Our second priority is in forming the hearts, minds, and hands of children, youth, and adults for faithful living in a climate-changed world. We will provide resources and guidance in areas such as the biblical and theological foundations of Creation care, and the ethics that flow from them; the reality of environmental injustice and the links between racism, poverty, and climate change; the psychology of climate grief and anxiety; basics of climate science; and why and how religious leaders and congregations can advocate for social and eco-justice.
We aim to build the background knowledge and skills that are necessary to carry out the other three pillars with zest and effectiveness. We seek to inspire and equip all generations of the human community, both within and outside our parishes, to become evangelists and storytellers in their communities toward God’s vision for creation. Our focus is on how to move from interest to practical application in our lives.
CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY
AND MISSION
1. PREPARE
Host a parish program around the Bible and Creation.
Organize a book group focused on Christian eco-spirituality, the Bible and nature, and/or Christian or multi-faith perspectives on climate justice.
3. GROW
Incorporate practices such as Natura Divina to learn directly from our more-than-human relatives about how to be in right relationship with self, God, and others.
2. PLANT
Plant a Good News Garden at your parish or engage in a land audit of your parish/home to discern how your physical space proclaims the Good News in Christ and contributes to the healing of the world.
Sponsor a parish trip to attend a conference or workshop on religion and ecology.
4. HARVEST
Engage in the Path program to the extent that your parish becomes a place that mentors and forms other parishes/communities in their own Path journey.
SCIENCE
AND ECOLOGY
1. PREPARE
Show a movie on an environmental issue that could impact your congregation and explore how it affects the community and what the community might do about it.
3. GROW
Invite a speaker and/or host a movie screening with a speaker component on an environmental issue that could impact your country, and explore what communities are most impacted and how your church community helps mitigate the changes.
2. PLANT
Perform a "BioBlitz" of your parish area or home to learn what plants/animals/fungi/insects are present in your community.
4. HARVEST
Host a program series (guest speaker, film or book discussion) on the global issues of sustainability e.g., consumerism, regenerative agriculture, plastic reduction, ocean impacts and climate migration.
Offer a workshop for members and friends to consider socially responsible investing in ESG funds.
CLIMATE JUSTICE
1. PREPARE
Participate in a Sacred Ground curriculum to learn about the connections between climate change and colonialism/white supremacy/environmental racism.
Generate a list of local organizations in your community that are working for climate justice to learn about your local allies and future collaborative partners.
3. GROW
Connect with other churches/communities in your area who are active in climate justice to learn what actions are already underway and to look for places where your community's gifts match with the needs of the movement.
Set up a training on finding and contacting federal officials to advocate for issues.
Enroll in a training course for climate justice activism - here is a good resource provided by TEC.
2. PLANT
Run a Love God Love God's World curriculum.
Meet with key leaders in your community who are active in climate justice for listening sessions and with an ear for how your parish community might support their efforts.
Invite someone from a country environmental advocacy organization to present current issues.
4. HARVEST
Host an activism training course in collaboration with local leaders for core volunteer groups focused on a specific environmental action needed in your community.
Participate or establish a climate justice network with other local parishes/communities to better coordinate/support each other.
Adopt a local plot of land that is in need of healing and spend time with that land in prayer/reflection about what healing looks like.
INDIGENOUS AND EARTH WISDOM
1. PREPARE
Research which pre-colonial peoples cared for the land where you now live, and begin learning about them.
Write and use a land acknowledgment for your parish; instruct the parish about its importance and meaning.
Challenge your youth group or formation group to learn the names of 15 native trees and be able to identify them by twig, leaf bud, or leaf.
3. GROW
Research and grow native plants on your church property and incorporate their care and presence into the liturgical life of your parish (for instance, put in a raised bed of corn, beans, and squash, and host a garden blessing in which you acknowledge the inherent wisdom and spiritual gifts of those plants).
Research your parish's land history tracing back 10,000 years, including important ecological events, human events, and the traditional cultural practices or ways of interaction between people and the land. Offer a creative presentation to your parish or to the Diocese.
2. PLANT
Draft a Land History resolution for your parish to participate in or for your Diocese to commit to at Convention in which parishes are encouraged and supported in researching the history (both human and geological) of the land where you live in order to begin to learn about both indigenous cultures and the wisdom present in that particular land.
4. HARVEST
Attend a local pow wow, take a parish trip to an indigenous history museum.
Invite an indigenous activist to lead a workshop for the congregation around Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), or Host a "Council of All Beings" (Joanna Macy) in which participants are encouraged to deeply identify with non-human creatures.
ART AND
STORYTELLING
1. PREPARE
Subscribe to an educational podcast around creation care.
Invite congregants to share stories about their connection and personal history with Creation.
3. GROW
Invite a local climate artist/activist to host an exhibit in your sanctuary or include images of animals/plants/fungi etc., in your worship space during the Season of Creation (Fall).
Incorporate the Creation Season resources into your liturgical life to learn about the relationship between faith and Creation care.
2. PLANT
Host a storytelling workshop/retreat in which people are invited to share and reflect on their eco-biography -- their story in relationship with the more-than-human world.
Host an art workshop in which participants are invited to write the story of their relationship to God in creation through iconography, calligraphy, or non-structured creative expression.
Host a chant workshop to learn about how chanting can deepen our connection to our bodies and the world around us.
4. HARVEST
Offer storytelling opportunities around climate and Creation for the wider community - hosting a retreat for non-Episcopalians who are struggling with climate grief or looking for a connection with the earth and God.