Plastic Jesus: Real Faith in a Synthetic World

Everywhere we look in our culture you will find plastic. One place where you will not find plastic, however, is in the Bible.

This resource is designed to help congregations think more deeply about the ways that plastics impact our lives and God's creation. It is also intended to equip people of faith to take actions to address this epidemic in faithful and practical ways.
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Download this resource to find stories of individuals and communities making a positive impact, sermon starters to spark meaningful discussions in your church, worship resources to unite in prayer and reflection, and actionable steps to address the plastic crisis in your life, community and, our world.
​Introduction
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Created in 1907, synthetic plastic began being produced on a global scale in the 1950s. Over the next 70 years, annual production of plastics increased nearly 230-fold to 460 million tons in 2019. Plastics are too often buried in landfills or dumped untreated in our precious water sources. Even the manufacturing process itself has been identified as a major source of climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions.
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As people of faith, we are not exempt from the overuse of plastics. Communion cups, nativity scenes, and Easter eggs are just a few of the Christian staples that contribute to our single-use plastics issue. 

Download here to finish reading the introduction. 
Theological Framing

​How strange to think that something so ubiquitous to our world as plastic would be completely alien to our foreparents in faith.

It is a reminder that, as Dr. Ellen Davis has said, we in the present-day western world have more distance from the world of the Bible than any other culture in history. That’s not just in terms of time, but also in terms of technology, attitudes and disconnection from the non-human world around us.

Justice for creation requires a rethinking of our relationship to plastics. Is it enough that we recycle and find alternatives to single-use items to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in landfills? How do we account for the fact that plastics are often produced in historically oppressed communities so that their very production harms the health of Black, Brown and poor White communities? Do we even have the means to remove enough plastic from our rivers, lakes and the ocean to preserve the bioregions made vulnerable by plastic waste?

If the Bible doesn’t speak of plastic, how should we people of faith do so? 
​Download here to finish reading this section. 
Sermon Starters
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​These sermon starters are meant to be a resource to think about ways that our plastics issue 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 Exodus 32:1-6 "The Hebrew Scripture is filled with warning against worshiping things that are made with human hands. The prophets point to such idolatry as a key thing that leads people away from both God and neighbor. The quintessential example of this is found in Exodus 32 when, in Moses’ absence, the Israelites built a golden calf to worship, claiming that it was this thing that they had created that truly saved them from their enslavement. Plastics are a human invention that we often credit for much of what we consider to be progress in our society. And yet, as we look at the costs of extracting oil for its production, or the heavy toll that creation bears in its disposal, we see that we have turned our backs on the true source of life in order to chase after a false sense of achievement."
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Download the resource to see sermon starters on Genesis 11:3-4, Exodus 32:1-6, Psalm 23, and John 10:7-10. 
Stories

When thinking of the Arctic, many cling to an image of pristine white tundra. This is
far from reality. Research is confirming that the Arctic contains some of the most highly contaminated animals and people in the world due to the persistent industrial chemicals and pesticides that are transported on atmospheric and oceanic currents from lower latitudes. Much of this pollution comes from both plastic production and plastic contamination.
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Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT), an Anchorage-based nonprofit, is seeing growing awareness of the Arctic as a place of vulnerability and an increasing interest in concerted action. They have been a grant partner of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) since 2018. The PC(USA) and other groups are dedicated to learning or relearning how to listen to Indigenous wisdom as they support climate change work that protects the health and well-being of our Earth, its wildlife and peoples....

Download here to finish reading this story and to find more stories. 
Actions

There are many actions that you and your community to take to address the plastics crisis. The Plastic Jesus 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. You can find the action in the resource. 

Urge your members of Congress to pass the REDUCE Act, a bill that would put a fee on the sale of new, virgin plastic resin used to make single-use products. This could begin a wave of positive change, shifting industries to use recycled plastics or alternatives when creating single-use products as well as funding plastic waste reduction and recycling projects. You can find a sample letter below in the resource of click to the button below to send an email to your members of Congress. 
Community Spotlight:
​United Church of Christ Plastic Resolution
When the Rev. Dr. Bob Shore-Goss moved to Florida, he discovered that the Methodists in his new area had passed a resolution on plastics just a few years earlier. He reached out to Rob Grabill, a colleague in New Hampshire who had done work on previous environmental resolutions within the UCC. Those who have done work at the denominational level know that the process is rarely for the faint of heart, and even once a resolution has passed, there is no guarantee that the church will follow through. That’s where Grabill sees a difference with this resolution. 

Watch the interview video here and download the full resource for more stories here.
Prayer 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 this year's Earth Day Sunday theme. 
You can find original music recordings on our YouTube channel here:
Call to Worship
We who too often lose our way gather today to say, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for (God) founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.” And yet those same waters are polluted by the plastics we have made and discarded. We pause to ask ourselves again what it would it be like to see creation liberated and experiencing freedom and glory.
Along with all creation we wait for the glory of God to be revealed and we commit to playing our part, as the children of God. May we find liberation from our plastic addiction and healing for our land and water.
​Amen.

Download here to find more prayer and worship resources.
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Additional Resources
​Denominational Downloads
Click on the denominations to access a download link!
Educational Articles
  • For helpful hints and fun family activities to teach your kids about the impacts of plastic, read the article here! 
  • ​The holiday season is a festive time for most of us, but do we really know where our holiday decorations come from? Read this article for a behind-the-scenes look into "Santa's workshop" 
  • Within the resource, read about how one church in North Carolina went plastic-free and are now inspiring others to do the same. Read about the church here and find more information within the resource! 
Videos
  • The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's young adult ministry has a "No Plastics for Lent" project YouTube page. 
  • Read the United Church of Christ's article about Sharon Levigne, a Rise St. James founder and retired teacher. Read about Sharon's journey here.
Spotify Playlist
​Find some music -- satirical and serious -- to inspire your reading of Plastic Jesus!

Creation Justice Ministries

 Address

245 2nd St NE
​Washington, DC 20002

Email

[email protected]

Phone

(240) 528-7282‬
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