June Creation Care Header
As the pandemic seems to ease, more congregations are coming back together. This month’s Tips focus on what the body of Christ can do to effect creation justice.
As a church, WE CAN focus on love. As we love God, the Creator, we care for God’s creation. As we follow the Great Commandments, we love our neighbor, seeking justice especially for those humans and non-human animals and organisms that are harmed by the climate crisis.
Creation Justice ident
As a church, WE CAN learn and teach. Recognizing creation justice as a faith issue, we seek to understand the connections between science, the natural world, and our call to be good stewards. We can program in the church and via Zoom to learn from and discuss videos, books, curriculum, speakers with expertise, and experiences that give firsthand knowledge.
As a church, WE CAN embrace zero-waste. By setting out recycling bins, we send an important message and help people recycle worship bulletins and paper from offices. By setting up a composting system, after meals together we can keep food waste from landfills and return the nutrients to the soil.
As a church, WE CAN reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. Switching to teleconferencing for more meetings allows broader participation with less gasoline usage. Switching from printed paper to email, website, and other electronic messaging keeps members connected without cutting down trees. Switching to bamboo toilet paper that is not wrapped in plastic also saves trees, which naturally reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
As a church, WE CAN plant for the future. Pollinators are essential—and endangered. We can plant butterfly gardens, eliminate pesticides and fertilizers, and use native plants. When we also engage children and youth in sharing seeds and starts and in planting, we help the next generation love and care for nature.
As a church, WE CAN make our building more energy efficient. Learning from a good look at both the building and the energy usage data, we can identify and fix energy leaks around windows and doors, change to LED lighting, explore the possibility of solar or geothermal energy alternatives, and pass along what has been learned to help congregation members make their homes more efficient too.
As a church, WE CAN consume less meat. Helping members understand the connections of meat to climate change, including land use costs and greenhouse gases, makes more meatless dishes more likely at potlucks. Sharing meatless meal recipes and menus encourages cooking that is healthier for people and planet.
As a church, WE CAN clean up. Within the building, we can look through closets and unused rooms to find and recycle or donate for reuse items that are no longer needed. Outside the building, we can organize clean-up for a nearby road or waterway and use the event to teach the community about creation care.
As a church, WE CAN collaborate with others for the sake of creation justice. We can choose a partner (another congregation or a secular organization) that can magnify the efforts of the congregation through education, people power, funding, visibility, or outreach. When we identify a project and pitch in, together, we can make a bigger difference.
As a church, WE CAN speak up. By incorporating creation justice in sermons and liturgy in addition to special times like Earth Day or the Season of Creation, worship leaders can raise awareness of God’s charge to humanity to tend the “garden” we have been given to steward. By facilitating advocacy efforts (letters, emails, phone calling), we can help people become prophets, speaking God’s word to those who have power to change systems that perpetuate harm and injustice.
The United Methodist Creation Justice Movement is providing these Tips
as a tool to equip church members, families, and individuals to respond to God's call to care for creation and do justice with our neighbors.
For more about the UM Creation Justice Movement, go to umcreationjustice.org.