approved by General Conference 2024 boosts The United Methodist Church’s environmental witness. From warnings about global warming and fossil fuel dependency to sustainable practices and affirmation of science and traditional wisdom, there is much to celebrate in this newest version of Methodism’s Social Principles. The 2024 Social Principles is a complete revision of the UMC’s most...
2024 Annual Conference Creation Justice Updates
2024 has been a busy time for United Methodists seeking action on the climate crisis and environmental stewardship. Many annual conferences submitted and passed resolutions to further the effort in their regions. United Methodists also held workshops, cheered on youth and reporting teams, celebrated grant funding and energy improvements, and at least two, Virginia and California-Nevada, plan summits upcoming this year. A number of the conferences have also begun grappling with the issue of divestment, withdrawing funds from companies whose...
July 2024 Movement Café
July Movement Café: Season of Creation Worship ResourcesJuly 17th 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.Season of Creation Worship Resources The July Movement Cafe was all about Worship Resources for Season of Creation. Rev. Laura Baumgartner led the discussion and fellow panelists included Rev. Paul Mitchell, Rev. Richenda Fairhurst and Ann...
July 2024 Tips: Second Thoughts
“But we’ve always done it that way!” Maybe so, but the more we learn,the more we discover that what we’ve taken for granted may need a second thought—a new way of looking at “it,”a new way of doing “it.”Being open to rethinking leads to growth. Consider that having“second thoughts” may be a God-nudge for positive change. Jesus said, “You have heard it said…,but I say unto you….” 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...
June 2024 Newsletter
There is wisdom in living our lives in sync with the seasons of nature and that is equally true for the ebb and flow of action and reflection in our human cycles within the church and beyond. For those living close to the land, spring is a time of preparation and planting, shifting seasons and hard work. Within the church we have just moved through a busy spring of Lent, Easter, and Pentecost, and a VERY extended season of preparation and action at General Conference. While the good work of annual conference sessions is still underway, we...