Annual Resource: Canopy of Creation

If you love trees, this resource is for you. And if you’re ready to let that love widen into justice — into shade shared, healing offered, and neighborhoods made more whole — come on in. Let’s grow a canopy of creation together.

In cities across the United States, there is a striking correlation between historic redlining maps and modern day tree canopy maps: precisely those communities that were historically redlined are the same ones that lack tree canopy coverage. As you layer on other social and economic factors, like race, income, and asthma rates, the trend continues. The dearth of trees in a community portends other issues of justice

Fewer trees means higher temperatures, worse air quality, decreased resilience to flooding, not to mention the lack of mental health benefits that trees provide. According to American Forests’ Tree Equity Score, lower-income areas typically have 26% less tree cover and are exposed to temperatures on average 6°F higher than wealthier neighborhoods. In communities of color, the tree cover disparity increases to 38% and the temperature difference to 13°F. This connection is a rather simple one. Over the past century, higher-income communities have benefited from local investment, including tree-planting. Lower-income communities have not. So, as those trees grew into a full canopy in the Main Street neighborhoods, the other side of the tracks baked under full sun.

Much like the language shift from food deserts to food apartheid, we could understand this reality as tree apartheid—a reflection not of natural scarcity but of systemic injustice that has created unequal access to the benefits trees provide.

In a time of climate breakdown, the importance of trees is even more evident. They cool cities, mitigate flooding, stabilize soil, filter the air, support psychological wellbeing, create diverse habitats for species, all while pulling carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Trees are climate resilience infrastructure. They are partners in the work of creation justice.

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Introduction & Overview

"The Canopy of Creation is an invitation to look up. It’s an invitation to notice the shade that meets us like mercy on a hot day; to remember the hush of a wooded trail, the steady presence of trunks and branches that outlast our moods and our news cycles. Many of us already love trees. We have felt their beauty in our bodies as cool air under leaves, birdsong held in a canopy, the quiet companionship of a living thing that asks nothing from us but attention."

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Theological Framing

"The only members of Creation that show up more often in the Bible than trees are humans. There are nearly 300 references to trees and that number balloons up to nearly 4000 when you consider parts of trees or times when trees are used as symbols. From the original trees of Creation to the Cedars of Lebanon, to the trees on the Mount of Olives, trees are everywhere in Scripture! Trees have long preceded us and have witnessed our part in Creation’s story from our earliest days.

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Stories

Learn about local communities coming together to take action to address Tree Canopies. In this resource, you can find stories of Christians coming together to form projects and programs that benefit the community.

Congregations across the country are recognizing that the care of trees is a vital expression of faith and a tangible way to honor God. By reclaiming church grounds and community spaces for reforestation, these congregations do more than plant seeds; they embody a commitment to the healing and preservation of God’s Creation for generations to come.

Action & Advocacy

There are many actions that you and your community to take that are related to tree canopies. The Canopy of Creation Resource has actions you can take in your personal life and in your community at the local, national, and international level to protect God's Creation.

For example, you can advocate for more tree funding. Budgets are moral documents that dictate priorities across all levels of government. You can play a role in addressing tree apartheid by advocating for more community funding to plant trees. You can find the action in the resource.

Resources

As we consider the role that trees play in our world, we’d like to also invite you to consider the roles that trees can play in worship. We encourage you to find ways to make trees central to your worship service, including worshipping alongside them. The resources in Canopy of Creation are offered as potential resources that can be used in your worship and prayer services.

In this section, access resources such as songs, children's guides, worship resources, and a discussion guide. To access these tree-canopy-related resources, click here.

Sermon Starters

These sermon starters are meant to be a resource to think about ways that the tree topic can begin to be addressed from the pulpit. They are intended to be prompts to guide preachers into greater reflection on the issue while drawing connections to themes woven throughout the biblical tradition.

Sermon Starter Excerpt on Ezekiel 47:1-12: "Many consider Ezekiel 47 to be utopian literature. It is a part of the “temple vision” in Ezekiel. Like the majority of this book, it is both political and personal. In this vision, we find critique and hope, revelation and possibility with a vision making God’s tangible presence undeniable. This vision reveals what can be if those who are hearing (or reading) this story, those who wrestle and immerse themselves in it, dare to see."

Register for the Canopy of Creation Webinar!

What if trees could tell the truth about justice in our communities and show us a way forward?

Across the United States, tree canopy maps trace the same fault lines as historic redlining, revealing how access to shade, clean air, and climate resilience has been shaped by systemic injustice. The Canopy of Creation invites the church to look up, tell the truth about tree apartheid, and rediscover trees as gifts, witnesses, and instruments of healing.

In this launch webinar, Creation Justice Ministries will introduce its 2026 annual resource, The Canopy of Creation: Trees, Faith, and the Work of Justice, and equip faith leaders with theological grounding, worship tools, and practical pathways for action. Participants will explore how trees are woven through Scripture, how tree equity connects climate resilience and racial justice, and how congregations can faithfully engage in planting, protection, and advocacy rooted in relationship and listening.

Resources

Song and Worship Resources

This section was created for use across Christian traditions. We recognize that different traditions mean different things by “worship.” In the spirit of ecumenism, we encourage you to use these resources in a way that befits your community.

In this section, we share traditional and specially commissioned songs for usage in a church service. We also have additional resources liturgical resources for you to have a unique service focused on the canopy of Creation. Click here to access sheet music for Join the Trees in Praise

Additional Resources

Click the image below to view our Creation Justice Ministries Bookshop, which features carefully-selected books reflecting the wisdom of trees.