Earth Day Sunday 2020:
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Our Christian education resources are made possible by grassroots free-will contributions. From Martin Luther King Day to Earth Day 2020, we are seeking 50 new Monthly Giving partners.
Please prayerfully consider giving in the spirit of the fierce urgency of now. Thank you for your help!  Photo credit: Rowland Scherman [Public domain]
“We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there 'is' such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.”
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. |
ECLECTIC, ECUMENICAL HYMN & MUSIC IDEAS
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FAITH-ROOTED EDUCATION MATERIALS
TIMELINE: 50 Years of Earth Days: 1970-2020 (By the Creation Justice Ministries Earth Day Sunday 2020 drafting team)
Summary of 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report (Energy and Ecology Working Group of Washington Inter-religious Staff Community) Faith Leader's Guide to the 4th National Climate Assessment (Energy and Ecology Working Group of Washington Inter-religious Staff Community) CONNECTING COVID-19, ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE & THE CLIMATE CRISIS
Recorded Webinar: Coronavirus, Climate Change & Faith (Organized by the United Church of Christ)
The Alliance and Earth Day 2020 by Rev. Betsy Sowers, Minister for Earth Justice with Old Cambridge Baptist Church RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Climate Church, Climate World by Rev. Jim Antal
Rooted and Rising: Voices of Courage in a time of Climate Crisis, co-edited by Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas & Rev. Dr. Leah Schade GRATITUDE
Special thanks to our team of Creation Justice Ministries board members who made this resource possible, especially Kathy Smith of the Baptist Creation Care Initiative who chaired the writing committee for the second year in a row, and the drafting team: Rev. Dr. Brooks Berndt (UCC), Ruth Ivory-Moore (ELCA), and Rev. Dr. Ian Mevorach (American Baptist Churches USA).
Thanks also for investments in Earth Day Sunday campaigns each year by dozens of grassroots supporters, the United Methodist Women, the Presbyterian Hunger Program grant program from One Great Hour of Sharing, and the ELCA Advocacy partnership grant program. |
TAKE ACTION
Creation Justice Ministries encourages your faith community to include your Earth Day Sunday celebration as part of Interfaith Power & Light's Faith Climate Action Week. Find timely action resources at Faith Climate Action Week, and post your Earth Day Sunday celebration to Faith Climate Action Week's Event Map.
Action steps in the 2020 Fierce Urgency of Now guide:
Creation Justice Ministries encourages your faith community to include your Earth Day Sunday celebration as part of Interfaith Power & Light's Faith Climate Action Week. Find timely action resources at Faith Climate Action Week, and post your Earth Day Sunday celebration to Faith Climate Action Week's Event Map.
Action steps in the 2020 Fierce Urgency of Now guide:
- Prioritize creation care as a ministry.
- Adopt green technologies; recycle, reduce, reuse; eat lower on the food chain, etc.
- Learn about and engage in a local environmental advocacy issue like healthy air, soil, water or environmental racism.
- Strengthen relationships with other local faith communities and eco-justice groups; be in touch with other leaders around the country and the world.
- Become an advocate in your neighborhood, community, or beyond; write or visit your Congressional representative and local officials; sign up with an environmental watch group to keep informed of the issues and votes coming up in Congress or locally.
- Study what the Bible and other theological sources say about creation care.
- Spend quiet time with God in nature; take time to experience and celebrate the beauty of this world.
- Pray for people who are currently affected by environmental degradation in all its many forms.
- Reach out for support within and beyond your congregation from people who will join new efforts on creation care.
- Speak to your congregation openly and often about the relationship between faith, science, and the care for creation utilizing sermons, talks, educational programs, and public meetings.
- Activate a Creation Care team comprised of laypeople, facilities management staff, clergy, and respected community leaders; task them with responsibility for designing and implementing climate action priorities, addressing roadblocks, and ensuring accountability.
- Increase the energy efficiency of your church building and homes, plant trees or gardens, test your tap water for lead and other toxins – then do the same for the marginalized in your community.
- Prepare your houses of worship to serve as places of refuge during times of natural and human-made disasters.
