<![CDATA[CREATION JUSTICE MINISTRIES

<![CDATA[CREATION JUSTICE MINISTRIES - Blog]]>Tue, 07 Jul 2026 12:12:23 -0400Weebly<![CDATA[The Fruitfulness of Rest: Sabbatical as Sacred Work]]>Mon, 06 Jul 2026 15:46:33 GMThttps://www.creationjustice.org/blog/the-fruitfulness-of-rest-sabbatical-as-sacred-work

I’ll be going on sabbatical for three months, starting July 10.

On one level, I’m taking sabbatical leave because it’s our policy at Creation Justice Ministries: every staff member gets three months of sabbatical after five years of full-time employment.

But I’m also taking sabbatical leave because this kind of rest is also the work of creation justice. To slow down, step away from the work, and delight in God’s creation is important. Both ecology and scripture show us that rhythms of sabbath are good for people and for the land.

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to do a weekend silent retreat at the Abbey of Gethsemani, where one of my favorite writers Thomas Merton lived the monastic life of silence and solitude. My intention was to microdose sabbatical; to see what it was like to step away from the work, and the pressures of modern life, and to simply listen.

I picked up Merton’s Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander while there and came across this passage:
“The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is to succumb to violence. More than that, it is cooperation in violence.

The frenzy of the activist...destroys his own inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of his own work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful." (Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander)

In our work, there is a direct connection between the inner wisdom of our spiritual lives and the wellbeing of the planet. So many of the problems we face today—ecological and otherwise—are because our inner lives have become peaceless places. Because we move too fast, too loud. Because we don’t slow down to listen closely to the song of creation, which sings at a volume and time signature much different from our frenzied culture. In the words of Pope Francis, the “The external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast.” (Laudato Si’) As Merton writes, even we activists (or , perhaps, especially activists), in our frenzy to heal the world, do violence against ourselves because we don’t create the conditions for peace to flourish in our internal gardens.

This is not to say that the work is unimportant. Work and labor are sacred. But, they are sacred within their limits. When we (I) begin to exceed those limits, it twists the sacred gift of God into something that looks more like self-serving.

Sabbatical is a course-correction. It is a reminder that there is a direct connection between the ecological limits that we and our friends are working to live within, and the limits of good work and labor.

I love the work of Creation Justice Ministries, and I already can’t wait to return to this sacred work in October. But for now, I go to embrace the delicious gift of slowness, silence, and solitude that God (and the Creation Justice Ministries board) has given me through this sabbatical.

Avery Davis Lamb
Executive Director
Creation Justice Ministries

]]><![CDATA[God is Here: Protecting Sacred Marine Places]]>Fri, 29 May 2026 10:41:43 GMThttps://www.creationjustice.org/blog/god-is-here-protecting-sacred-marine-placesI negotiated the rock path in the drizzling rain, while eyeing the sheer cliff to my left. Blue water swirled with white foam far below me. On a short detour from a speaking tour about climate impacts, I stood with four colleagues—one from Bangladesh, one from Uganda, and two from the U.S.—in awe of the majestic Monterey Bay in California.

Above the sound of crashing waves, Aref, my colleague from Bangladesh, spoke to my inner murmurings. His smile widened and he stretched out his arms declaring, “God is here! We can feel God right here at the sea.”

Monterey Bay in February 2026. MCC photo/Kirstin De Mell

God is here! We can feel God right here at the sea.

Monterey Bay is one of several marine sanctuaries protected from commercial activity. Its nutrient rich water supports marine mammals such as the humpback whale, the southern sea otter, and the elephant seal, but also hundreds of species of fish, seabirds and shorebirds.

A combination of partial fishing restrictions and natural protective features has kept special places like Monterey Bay remarkably healthy. The integrity of Creation in these places is not only important to God’s creatures, but for coastal communities that rely on healthy oceans for tourism, recreation, and other economies.

Marine sanctuaries are now at risk from offshore drilling and deep-seabed mining, industrial practices that would degrade the biodiversity rich ecosystems needed for ocean health—and planet health!

On April 28, I, along with other board members of CJM, met with Congressional offices in Washington, D.C., to share about the importance of protecting these sacred marine places from drilling and extraction. As I sat in a conference room in Senator Padilla’s office, I felt the vast human power that pervades the halls of the Congress. It is a power that can move in two directions.

One direction thirsts after money and oil—a path more heavily trod. The other acknowledges and lifts up the intricate web of Creation we all rely on.

One CJM board member prayed with Padilla’s staff when our meeting concluded. I closed my eyes and imagined the swirling water at the base of the cliff, and heard Aref’s voice proclaiming, “God is here.”

Please join us in urging Congress to protect and restore God’s marine creation.

Kirstin De Mello
Climate Advocacy and Education Coordinator
Mennonite Central Committee U.S.

]]><![CDATA[Breathing New Life: Pentecost and the Future of Congregational Leadership]]>Fri, 08 May 2026 12:30:29 GMThttps://www.creationjustice.org/blog/breathing-new-life-pentecost-and-the-future-of-congregational-leadership

Birthdays are a big deal in my house! I’d always held the belief that everyone deserves at least one day where they feel totally celebrated. I’m grateful for an employer that gives us our birthdays off from work! For me, birthdays are most certainly a time of celebration, but they’re also a time of introspection. I like to take a little bit of time each birthday to reflect back on the year that was. It’s also a time of casting vision. I like to imagine the year ahead and think forward to where I might be at the same time a year later. It helps that my birthday is so close to the beginning of the new year (January 12th, if you were interested). Reflection, imagination, and celebration strike me as good practices to pursue anytime you hit a milestone. I also find that those three practices tend to extend beyond the day itself. Sometimes, I find myself celebrating a birth month.

For many liturgical traditions, Pentecost is considered the “birthday” of the church. It is when we celebrate the post-resurrection community of Jesus’ followers receiving the Holy Spirit and beginning the process of doing life together. We commemorate a gathering in which people from every corner of the ancient world came together, each hearing the good news in their own language. It’s both a celebration of both the unity and the diversity of the body of Christ. It may come as no surprise that with my love of birthdays, Pentecost is actually my favorite liturgical celebration!

Transformative Leadership Workshop, March 2026

We at Creation Justice Ministries have been spending a lot of time this year thinking about the Church. To put a finer point on it, we’ve been thinking a lot about the ways that we interact with individual churches as they go on their own Creation justice journeys. So far, it’s been an exciting year of learning, sharing and discerning. In March we gathered with leaders from a small handful of congregations as well as a judicatory and a conference center to consider what transformative leadership might look like in our climate changed world. They learned about behavior change, climate communication, and how to do effective advocacy and organizing. Those who attended the gathering returned to their congregations in hopes of integrating some of what they learned into the life of the church. We’ll do an online supplement with an additional group of congregations this summer as well as a similar leadership development program with Episcopal leaders in the Northeast (reach out if you’d like more information about either cohort). We’ll also be joining our friends at the BTS Center and the Anabaptist Climate Collaborative for a second iteration of “Claiming Your Call”, a gathering for churches in the Northeast who are listening to discern their congregation’s vocation in their bioregion. Many of the congregations engaged did a similar program with us two years ago and are now taking steps to deepen their commitment to caring for Creation.

The congregations that we are working with are reflecting on their congregation’s histories. They’re considering their past wins and losses and seeing what lessons those things have to teach them. Some are dealing with declining numbers and aging membership and yet they are able to imagine a future in which the church plays a leading role in guiding their community to a thriving that includes all of God’s creatures. And in the midst of uncertainty and fatigue, these congregations are finding the strength to celebrate the fact that God is not done with them or this world.

What we’re finding is that in a world that feels like one crisis after another, church leaders feel overwhelmed and exhausted. Of course, that makes complete sense. And yet in the midst of that weariness, we’ve found that congregations are also seeking out that next faithful act they can do to make a small difference in their communities and watersheds. They know they can’t fix everything, but by learning more about their contexts, taking serious stock of their capacity, and listening deeply for their calling, they are able to discern what God might have in store for them and they’re able to do so with a clear-eyed vision.

One of my core beliefs is that the local church can be a force for good in this world. It’s not just a place to maintain old traditions or to hide from the problems of the world. When there is intention, the church can be a source of moral leadership in a world that often feels like it is lacking that kind of strength. It can be a gathering place for like-minded individuals to address community problems and pool their collective resources. It can be a place where people are educated, equipped, and mobilized to be agents of a Gospel that means healing for all that God has made. As we celebrate Pentecost this year, we recognize that the Holy Spirit is still moving through local congregations across this country and compelling them to care for God’s planet and people. We hope, pray, and work to see more churches become places of transformative leadership that bring healing and wholeness to God’s world.

Derrick Weston
Director of Theological Education and Formation
Creation Justice Ministries

]]><![CDATA[Creation Justice Ministries Condemns Use of Congressional Review Act to Overturn Protections for the Boundary Waters During Earth Month]]>Thu, 23 Apr 2026 12:11:37 GMThttps://www.creationjustice.org/blog/creation-justice-ministries-condemns-use-of-congressional-review-act-to-overturn-protections-for-the-boundary-waters-during-earth-monthWASHINGTON – On April 16th, 2026, in a narrow 50-49 vote, the U.S. Senate moved to invoke the Congressional Review Act to overturn a 20-year ban on mining in the watershed of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. This decision threatens more than 225,000 acres of God’s creation within the Superior National Forest, placing one of the most pristine and visited wilderness areas in the United States at risk of irreversible contamination.

Protecting public lands is a moral and spiritual imperative. Anyone – Christian or not – who has visited The Boundary Waters can see that these lands and waters are a sacred gift; a vast, interconnected web of lakes, rivers, and forests that provides a sanctuary for both wildlife and the human spirit. To "rightly share" this creation means ensuring its health and integrity for future generations, not sacrificing it for the short-term profit of multinational corporations.

“The decision to greenlight sulfide-ore copper mining upstream of the Boundary Waters is a betrayal of our responsibility to be faithful stewards of God’s Creation,” said Avery Davis Lamb, Executive Director of Creation Justice Ministries. “Water is a gift from God, and the toxic runoff from this type of mining poses an existential threat to the purity of the BWCAW watershed. We are called to protect and restore nature, not to abandon it to the interests of foreign-owned mining corporations who leave local communities to bear the burden of environmental degradation.”

Photo credit: Quiet Parks International, Recal Travel and Save the Boundary Waters

Creation Justice Ministries stands in solidarity with the Indigenous communities, local residents, and the millions of visitors who look to the Boundary Waters for recreation, reflection, and renewal. Our faith compels us to resist policies that prioritize industrial exploitation over the health of the land and its people.

We urge the administration and our leaders in Congress to remember that ecological integrity and justice should be a top priority in making any policy decision. The journey to protecting the Boundary Waters is not over. We will continue to mobilize our communities of faith to defend this national treasure and to demand policies that reflect our deepest values of stewardship, justice, and love for all of God’s creation.

For questions: Contact Madison Mayhew, Policy and Advocacy Manager: madison@creationjustice.org

]]><![CDATA[The Whale Who Cried Out: Resurrection Hope in an Age of Extinction]]>Thu, 02 Apr 2026 20:22:27 GMThttps://www.creationjustice.org/blog/resurrection-hope-in-an-age-of-extinction

Five years ago, scientists working in the Gulf of Mexico discovered that a whale species that had been previously thought to be a subpopulation of the Bryde's whale, was in fact a separate species: the Rice’s Whale. At that moment, America got its only endemic whale species.

Unfortunately, this week, that whale species was put on death row.

On Tuesday, a rarely convened council of political leaders—the so-called “God Squad”—gathered to decide what lives and what dies. It is not lost on me that this decision came during Holy Week, when Christians around the world retell the story of a peacemaker king put to death by the political powers of his day.

Avery speaking the Endangered Species Act Rally (March 31, 2026)

We find ourselves, right now, in a Good Friday moment. Once again, just like that week over 2000 years ago: A council of political leaders gathers to decide what lives and dies.

In the Good Friday readings, we are reminded that on the cross, Jesus cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And then: silence. Silence.

As I hear these readings, I can’t help but think of the call of the Rice’s whale “long-moan call”, a bass vibrato echoing through the Gulf waters. I heard it for the first time this week through a NOAA recording (which you can hear here) and imagined it speaking back to us: “My friends, my fellow creatures: why have you forsaken me?”

And I wonder: Will there be a day when that call goes out into the water and is not returned? When, after the call, there is only silence.

This week, it is not only Christ who cries, “Why have you forsaken me?” Creation is crying it too.

And yet I hope. Because Good Friday is not the end of the story. Because even in the dark depths of Good Friday and Holy Saturday, I look toward Easter Sunday, when we learn: resurrection is possible.

Easter Sunday tells us that what is crucified is not abandoned. That what is silenced is not forgotten. That death does not get the final word.

And this is not mere belief nor disembodied theology. It is practice. In the words of Wendell Berry, we are called to “practice resurrection.”

We know that resurrection is possible. We know that restoration is possible.

The Endangered Species Act has already shown us what resurrection looks like, 291 times over. The Act has prevented 291 species from going extinct. 291 species brought back from the brink. 291 voices that continue to ring out.

The Endangered Species Act is resurrection in practice.

14th Century Mystic Priest and Theologian Meister Eckhart once wrote: “Every single creature is full of God and a book about God. Every creature is a word of God. So full of God is every creature.” So full of God is the Rice’s whale. So full of God is every creature whose life now hangs in the balance. So full of God is every creature, that to lose one species is to sever from this creation a piece of God that we will never be able to recover. In the words of William Beebe: “when the last individual of a race of living things breathes no more, another heaven and another earth must pass before such a one can be again.”

Indeed, we cannot celebrate resurrection while continuing to crucify creation.

Extinction is forever, but it is not inevitable. Through Easter, and through the witness of the Endangered Species Act, we learn that resurrection is possible.

As Hebrew Bible scholar Ellen Davis writes, “Resurrection hope does not mean that things are not as bad as they seem. It does not mean that we may expect to be shielded from the worst effects of our selfishness.” Resurrection hope requires us to look inward, to recognize the ways we are participating in the crucifixion of creation, and to repent, to turn, to go another way.

Resurrection comes through people who refuse to accept death as the final word. Folks who stand at the tomb and, even in their grief, remain long enough to hear their name called. It comes through communities who choose, again and again, to align themselves with life rather than the systems that deal in sacrifice.

This is the invitation before us: Will we be a people who walk away from the cross, accepting extinction as the cost of doing business? Or will we be a resurrection people? Those who remain, who bear witness, who act, trusting that God is still at work bringing life out of death?

Because even now, even in the midst of this Good Friday moment, the story is not finished. The stone is still being rolled away.

And somewhere in the waters of the Gulf, the call of the Rice’s whale is still sounding her long-moan call, waiting, perhaps, for an answer.

Easter hope is this: that we become the ones who answer.

Avery Davis Lamb
Executive Director
Creation Justice Ministries

]]><![CDATA[Creation Justice Ministries Condemns Exemptions Given to Oil and Gas Drilling At the Expense of Endangered Species]]>Tue, 31 Mar 2026 18:11:44 GMThttps://www.creationjustice.org/blog/creation-justice-ministries-condemns-exemptions-given-to-oil-and-gas-drilling-at-the-expense-of-endangered-speciesFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Avery Davis Lamb, avery@creationjustice.org, 785-217-6784

WASHINGTON — In response to the Endangered Species Committee meeting —famously known as the “God Squad,” today on March 31st, Creation Justice Ministries laments the moral and ecological implications of the exemptions given to oil and gas companies in the Gulf of Mexico.

Authorized by Congress in 1978 but convened only three times in nearly 50 years, the “God Squad” holds the unilateral power to grant blanket exemptions to the Endangered Species Act (ESA). By allowing economic interests to override the survival of a species, the committee effectively chooses which of God’s creatures shall live and which shall be sentenced to extinction.

“It’s not lost on me that during Holy Week the so-called God-squad convenes to determine which of God’s creatures are expendable.,” said Avery Davis Lamb, Executive Director of Creation Justice Ministries. “Once again, just like that week over 2000 years ago: A council of political leaders gathers to decide what lives and dies.”

After a short 25 minute meeting, the committee passed sweeping ESA exemptions for offshore oil and gas operations. Unlike standard ESA protections, which prioritize biological science, the “God Squad” is legally permitted to prioritize economic impacts. This specific committee, comprised of Trump administration officials with extensive ties to the fossil fuel industry and little to no wildlife biology experience, represents a significant conflict of interest that threatens the integrity of our nation’s most successful conservation law.

The Endangered Species Act is a story of resurrection. We know the Endangered Species Act works – it has prevented 291 species from going extinct. “The Endangered Species Act is proof that resurrection is not just theology. It is something we can practice,” continued Avery Davis Lamb. “We cannot celebrate Easter while continuing to crucify creation. By weaponizing this committee for short term profit, the administration is turning its back on our call to care for creation. We cannot remain silent while the political interests of the oil and gas industry are placed above the inherent value of God’s handiwork.”

Creation Justice Ministries calls on the Administration to remember their duty to the public trust and the sanctity of life, and to seek solutions that honors Creation and our ethical obligation to prevent extinction.

About Creation Justice Ministries:
Creation Justice Ministries represents the creation care policies of 38 Christian communions, including Baptists, Mainline Protestants, Orthodox, and Peace churches. We educate, equip, and mobilize Christian communities to protect, restore, and rightly share God's creation.

]]><![CDATA[Hosanna for All Creation: A Palm Sunday Reflection on Solidarity and the More-Than-Human World]]>Sun, 29 Mar 2026 14:32:33 GMThttps://www.creationjustice.org/blog/hosanna-for-all-creation-a-palm-sunday-reflection-on-solidarity-and-the-more-than-human-world

A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
(Matthew 21:8-9, NRVSUE)

Palm Sunday is one of those Sundays that gives those of us who preach about Creation justice a lot to work with. You have leafy branches of trees playing a pivotal role. You have animals pressed into duty to transport Jesus into the city. Some versions of the story even give us the fantastical Creation imagery of rocks crying out in praise if the people were to be silenced. This is a text filled with vibrant images of the more-than-human world. And yet, in the midst of these beautiful images we can’t lose sight of the fact that there is another element of Creation at work here: the human element.

Jesus enters into a city filled with people longing for good news. His reputation precedes him and the crowds rush out to see the Messiah. Though they are likely caught off guard by Jesus’humble appearance, the longing for liberation is too strong. They cry out “Hosanna”, literally “Save us!”. This isn’t a mild greeting for a visiting dignitary. This is a desperate cry to a hoped for savior. The people of Jerusalem have lived under the boot of Rome, their land occupied, their wages taxed, and their resources depleted. Violence has become a regular part of their lives, a means of control. The potential and promise of the Prince of Peace arriving in their midsts is too strong of a draw. And so they flood the streets, begging for the new world that Jesus will usher in to come quickly.

Palm Sunday is an invitation to solidarity. It is a chance for us to lift our voices along with all of the members of Creation, human and non-human, who are longing for freedom from war, exploitation, and violence. It is a reminder that Jesus counters the violence of empire with peace but not passivity. It is a reminder of the ways in which we all find ourselves entangled in the greed, oppression, and extraction of cruel systems while amplifying the voices of those hurt most. In these times when so much feels unstable and uncertain, sometimes it feels like the best that we can do is scream “Hosanna!” for the sake of all of God’s Creation.

Derrick Weston
Director of Theological Education and Formation
Creation Justice Ministries

]]><![CDATA[Lenten Reflection]]>Tue, 17 Mar 2026 14:30:22 GMThttps://www.creationjustice.org/blog/lenten-reflectionLent invites us into a season of stripping away (or intentionally taking on something)— of examining what we carry, what we consume, and what we put into the world. For those of us who work in communications, this season holds a particular mirror up to our craft.

We live in an era of constant input and output. Emails, posts, announcements, campaigns,...then more emails, posts, etc. Words are produced at volume and often at speed. It is easy, in this work, to become fluent in noise...and accustomed to it. I speak for myself, but imagine it's similar for a lot of us, when I say silence has begun to feel uncomfortable for me. The world is so loud yet I find myself being anxious in silence. So I fill it.

Whether it's filled with background noise, my voice or others the silence doesn't last long. In a world where doing nothing often feels like the greatest sin, I find myself filling the silence with whatever words I can find...because it at least looks like I'm doing something...and something is better than not doing anything.

But Lent has invited me to find a different perspective: Whether in work or in my personal life, are the words I'm communicating with, being used with intention or just the drive to once again fill up the silence? What is the purpose of me communicating?

Most of the time, I communicate to exchange information. But that can't be all it is for. If not, then what is it for?

What is communicating inviting us to participate in other than exchanging information? Perhaps to understand? And if to understand is the purpose, then perhaps we need to spend more time on one thing with more intentionality.

This isn't a new concept to me, and probably not to most of us. But how many of us actually put this into practice? Admittedly, as soon as I cross one thing off my list, I tend to add 3 more in its place. All of which I want to start immediately.

Lent's invitation, perhaps to more than just myself, involves taking time to slow down, embrace the lingering silence and when that silence bleeds into noise to do so intentionally. Maybe that looks like taking out your earbuds on during your commute one morning? Perhaps it looks like taking a break during the work day, to go outside and see if you can find one of your neighborhood's native birds? Maybe it's just waking up and not immediately entering the noise of life, but just holding onto to the silence for an extra few minutes.

May this season be a personal invitation to embrace the silence — even just for a moment. To linger a little longer before filling it. And when words do come, to let them be chosen, not just reached for.

Jasmine Coles
Communications & Operations Associate

]]><![CDATA[Named and Known: Women's Leadership in Creation Justice]]>Fri, 06 Mar 2026 10:55:30 GMThttps://www.creationjustice.org/blog/named-and-known-womens-leadership-in-creation-justice

Soon afterward he went on through one town and village after another, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered to them[a] out of their own resources.
(Luke 8: 1-3, NRSVUE)

The eighth chapter begins with an easily overlooked detail: there were women among Jesus’ disciples. In fact the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible opens the chapter with the heading “Some Women Follow Jesus”. It’s almost a throwaway line, a detail that gives color and context to the larger narrative. It would, in some ways, be typical of the American church to overlook these lines and yet it is important that we not fall into this trap. The women named here are those who have witnessed the ministry of Jesus first hand and even been beneficiaries of His healing and liberation. They range from those of low stature to those who have worked in the homes of the powerful. They’ve heard Jesus, they’ve responded to Jesus, they follow Jesus… and yes, they support Jesus from their own pockets. Three women are named here. They are named because they matter.
How many others went unnamed?

Throughout my career, whenever I have been in spaces where the real hard work of seeking justice is happening, women outnumber men. These women, often Black and brown women, are the ones moving the conversations forward with courage and vulnerability. In these spaces I see less of the jockeying for position and fighting for recognition that I often see in men. I see collaboration, courage, and vulnerability. Today, I can’t imagine my work at CJM happening without the faithfulness and energy of the women of our staff, board, and many partners. It is truly a blessing to know and work with them! The scholarship, activism, writing, and preaching of the women I have the privilege of working with is nothing short of heroic.

It may seem strange as women’s history month begins to have this piece written by a man when I am a part of this rich network of women, and yet I write this with the male audience of CJM in mind. Men, we need to do better! We live in a world that is steeped in patriarchy and misogyny. We live in a time where the contributions of women at the highest levels can be belittled and have that belittling dismissed as “lockerroom talk”. We live in one of the few developed nations that has yet to have had a woman at the highest of offices. I see on social media all the time that my female colleagues in ministry have to fight the narrative that they cannot (or should not ) be pastors. As the husband of a pastor I have watched my wife’s authority be undermined by men who would call themselves “allies”.

I confess my own misogyny and the many ways I have benefitted from patriarchy when there have been women in the room with more talent and integrity than my own. I’ve been the guy who has devalued women and laughed at the joke to fit in. I hate to be a cliche, but I’m a man who has evolved as I raise daughters and particularly as they have reached their teenage years. I don’t want them to ever feel that there are barriers to their accomplishments because of their gender. I know I can’t shield them and sometimes the world they are being raised in scares me. Lord, have mercy!

We can’t do Creation justice without justice for women.

We can’t do Creation justice without justice for women. And we have to be honest that there are many times when it has been the church’s rhetoric that has stood in the way of progress for women despite the fact that we have a rich history of female pastors, priests, and prophets.

God created us, both male and female, in God’s image and we do harm when we do not recognize the Divine image reflected in our sisters, mothers, daughters, and friends. I’m grateful for the climate science leadership of Dr. Katherine Hayhoe and Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. I’m grateful for the preaching of Rev. Dr. Leah Schade and Rev. Dr. Jerusha Neal. I’m grateful for the scholarship of Dr. Melanie Harris and Dr. Ellen Davis. I am grateful for the writing of Dr. Debra Rienstra and Dr. Carolyn Finney. I’m grateful for the organizing and advocacy of Sharon Lavigne and Karen Washington. And I’m grateful for the friendship and collegiality of the staff (and former staff) and board of CJM, most of whom are women, who do their work with faithfulness, strength, and love. I could go on and on. It’s important that we name both the past and current contributions of women and we lay the path for the future ones.

Derrick Weston
Director of Theological Education & Formation
Creation Justice Ministries

]]><![CDATA[Lenten Reflection: Lent & Policy]]>Mon, 23 Feb 2026 16:35:59 GMThttps://www.creationjustice.org/blog/fy26-lentenpolicy-reflectionLent is a season for reflection, an invitation to examine the brokenness around us while also encouraging us to expand our imagination of what’s possible. Right now, many of us are grieving the broken state of politics in the United States and how the decisions of a few are causing immense harm to many.

This Lenten season, we lament the layers of harm being inflicted upon our neighbors and Creation. We bear witness to the ways in which public health is now endangered due to rollbacks of regulations that hold polluters accountable. We bear witness and we lament the attacks to sacred grounds like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, home to the Gwich'in people, and Oak Flat, sacred grounds for the Western Apache peoples. We bear witness and lament the harms towards precious species, who are at risk of becoming endangered and the loss of those who have crossed the threshold of non-recovery.

This Lenten season, may we also recognize the moral urgency of confronting the escalating terror inflicted upon immigrant communities and people across the country. Our ability to build a future in which Creation can flourish depends on a strong and healthy democracy, one that upholds the rule of law, protects our First Amendment rights, and ensures free and fair elections. These systems are not merely political structures; they are instruments through which we are called to pursue the common good and safeguard the dignity of all.

Beyond the invitation to grieve and lament, lent is also an invitation to expand our imaginations. Faith communities play a critical role in not only resisting these harms, but calling for and building a new world together. Many faith communities are already leading the way, whether by holding their lawmakers accountable through advocacy, standing alongside their neighbors being attacked in the streets, establishing mutual aid or supporting existing structures, and installing clean infrastructure.

For people of faith, social justice and creation care are inseparable. When human lives are devalued, Creation itself is wounded. When fear and violence are normalized, our shared home suffers. The Lenten journey is an annual reminder of death, resurrection, and the hope of renewal, mirroring the rhythms of the natural world. In the face of overwhelming harm to Creation, the message of Easter offers hope that transformation and rebirth are within reach.This Lenten season, may we be reminded of the power of community and the hope that can be found in building a transformative way forward—one that honors Creation, protects the vulnerable, and sets a course toward renewed life.

Madison Mayhew
Policy & Advocacy Manager
Creation Justice Ministries
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