Faith in the Heat: Building Resilience for a Warming World

Each summer, we brace for the heat. But in recent years, record-breaking temperatures have turned “just another hot day” into a public health crisis. From Arizona to Arkansas, urban neighborhoods to rural farmlands, extreme heat has become one of the most dangerous and inequitable consequences of climate change.

Responding to heat is more than disaster preparedness—it is an act of climate hospitality for our communities. This July, we’re focusing on heat resilience: how individuals, churches, and entire communities can prepare for and respond to record-braking temperatures in ways that protect the vulnerable and build lasting, strong communities.
Extreme heat disproportionately affects children, the elderly, unhoused individuals, and low-income neighborhoods—many of whom lack access to air conditioning, the shade from trees, or adequate medical care. It exacerbates health disparities and exposes deep cracks in our social safety nets. Yet in the face of this growing crisis, we see communities of faith stepping up: turning sanctuaries into cooling centers, checking in on neighbors, advocating for equitable infrastructure, and planting trees that will offer shade for generations to come (to all of God’s creation).

This month, Creation Justice Ministries has collected a variety of resources both educational and practical to help your faith community care for both body and spirit in our warming world. These resources cover both heat illness prevention and church preparedness plans:

•  Extreme Heat Resources
  In this download, you’ll have access to 3 items, including the Heat & Health- A Faith Response to Building Stronger Communities Resource, as well as a bulletin insert and fact sheet to share with your communities. These tools equip faith communities to prevent heat-related illness, prepare their facilities, and care for vulnerable neighbors during extreme weather events.
  
  
• Potential Energy Coalition’s Extreme Weather Resource Hub
  The resource hub offers a wide range of communication materials, data, and toolkits to help communities raise awareness and prepare for extreme weather events—especially extreme heat.
  
  
• Climate for Health’s Global Heat Action Day Webinar
  In the webinar, public health experts, faith leaders, and climate advocates offer a powerful conversation on the growing threat of extreme heat. Together, they outline actionable, justice-driven strategies—especially for faith communities—on how to respond with care, preparedness, and compassion.
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Whether your congregation is already taking steps or just beginning the conversation, we invite you to explore these offerings and consider how can your faith community be a place of refuge—of shelter, resilience, and collective care—when the temperatures rise?