Pastoral Care for Climate Retreat

The air conditioning in my car started to become tired from overworking in its old age, and my back began to sweat. With less than an hour left in the drive, I noticed the air temperature was dropping. As I lowered my windows to cool down, I was met with a refreshing breeze. Little did I realize at the time, this breeze would continue my whole stay at Duke Marine Lab for the Pastoral Care Climate Retreat. 

On the way to Pivers Island, where the lab is located, you drive through Radio Island, where I am almost certain there are double the number of boats than people. The lab felt like entering back into the Garden. The undergraduate students had large smiles as they enjoyed eating their meals outside, fishing, and swimming off the docks. The staff and professors were kind and accommodating, going out of their way to make sure all the visitors had what they needed. Within steps from any building,  you were by the water, able to see stingrays, dolphins, ponies on a neighboring island, minnows, or oysters. The ocean was rich with life, and the land felt safe.   

As each participant started to arrive, they too were impressed with the location. One said, “When I found out the retreat was going to be here I was more excited to come!” Others mentioned that they had come to the retreat before and enjoyed it so much that they decided to come again and bring a friend.

Jerusha Neal from Duke Divinity School opened with the question on everyone’s mind, “What does one preach in the face of the unthinkable?” The unthinkable—the thing on everyone’s mind—the climate crisis. Some attendees were seasoned Christian climate advocates who ran their churches’ ‘green’ branch, while others were laypeople hoping to learn more about creation justice to help their home congregation. The Pastoral Care Climate Retreat was advertised as a space where Christians could learn how to work side-by-side with scientists to address climate change and get out of the cycle of learning more about the crisis and then being paralyzed with the severity of the problem. Jerusha’s question pierced the heart of the retreat.   

She reminded us of the comforting, not-so-comforting, truth that the people of God have been asking this question for a very long time, and the feeling of despair is not new or shocking to the faith. During the fall of Jerusalem and the exile, the prophets even asked, “Can the creation and covenant of a good God come undone?” (Jer 4:23-26). Similar to the Ancient Israelites' exile, we can bring the climate crisis to God and ask the same hard questions, “Don’t you see these things, Lord? Why have you abandoned us for so long?” (Lam 3:36, 5:20). We can also learn from the exiles, who became a people that recognized and repented of their own exploitation and violence that went against God’s plan, and became a community that wanted to bring justice and healing to communities and creation.

As Doug Kaufman, leader of the Anabaptist Climate Collaborative, pointed out, instead of these questions leading us to change, they can lead us to denial. Either literal: you refute the facts; interpretive: you accept the facts and minimize them; or implicatory: you know about the issue but ignore it because it is too big to handle (citing Kari Norgaard). Nina Balmaceda, from the School of Divinity,  linked much of this feeling of denial to Americans' high individualism that often keeps them from caring for others, the world, and even reading the Bible correctly. She spoke of indigenous people’s understanding of the world as all people being part of nature, not separate from it. Like the people of the Philippines believe humanity came from bamboo, the Guatemalans from the corn, and the Ancient Israelites from the mud, we share a common theme: humans come from creation.

Nina talked about how God offers all of creation shalom, and how shalom means more than peace but the invitation of flourishing and thriving.

"I felt the tension in the room: how can you flourish in the face of a climate crisis? How can you rejoice while in exile?"

We were able to take our breaks back outside, welcomed by the wind and the sun. In these breaks, we were able to learn from one another, talk to the specialists, and spend time together in worship. These conversations and meals answered many of the deep-felt questions. Just as Nina said, it was together, in community, that we could experience the shalom of God. Through mutual encouragement, hearing one another’s passions, giving and receiving one another’s gifts and insights, prayer, lament, and communal worship, through the grace of God acting through our lives and advocacy.

One of the most shocking and encouraging parts of the retreat was the partnership between the different schools from Duke University, The Nicholas School of the Environment, the Divinity School, the School of Nursing, the Duke Climate Commitment, and the Fuqua School of Business. Scholars from each area recognized the influence of pastors and wanted them to be equipped with the latest information to help their communities. Many of the speakers joked with the double irony that they were preaching to the choir about climate change. Their talks often started with addressing the negative effects of climate change in the world, causing things like more severe weather, and rising and lack of water, leading to the death of animals, the land, humans, and making refugees.

We learned from Toddi Steelman from the Duke Climate Commitment about how climate change has caused more wildfires in the US, and how churches can play a key role in disaster response by providing honest, timely, accurate, and reliable information, understanding their social context, and providing interactive practice and dialogue. Toddi shared how pastors living in a climate-changed world can learn from the incident commanders. Incident commanders used to be seen as heroes when they came to fires, but now, since fires are stronger and less predictable and their tactics haven’t worked as well, and they had lost their title of hero. Now, the incident commanders have to live in uncertainty and lean into humility and vulnerability, admitting that they do not always know what to do but their goal is to be strong leaders for the community to help as many people as they can.

Lisa Campbell, from the Nicholas School of the Environment, also talked about the role churches can play in natural disasters like hurricanes, by creating connections between different groups to make sure that people could receive the care they needed from different organizations. Doug also talked about how churches can provide meaning-making by introducing rituals that engage grief and can lead to hope, allowing people to face their destructive ways to move from disenfranchised to acknowledged grief, and teaching people to live in gratitude while honoring others' pain. Dan Vermeer from the School of Business shared about his journey with assisting Coca-Cola to help with the water crisis, inspiring us to implement changes in our own communities.    ​

Coming at good timing for our own mental health, Valerie Sabol from the School of Nursing informed us on the mental health and human health impacts of climate change. To help people with the anxiety of climate crisis factors, there is now stress first aid that one can be certified in, similar to CPR first aid. Valerie also shared a study that talked about the health benefits of sharing three things you are thankful for each day, which can minimize depression and cause an overall healthier life. Some ways churches can assist in the rising temperatures include teaching their communities the difference between heat stroke and exhaustion, educating on where there are heat help zones, and advocating for mandatory water breaks. She also shared the surprising fact that by 2050, air pollution will be the leading cause of death.   

Wylin Wilson from the School of Divinity acknowledged that it is often hard to talk to people about the climate crisis, even though it affects everyone. She taught a way to bridge the divide of climate change with others is through storytelling. For example, ask questions like, “How has the physical environment that you grew up in (or have lived in) influenced your (or your community’s) health or well-being?” or “Give an example of how your physical environment may have contributed to (or been hazardous to) your (or your community’s) health or well-being?” Like story, Lisa Campbell shared how the arts and dance can have influence in climate change, sharing the example of the Large Ocean States performance at an environmental conference caused their voice to be heard and listened to. Similarly, Liz Demattia shared how the Marine Lab has been working to create resiliency stories for communities affected by hurricanes. These stories used fables and the environment as a way for students to grow in resiliency and in relationship with their teachers to process these feelings. Kathryn Stevenson from NC State shared that working with children can cause a decrease in polarization, because the children go home and tell their parents about what they are learning in school, even helping to foster climate change concern in their parents.

"Churches can provide spaces for children where they can acknowledge how it is overwhelming to be in a climate crisis but also share good news, create support and community, support youth choice and voice, and model inclusion and deep listening."

Avery Davis Lamb, the co-director of CJM, led us in a discussion on churches being hubs of climate hospitality, helping their communities weather the physical, social, and spiritual storms of the climate. Like the incident commanders, churches must realize they are not in control but can make room for others within their community. One of the pastors who came to the retreat said that initially, coming in, he was overwhelmed about adding an additional thing to do in the church. But he realized it is just connecting what you are already doing with creation justice, which is not overwhelming but invigorating. As Avery said, the people of God are to be 

known as people of hospitality, and creation justice is another way to offer God’s life to the world.Another person reflecting on the retreat said, “you all have tied the threads together that I could not put in place. And given me more reading and digging.” And another, “being here has renewed my hope. Sometimes I feel like a voice crying out in the wilderness about creation care. I was on the edge of being apathetic. This has encouraged me that other people care.” Others said similar things, “I came in weary, it is nice to be with people that have accepted this is a reality and it is a desperate reality but not a disparity.” Their reflections match the outline of the retreat well.

"There is a crisis, it is tiring and feels like it looms over heavy and unapproachable. But there is hope, and there are many people working together to love all of creation."

It seems like the title of the retreat was fitting “Pastoral Care Climate Retreat.” Although more educational than a typical “retreat,” the rest and care came from the mutual understanding of the crisis, and the hope found through action. Jerusha ended our retreat with 6 points: (1)Preach creation care from the whole Bible and in all liturgical seasons, (2) make justice connections: climate care is racial justice work, eradication of poverty work, and decolonial work, (3) honor everyday resistance: God used the midwives to save the Israelites from Egypt, (4) draw upon spiritual disciplines, (5) renounce false optimism and reject despair, and (6) know your people.

As I drove away from the Marine Lab I watched the air temperature slowly go back up, and noticed the wind die down. I thought of the constant wind, a constant reminder of God’s Spirit at work in the world. As Norman Wirzba reminded us, our God is not a God that exists far off in the heavens, but a God who has always been with us. The world is not something that we should be trying to escape, but a place where the Spirit is living and moving, transforming all things. The Spirit is the source of healing power in the world, making the soil alive and the breath in our lungs. God is not far away and angry but wanting to offer shalom to you and the world.

Caroline Hiler is a Seminary Intern at Creation Justice Ministries.