Creation Justice Stories: A Work Together

by Rev. Gerald Godette

I felt immense gratitude towards Creation Justice Ministries when I worked together with Avery Davis in the summer of 2021 putting together a film that allowed my wife Lillian, Pastor of St. Paul AME Zion church in Aurora, North Carolina an opportunity to tell our story of how climate change had affected her church after Hurricane Irene.

On a separate occasion we worked together sharing how my wife Lillian’s church and my church, Reels Chapel AME Zion Church were impacted after Hurricane Florence in 2018 and how our congregations were resilient after each of these events, due to the teaching, the preaching and the determination to take care of God’s gifts to us.

We all shared how religion played a part in how we can together impact climate change from the pulpit.

Finally, during a June Summit in the summer of 2022 Lillian and I were again graciously allowed to take part in an event that included our churches along with many other churches from many denominations. We all shared how religion played a part in how we can together impact climate change from the pulpit. God has given us this earth, this Universe to take care of and not destroy.

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Revs. Gerald and Lillian Goddette are pastors on the coast of North Carolina. They and their congregations have weathered many hurricanes, now more frequent and intense due to climate change. They have seen firsthand the long-term impact of these repeated storms on their churches’ physical structures and on their communities’ economies. Anchored by faith, they also see the possibilities for resilience.