by Colette Hehle

Permaculture denotes a set of principles by which earth-lovers design sustainable, organic farms and gardens. The word can be broken down as “permanent cultivation” or “permanent agriculture” to refer to its use of perennial plants and slow, long-term solutions, but it can also imply a philosophy of life: an attempt at designing a “permanent culture.” Although not defined by Bill Morrison and David Holmgren as “permaculture” until the 1970’s, these practices draw on organic and indigenous farming techniques from across the globe—and on patterns found within God’s original design plan for creation itself.    
Permaculture represents a space of unity among diversity. The descriptions of creation in Genesis 1 and 2 make it clear that God designed not only humanity, but also the whole universe. “All the wild birds are mine, and all living things in the fields” (Psalm 50:11), says the Psalmist regarding our Creator. Indeed, humanity was the last to be created, illustrating our dependence on the creation that precedes us: the light, the water, the earth, the Spirit.   ​

“Christian permaculture” could, I think, provide a blueprint for how we create our world. Seeing that life grows particularly strong at the edges of forests and ponds, we in the permaculture community garden—and live--paying special attention to what’s at the margins. With plants and with people, that’s where change often starts. People of color, those of low socio-economic status, and other marginalized groups are the first to suffer the effects of climate change, food deserts, and pollution, and they must be the first on our hearts when we seek to address those issues. We follow their leadership and listen to their testimonials, for world-changing truth is found in these spaces.
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We value diversity of life, as seen in all natural groves, forests, and fields. Our gardens contain variety, and we seek to create the same diversity in our families, friend-groups, and workplaces. In both worlds of both plant and human, diversity strengthens us to withstand many challenges by offering multiple solutions. A taller plant can shade a smaller one, while the small plant produces nitrogen that feeds the taller one. Similarly people, equipped with different life experiences, can protect and enrich one another with different solutions to problems. ​

Colette Hehle is a student at Eden Theological Seminary and a Seminary Intern at Creation Justice Ministries.

Good afternoon, my name is Avery Lamb, I am a Co-Executive Director of Creation Justice Ministries. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. The mission of Creation Justice Ministries is to educate, equip and mobilize Christians to protect, restore, and rightly share God's creation. Through our 38 denominational and communion members, Creation Justice Ministries serves about 100,000 churches and 45 million people in the United States. On behalf of these communities, I applaud the work of the EPA in strengthening methane standards and implore you: don’t stop here. There’s more to be done.

I want to start with a story that we Christians share with our Jewish neighbors, found in the opening chapters of the Hebrew Bible. In the creation story of Genesis 2, we read about the creation of the first human. God took a clump of soil, and breathed into it the breath of life, creating Adam. This word for breath – translated from the Hebrew word ruach – is so much more than just the air that comes from our lungs. It also means the air and wind blowing around us. It also means the spirit of life. The use of the word in this story unveils a reality that we have also come to see scientifically: the breath in our own lungs is the same breath in the lungs of the world. Inevitably, whatever is put into the lungs of the world will move through the lungs of humans.

In this first act of God in Genesis 2, life is created through the exhalation of breath. Breath – ruach – is life. It doesn’t take us long without breath to understand that. And yet, for millions of people, the breath of life and wellness has become the breath of sickness and death. 
Is breath life or death?
We know that the emission of methane causes manifold health issues for people who by the simple reality of where they live or work, have to breathe it in. 
Is breath life or death?

We know that the emission of methane causes manifold issues for the lungs of the world – driving the patterns of record-breaking rain and wind that destroy the people and places we love.
…is breath life or death?​

by Gabrielle Poli 

This is joy: an opening to life and love in the most unfamiliar of places. At Blue Theology, this is how we develop ocean advocates: by creating opportunities for students to connect to the ocean through joy, forming a heart connection. And to fully lean into joy requires some openness to the unknown. Joy is a spiritual practice. A practice of openness to the divinity right at our feet. Of digging through sand and flipping over crabs. Don’t forget to check for eggs!
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​Hello, happy second Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of Peace! My name is Katerina Gea. Last year I participated in the CA Truth and Healing Fellowship through Creation Justice Ministries. Two other fellows and I listened to Indigenous, church, and environmental leaders over the course of a year. We identified opportunities for Christian communities to follow Indigenous leadership toward ecojustice here in California, and we’ll soon be releasing a resource on this theme. 

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​CJM’s fellowship program helped me learn about the relationships of care that Indigenous peoples have developed over thousands of years with the land and waters in California. I am excited to share paths of peacemaking we can take as Christian church communities through supporting Indigenous efforts to restore, rematriate, and steward their traditional homelands where we live as guests.
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by Jenna Hoover Cobb

​I’m not used to the environmental movement looking like me. As a biracial Indonesian-American woman in environmental education, the leaders on the stages and screens of my field rarely reminded me of the faces of my family and community. 

However, being a part of Creation Justice Ministries' Faithful Climate BIPOC Fellowship changed that. I felt hope in God’s Creation when I saw and learned from women of color and faith leading transformative climate action in their communities and organizations. 

While developing my project of a climate change presentation for youth groups with a focus on contextualizing it for my Asian American church, I was celebrated and resourced with affirmation and connections to other groups doing similar work like the Asian Pacific Environmental Network. As I go forward in my work of partnering with my local communities in Southern California to seek God’s transformation through education and advocacy,
​I don’t feel alone anymore. 

Both my community of fellowship peers and trainers as well as the work and organizations
I learned about give me hope that the changes we are making in our communities are a part of God’s work in bringing God’s community of creation here, even in the face of climate change. ​

by Rev. Dan Paul 

“The prophetic message addresses a deadened present with implications for an energized community in the future” –Dr. Margaret G. Alter, Resurrection Psychology

Each week as soon as visiting church youth groups arrive at the Blue Theology Mission Station they are walked to the rocky shore of the Monterey Bay and asked to find a quiet place to sit and soak in the view of the magnificent Ocean. And while each pilgrim settles into the soothing sound of waves, wind and seagulls, each young person is asked to write down a response to this question “How does the Ocean remind you of God?” Responses are easily found and a sense that the waters themselves are sacred flow into each consciousness. As the week progresses, each person finds an understanding that the Monterey Bay is not only a sacred place, but also a place of resurrection.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, sardines, whales, abalone, elephant seals and the adorable sea otters (which Rev. Talitha Amadea Aho in her book In Deep Waters: Spiritual Care for Young People in a Climate Crisis describes as “problematically cute”) were all vigorously hunted with unbridled exploitation. The once thriving sardine industry that put Cannery Row on the map dwindled due to overfishing and ignorance of sustainability. Ecosystems on the bay were tragically altered due to loss of key species such as the abalone and sea otters. A spiritual darkness crept on the bay – our sin on display.

But then, prophetic voices rose and a grassroots effort to repent resulted in sea otters, elephant seals and other species getting federal protection.  In 1992, the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary was established with a good portion of the energy to create the National Marine Sanctuary provided by coastal churches. In a marine sanctuary (people of faith – don’t you love that the word “sanctuary” was chosen to describe the management of Ocean ecosystems?) various environmental agencies keep a watchful eye on the delicate balance of the many ecosystems found within the sanctuary. 

Fifteen years ago, the Blue Theology Mission Station was established on the coast of the Monterey Bay to offer learning/serving experiences in Ocean Stewardship to church youth groups. During the week, an understanding that “dominion over the earth” is not about domination, but more about accepting God’s gift of the Ocean with a deep sense of responsibility and interdependence. The Blue Theologians learn that managing ecosystems is indeed holy work. The Blue Theology Mission Station is a beacon along the sacred waters where Science is not considered antithetical to Spirituality, but rather specifically at the Blue Theology Mission Station current Marine Science informs our faith.

This past year, with the help of Creation Justice Ministries two Blue Theology Outposts were established on the Gulf Coast in Texas City, TX and on the Back Bay of Newport Bay in Newport Beach, CA. Plans are underway to create two more Blue Theology Outposts – one on the shoreline of North Carolina and another on the coast of Cape Cod. Each of these locations are becoming increasingly knowledgeable about the unique ecosystems in which they find themselves and will tailor their learning/serving programs accordingly.

Ocean ecosystems are still out-of-balance, key species in these ecosystems are still on the endangered species list, the sea level is still expected to rise a full foot by 2050 and don’t even get us started on the massive islands of plastics in the Oceans gyres. Yet, prophetic voices will continue to be raised with hope abiding that Dr. Alter’s quote will be true – this deadened present will establish and embolden energized communities of faith and the resulting repentance on our part from those prophetic voices will assist the sacred waters of the Ocean to a glorious resurrection.

Dan Paul (he, him, his) is an ordained minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and a graduate of the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA. Dan is the director of the Blue Theology Mission Station – www.bluetheology.com  .