Preaching Green: The Story Behind the Green Lectionary Podcast

Back in 2022, I cohosted the Food and Faith Podcast with my good friends Rev. Anna Woofenden and Rev. Sam Chamelin. The podcast focused on the ways that congregations and their leaders were working on issues of food production, access, and distribution. We did a few episodes that were more focused on environmental justice, recognizing how closely the food system is affecting our ecological systems. On a whim, I had an idea to toy with a new format for the show. In that new format, I would look at the passages for the upcoming Sunday from the Revised Common Lectionary, the lectionary that most of my friends/colleagues were using, and I would think about how we would look at those texts through a “green” lens.

I reached out to my friend Wilson Dickinson, who had just released his amazing book The Green Good News: Christ’s Path to Sustainable and Joyful Life. Wilson then introduced me to his colleague Rev. Dr. Leah Schade who was already working towards and writing about “EcoPreaching”. We did three pilot episodes, one each for Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Easter. CJM’s executive director Avery was a part of these first three episodes as was my friend Dr. Garrett Andrew whose doctorate is in homiletics (preaching). The conversations in these three episodes were fun, lively and helped me to see Scripture in a new light. I was excited to see how I might expand this new “Green Lectionary” podcast while also producing the Food and Faith Podcast. 

Almost a year later, I started working at CJM. When I started I Was given a list (a long list!) of programs that would potentially be under my purview. I was thrilled to see that the Green Lectionary was on that list and that there was interest in bringing this project under CJM’s umbrella. We recorded the first episode at the Wild Goose Festival in July of 2023. I was on stage with my friend Rev. Katy Cuthill and new friends Rev. Josh Scott, a pastor in Nashville who has been writing approachable books about reading the Bible in context and Debra Rienstra whose book Refugia Faith: Seeking HIdden Shelters, Ordinary Wonders, and the Healing of the Earth was an absolute gamechanger for me. In that hot, sweaty pavillion, we recorded a fun, thought-provoking conversation on the story of the burning bush in Exodus 3. I learned quickly that it was better, at least with four guests, to focus on one passage instead of trying to touch on all of the week’s prescribed passages. 

Our plan from the beginning was to produce episodes for important liturgical seasons: Advent, Lent, and Season of Creation. In the last two years, we’ve added in episodes for ocean month (June). If you’ve been following along with the show from the beginning, you’ve probably noticed how we’ve slowly decreased the number of guests per episode, going from that initial four person panel at the beginning to the one on one conversations we had for this Season of Creation. To be honest, that started as a logistical decision. Fewer people means less schedules to juggle. But as it has evolved it has given each of our guests more time to consider the passage in light of the good work that they are doing in the world and all of the people who appear on our show are people worth knowing! Don’t worry. The show isn’t going to turn into me just talking to myself! (though that would help a lot with scheduling….hmmm…). 

Speaking of our guests, I have had the immense privilege of speaking with some brilliant thinkers and preachers. Wilson Dickinson, Leah Schade, Garrett Andrew, Debra Rienstra, and Josh Scott have been back for multiple episodes, as have folks like Ellen Davis, Jerusha Neal from Duke Divinity School. Part of the fun for me has been pairing folks like Norman Wirzba and Ched Meyers who are well known in the eco-theology world with my friends who aren’t big names but who are great preachers and thinkers. We’ve brought in our partners from the BTS Center and the Anabaptist Climate Collaborative and I've also had both of my Food and Faith Podcast cohosts on the show. Of course  we’ve leaned into the in-house brilliance of the CJM staff. (My wife has also been on, which I guess is the most in-house I’ve gone for a guest.)

The point of bringing all of these brilliant people together isn’t just so I can have energizing conversations, though I do. The purpose of the podcast comes from a strong conviction I have had from the beginning which we can now back with research: the churches that are most dedicated to working for Creation justice are the ones who hear about it from the pulpit. Helping preachers find creation in the text and to understand that far more of the scriptural narrative points to our relationship with Creation than what they may have imagined is part of how we make preaching on these issues more accessible. The podcast is a way of honoring the way that prophetic preaching can lead to prophetic action and what we need in this climate-changed world is prophetic action. 

During the Season of Creation, we introduced a new logo for the podcast. We also started a new instagram account devoted to the podcast. We’ll include previews of upcoming episodes, clips of previous episodes, and thoughts on ways to preach on Creation justice. We’ll also highlight the work that some of our podcast guests have been doing. You can follow along @Green_Lectionary. Starting with our Advent episodes (which will release in November) we will also be creating study guides to go along with the episodes to further help preachers take what they are hearing and integrate it into their preaching. We’ll post the guides on our social media and include them in the show notes. (Finally, if you have suggestions or questions about the podcast you can send them to [email protected])

Back when I was preaching on a weekly basis, nothing helped me more than being a part of a lectionary group. Wrestling with the text with a group of colleagues always helped me find something that I wouldn’t have stumbled across on my own. We hope that the Green Lectionary can be that collegial conversation for you. Maybe it will even inspire you to host a Green Lectionary group in your area...

​Derrick Weston
Director of Theological Education and Formation
Creation Justice Ministries

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