by Rebekah Simon-Peter | Dec 14, 2015
Good news is emerging from Paris, even as the City of Light continues to clear away wreckage from recent deadly terror attacks. In a Parisian suburb, top leaders from around the globe—faith-based and heads of state, poor and rich, small and large, developing and industrialized—gathered for 13 days to hammer out a climate accord hopeful enough for heaven and nature to sing. And for churches to celebrate.
The Paris Accord represents what many thought impossible. In an unprecedented show of collaboration, 195 countries came together to take shared responsibility to slow global temperature rise and the havoc that results from it. As you probably know, global warming has already begun disrupting the delicate balances of Creation. Weather patterns are shifting dramatically, sea levels are rising forcing some communities to move to higher ground, and people are being displaced. In fact, the horrifying civil war in Syria has been linked to drought spurred by climate change.
Why is this good news for churches?
We who take to heart the Gospel message to assist the poor and dispossessed finally have some help. Even as we make flood buckets, organize work trips to clean up after natural disasters, send money and love and prayers to those in need, cook endless meals for the hungry, and, pray for the needs of the world, our efforts now have some muscular international assistance. Instead of just reacting to the consequences of climate change the world has come together to deal with its causes. This shift from reaction to action is a welcome one for the Creation.
In addition, religious voices from Pope Francis to Episcopal Priest Sally Bingham of Interfaith Power and Light to Peter Sawtell of Eco-Justice Ministries have long been calling climate change what it is: a humanitarian disaster and moral imperative.
There’s more to do.
Our voices are needed in the process of staying the course. The Paris Accords are an impressive beginning. However, they don’t actually go far enough to stop the devastation.
What can your church do?
Continue to comfort the afflicted. At the same time, don’t be afraid to afflict the comfortable. That means calling on local, national and international leaders to make good on their commitments, for the sake of all Creation.
Pray for the ongoing health of Creation and her creatures.
Open your hearts and doors to assist people who lose their jobs as fossil fuel production is phased out. Also be prepared to assist people displaced by natural disasters, war and conflicts over diminishing natural resources—including international refugees.
Cultivate wonder for the Creation. Host camps, weekend retreats in nature, and outdoor Vacation Bible School experiences.
Preach on the care of Creation, sustainability, compassion and justice—for all God’s Creation.
Green your buildings, ministries, and worship services.
Educate yourselves. It is now documented that the “debate” on climate science has been manufactured by fossil fuel industries to cast doubt on legitimate climate science.
Continue to call on ourselves, God, and the powers that be to place the common good before all else.
Cultivate resilience.
Resilience is the name of the game in a changing climate. Empowering the poor, welcoming the stranger, and loving our enemies builds emotional and spiritual resilience. Planting community gardens, partnering with community organizations, and befriending our neighbors builds communal resilience.
Don’t give in to the kind of fear-mongering and isolationism that divides us. We will rise or fall together. Instead, let love be our highest ideal, and the common good of all Creation, our goal. That’s cause for all heaven and nature to sing.
by Rebekah Simon-Peter | Sep 8, 2015
Once upon a time, I was a young clergy person. I was full of passion and verve, hope and vision. My call was fresh. My courage was strong. The first church I served, an African-American congregation, was every bit as exciting as I’d hoped it would be. But as I continued on in ministry, I seemed to meet with more resistance. Was it me? Or was it them?
In hindsight, I think it was a little bit of both, with a large portion of rapid culture shift thrown in for good measure. I had a chance to test my assumptions last week when I 
met with a baker’s dozen of young clergy from around the country. They’re part of a select group I have the privilege of mentoring in how to create a culture of renewal. While we were together, I figured out the trouble, the glorious trouble, with young clergy.
Young clergy around the country are doing amazing ministry. There’s the Minnesotan who launched a worshiping community that embraces earth care as a de facto matter of Christian stewardship. I think of the bright visionary in my own region, Rev. Stephanie Price, who is starting a new congregation with a piece of land. Then there’s the pastor who is organizing a congregation around food and table fellowship.
But it’s not just avant garde ministries that attract talented young clergy. At last week’s retreat, I met high church aficionados, deeply earnest pastoral caregivers, culturally savvy leaders who welcome otherwise marginalized GBLTQ folks, and disciples who have had unforgettable spiritual awakenings. Their ministries are all taking place within established congregations.
Yes, they are up against shifting cultural expectations, a rapidly moving world, and a certain measure of resistance to change. But for all the talk of decline in the local church, these young men and women are signs of local church vitality, denominational structures that functioned well, the enduring power of Jesus’ vision, and the insistent, cajoling voice of God which got through to them.
No, they’re not perfect. Who is? But they are awesome; the future is in good hands. Here’s why I think so. In other words, here is the glorious trouble with young clergy:
- They refuse to stay down. As a young clergy person, I got into stinking thinking, convinced that church decline was somehow my problem. If I could do more and more, and get better and better at it, the church would magically turn around. That line of thinking got me down, and wore me out. These young clergy understand the problems with denominational church in the 21st century; they’re not in denial. But they stay inspired by their call, signs of the Kingdom, and the small wins that lead to larger wins.
- They network. I participated in coaching groups and regular continuing education events, but these clergy have so many more options than I did when I was starting out. More than ever, denominations are inventing life-giving ways to help new clergy stay connected. These clergy are taking advantage of those connections.They know how to establish life-giving connections—virtual and face to face—that keep them grounded.
- They are culturally savvy. Because they are products of the very culture we are seeking to reach, they are not afraid to draw upon this inventiveness in their own ministries. They are crafting creative ways to pay the bills, keep the lights on, do missional ministry, and manifest the Kingdom. They are looking for creative ways to grow their churches, not playing into the larger narrative that might have them looking for ways to shut them down.
- They know how to play. A playful attitude goes a long way toward creating breakthroughs. Keeping it serious and keeping it real all the time can drain the joy out of ministry.
- They are experienced. They may be young in age, but many of them have been at it for years. Some have come up through the ranks, serving every local church position before responding to the call to ministry. Others have been serving as pastor for many years already. They’ve got a lot of time with boots on the ground.
What can the rest of us …young and young at heart… learn from our newer brothers and sisters in the ministry?
Crowdsource community. Put away the Lone Ranger outfit. Creative engagement with colleagues and community leads to creative engagement with the church. The options for growth are endless. But creating new kinds of conversation is what brings the new realities about. Dialogue, not monologue is the answer.
Rule #62. (Go ahead, Google it!) Don’t take yourself so damn seriously! Laughter and playfulness can go a long way toward generating new creativity. And for lightening the occasional load of worry.
Get a Mentor. It’s never too late to enter a discipling relationship. Drawing upon the strength and fellowship of a colleague who is standing with and for you is invaluable! Plus it gives you the chance to personally experience what it is you may be trying to draw others into.
Cross-disciplinary approach. Look to the non-profit world, and even the business world to discover creative engagement with the ever-changing world around us.
Exegete the culture. Barth said to preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. Today, we might exchange the newspaper for a movie pass or the remote. The cultural conversation is full of Christ references and Gospel attributions.
Trust the movement of the Holy Spirit. Announcing and manifesting the Kingdom was Jesus’ purpose in life. He is continuing to call new disciples and recruit new believers. Trust the process and where it leads.
Finally, there is one thing that we all need to focus on—whether you’re 22 or 72. It’s this: Increase Your Emotional Intelligence. Creative conversations, inventive visions and social capital are our primary resources for ministry. Everything else follows. More on this next time. But in the meantime, let me leave you with this thought: learn how to apply the Platinum Rule, and not just the Golden Rule.
If you’d like to find out how to master this key learning the 21st century, please reach out. I’d be happy to talk with you!
by Rebekah Simon-Peter | Aug 10, 2015
“Love God, and love your neighbor.” Those six words are familiar from the parable of the Good Samaritan, and they are at the core of Judeo-Christian ethics. Any church that seeks to be faithful will want to address the complicated meaning of that short sentence.
So we ask the same question that led Jesus to tell the parable: “And who is my neighbor?” And that is where it gets hard. Jesus didn’t answer the question. He turned it around, and asked what characterizes neighborly behavior. Jesus’ compelling story makes it clear that the call to love your neighbor will always stretch us out beyond our comfort zones.
The stretch of neighborliness is far more demanding (and exciting!) in our modern world than it used to be. These days, we live within a rapidly changing, globalized community. We’re connected through economic systems and new forms of communication. New discoveries in science reveal layers of relationship that most of us had never even imagined.
In the 21st Century, “love your neighbor” is a far-reaching aspiration, indeed. It seems to me that today’s Christians need to be very explicit as we expand the circles of neighborliness in three ways.
1. Our neighbors include the whole human family.
A walk through the grocery or the clothing store reveals how closely we’re tied to producers in far-away parts of the world. The worldwide markets for oil tie us directly to citizens of Nigeria, where unregulated oil production devastates human health and livelihood. We are neighbors of the residents of Pacific islands, whose countries are beginning to be inundated by rising seas — a rise caused in large part by the rich world’s pollution.
In our interconnected world, we’re in close connection with all of these people through our lifestyles and our purchases. Will we “walk by on the other side” when we know of their distress and their need? Or will we respond with acts of compassion, and with work toward justice?
2. Our neighbors include future generations.
If we are neighbor to all of Earth’s people today, we also are neighbor to the coming generations whose world will be transformed by today’s choices. Because of our generation’s actions, they will be forced to live in a hotter world, a world without thousands of species, a world with more people but diminished resources.
There are many ways that today’s decisions will have a direct impact on generations yet to come. Careless farming practices erode and poison precious topsoil, and reckless use of fresh water empties aquifers that will take thousands of years to recharge. Overfishing is threatening the bounty of the oceans, and the continuing use of fossil fuels drives global climate change.
Among our neighbors, those people are truly voiceless, because they don’t exist yet. They can’t stand in front of us to speak about their rights, their interests, and their needs. When we recognize our neighborly ties to the future, we will speak and act on their behalf.
3. Our neighbors include the rest of creation.
We must stretch, too, beyond our human neighbors. We are to be neighbor to all the variety of life with whom we share this planet.
Now, that’s a really hard notion for some people to grasp. Our culture, generally, thinks of the natural world only as things with monetary value, but not moral worth. We’re learning, though, how well and how lovingly those neighbors include us in their care. Bees pollinate many of the plants that supply our food. Wetlands purify our water. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Bacteria in our own digestive systems help our bodies stay healthy. We are blessed and nurtured by the actions of other species, just as they are touched for good or ill by our lives.
We are part of an intricate web of life, and we’re bound together in relationship with a multitude of creatures. We do well — both morally and as a matter of self-interest — to be just and caring in our treatment of our other-than-human neighbors.
A part of our human nature wants to contract the boundaries of neighborliness. We’re inclined to think locally, to focus on friends and family, to value the present moment more than the future. But when our churches teach and practice expansive neighborliness, we are called into a richer faithfulness. We discover joy when we live in right relationship with folk all around the world, with attention to future generations, and with mindfulness of the whole web of life.
Thanks to my friend the Rev. Peter Sawtell for this timely piece. Peter is the Executive Director of Eco-Justice Ministries, and author of the weekly commentary, Eco-Justice Notes.
by Rebekah Simon-Peter | Jun 22, 2015
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the dreams of Jesus. Not his night time dreams. But the dream that drove him day by day. It was never far from his awareness. He talked about it, taught about it, and prayed about it. Both his healings and his post-resurrection interactions reflected it. As I write about in The Jew Named Jesus, it was his self-stated reason for coming.
Call me crazy, but I think if we were to recapture Jesus’ own dream, our lives as followers 
would be fuller and richer. Our discipleship would be truer. Our churches would be re-invigorated. The world would be transformed.
What was Jesus’ dream? In a nutshell: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We think of this line as part of the Lord’s Prayer. But I think of it as Jesus’ dream. His dream for us, for humanity, for all creation. The Kingdom figured in everything Jesus did. First he announced it, then he enacted it through miracles and healings, then God inaugurated it through his resurrection.
What is Jesus’ dream? That the beautiful, creative, abundant, gracious, life-giving, blessed intentions of God would be as fully realized on earth as they already are in heaven. That heaven would be reflected here on earth. That we would fully embody God’s will in all our dealings.
So that means a few things: first, the well-being of the earth is essential to Jesus’ own dream. This is where God’s salvation plays out, not in an afterlife. Second, it means we’re called to be active participants. Third, it means that we have to elevate our consciousness beyond the physical to sense the deep spiritual movement of the Divine will and consciousness within us. In other words, we have to let the dream move us to new actions, new conversations, and new ways of being.
Pope Francis has caught the dream. In his recent encyclical, Laudato Si’: On the Care of our Common Home, he articulates a new vision of the Kingdom of God here on earth. Where both the poor and the planet receive preferential treatment.
He also articulates what it takes to get there. “Many things have to change course, but it is we human beings above all who need to change. We lack an awareness of our common origin, of our mutual belonging, and of a future to be shared with everyone. … A great cultural, spiritual, and educational challenge stands before us, and it will demand that we set out on the long path of renewal.” (paragraph 202)
United Methodist Bishops, too, have written about the need for renewal.
The necessity of human renewal, of re-imagining what it 
means to be human, was made devastatingly clear when an armed 21-year old man joined a prayer meeting and Bible Study at Emmanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston S.C. Less than an hour later, Dylann Roof, a white southerner with racist beliefs opened fire on this inclusive gathering. Nine black spiritual and civic leaders, including 3 pastors—one of whom-Rev. Clementa Pinckney—was a respected state senator, lay dead.
Followers of Jesus, this is a potent time to embrace Jesus’ dream and make it our own. Here are some insights about how to dream like Jesus from the week just past:
- Dream a bigger dream. This sweeps people up with you and creates a current that moves things forward. Family members of the slain forgave the killer. They urged him to repent. They did this not to let him off the hook. Or to whitewash racism. But to free themselves of hatred and revenge. And to be ready for a better future.
- Speak up even when powerful forces threaten you. Climate change “skeptics”, whose funding can be traced back to the fossil fuel industry, sought vigorously to dissuade Pope Francis from speaking out on climate change, or at least to include their perspective in his paper. Pope Francis, a chemist by training, and a life-long advocate of the poor, instead chose to call all humans to a vision where our common good outweighs the financial interests of some corporations.
- Love is the answer. In conversations with clergy from a variety of denominations, I have been struck by the cynicism and despair the church shooting has engendered. Love wins. Love always wins. Keep hope alive.
- Do justly. The search for justice is not easy. Biblical definitions of justice do not equal revenge, but of all creation living together in peace and harmony. What can you do in your corner of the world to create a world that works for all creatures and all people?
We can’t make Jesus’ dream come true. But we can align our dreams with his. Then ready ourselves for their manifestation. As I write in The Jew Named Jesus, Church historian Diana Butler Bass notes in her book [Christianity After Religion], the first Christians believed that Jesus would restore the kingdom; medieval Christians believed that the church was the kingdom; Reformed Christians believed that true Christians embodied the kingdom in word and sacrament; and modern Christians believed they could create the kingdom through their work. But there has also been another story about the reign of God—the notion that God’s people anticipate and participate in the kingdom through spiritual practices.” The spiritual practices she goes on to name include prayer, hospitality, forgiveness, charity, and stewardship. These are akin to Jewish spiritual practices of worship, service to God, study, charity, and acts of loving kindness that Judaism teaches will hasten the arrival of God’s reign on earth. None of us can make the kingdom of God come. But we can practice being ready for it.
The best way to dream like Jesus is to practice the Kingdom of God, here and now.
by Rebekah Simon-Peter | Apr 21, 2015
The following article was written by Susan Passi-Klaus for umc.org and shared with permission.
The Rev. Rebekah Simon-Peter began to understand that, for her, taking care of the world is not just an ecological issue, but a moral and spiritual issue.
“It reflects the way we treat the life God has given us,” she said. “It’s about what happens to our neighbors, family and the future generation.”
No mincing of words-“You can’t love God and ignore the Earth.”
Sometimes we just have to put something in words people can understand, which is what Simon-Peter does in her books Green Church and Seven Steps to Green Your Church. After more than a decade of pastoring churches, the ordained United Methodist elder now shares the “green” gospel with congregations, interfaith groups and community groups through BridgeWorks, an extension ministry she directs in Wyoming.
I’ve seen a lot of burning bushes in my time,” Simon-Peter said. “Eight years into pastoring churches I began to see headlines about Global Warming and Al Gore’s documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. In 2007, I joined a group being trained by him.”
Our care of Creation “reflects the way we treat the life God has given us” You can’t love God and ignore Earth #UMC
TWEET THIS
God so loved the world
“God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…” (John 3:16)
Dinkin Kalbeth
“Throughout Creation we see praise to God coming from trees, fields, the heavens, the seas, the sun, the moon, the stars, the clouds, ocean creatures, mountains hills, wild animals, cattle, birds, small creatures, and much more. If these parts of nature bring glory to God, then who are we to carelessly destroy them?”
“The word world is actually kosmon in Greek—the cosmos,” Simon-Peter said. “Jesus’ love is not just for humans, it’s for all creation. That’s why he said to the disciples, ‘Go to all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation’” (Mark 16:15).
Simon-Peter describes Jesus as the “midwife” of creation (see Colossians 1:15-20; John 1:1-5). “He loves the Earth as much as he loves us.”
Twenty-five years ago, when she was studying the environment at the University of Vermont, people were still trying to figure out this “green” thing. There was a whole lot of talk about what was going to happen in the future and a general assumption was made, “Someone will do something about this before it’s too late.” A few epiphanies later, Simon-Peter finally “got it”—“The ‘someone’ is me.”
“As the Earth sickens, we sicken as well,” Simon-Peter said. “I felt, and still feel, myself grieving for the earth and for the people and creatures that are dying as well.”
Creation care is not “no big deal”
Although there are skeptics and naysayers, Simon-Peter tells it like many believe it to be.
The Rev. Cliff Bird is the Pacific Islands representative to the Creation Care Ministry Team formed by Global Ministries and works for The Methodist Church in Fiji. Photo by Caines Janif
Rev. Cliff Bird
“The naked truth is that human life is no life at all and is not possible without the life of all beings in creation. Christians must combine our voices with the groaning voice of creation, and rally against rampant and mindless capitalism and its consuming goal for more economic growth at the great cost of ecology.”
“It’s not the Rapture,” she said. “But in this diverse web of life created by God, fully half of all species on earth may be gone in 50-60 years.
“It’s the largest mass destruction since the age of the dinosaurs,” Simon-Peter said. “We can’t fill the earth to the point we push everything out of existence. Before God blessed us with the command to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:26-31), he gave the birds and fishes the same commandment (Genesis 1:20-23). We have to balance out our blessedness with their blessedness.”
Scientists insist the doom and gloom stuff isn’t just hogwash. The sixth extinction crisis is already underway. Currently, there are two million species on Earth. Every year 200-2000 of those species become extinct.
Fifty or 60 years from now many of us won’t be here, but our grandkids or their grandkids are at risk for losing the privilege and pleasure of enjoying God’s earthly gifts—the joy of swimming in safe oceans, chasing butterflies, and catching frogs for show and tell? Sadly, future childhoods may be more about forest fires, drought and consequences of an ever-weakening ozone layer. In their future, young students may write term papers about what wasn’t done by previous generations to protect the world they inherited.
Thinking little about a BIG problem
“We are a denomination that preaches what the Bible says, ‘The Earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world and those that live it,’” Simon-Peter reminds us, quoting Psalm 24:1. “Creation is the Body of God. We are part and parcel of it. We cannot separate our life with God from our life on earth.”
Jessica Stonecypher
Jessica Stonecypher is Abbess of the Wesleyan Order of Saint Francis. Photo courtesy of Jessica Stonecyper.
“I am grieved by the broken state of our planet and I critically consider my part in its destruction. The United Methodist and Franciscan traditions equip me to look at all members of the creation as brothers and sisters in Christ and to expand my understanding of what I consider sacred. I believe that when Christians extend God’s love to the Creation and those affected by its damage, their faith is enriched and resurrection takes on a whole new meaning.”
Many churches say, “But we’re recycling and we’ve stopped using Styrofoam cups during coffee hour.” “That’s not enough,” says Simon-Peter. The church has to think bigger, do more.
It’s not just about appointing a church “Green Team,” nor is it just about floating patches of garbage in the Pacific Ocean. Not just about disappearing monkeys, melting icebergs and dying coral reefs. It’s about counting nature’s blessings and honoring The Creator by protecting them.
Simon-Peter suggests churches channel their passion into things that make a true difference—installing solar panels, harnessing wind power, or creating a community garden that can be used to feed the homeless or working poor.
From the pulpit
But it’s up to church leadership to inspire their congregations.
“It’s on the pastor to be courageous and visionary,” Simon-Peter said. “Preachers have to use the power of the pulpit to talk about the relationship with the Creator and the Creation because if it doesn’t come from the church pulpit, it doesn’t become real for the congregation.
“We confuse the political with the Biblical—our focus for so long has been on humanity—which is a good thing, but we have not paid attention to the health of the rest of Creation.”
Heather Bennett
“Caring for Creation should be a natural response to loving Jesus. I am in awe over the intricacies and systems created that support life. To love my neighbor as myself, I must care and act so my neighbors can have clean water, air and healthy food. I care because God cares for what He’s created.”
“Church ministry tends to be comfort-focused. We comfort people in distress. UMCOR does fabulous work with responding to natural disasters—which are actually un-natural disasters. The problem is that we’re not addressing why the disasters are happening with such increasing frequency.”
The US Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that if America’s more than 300,000 houses of worship cut back on energy use by a mere ten percent, we could save nearly $200 million for missions.
It’s not what we save, it’s what we can do with the money we save.
Connected to the planet
Are your tulips in bloom? Do your rose plants have new leaves? Are there birds at your feeders? What do you see when you go outside for a walk? Are you planning your beach vacation? What’s fresh and for dinner? Can you breathe in the freshness of a new season?
And God said it was good.
“The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, but the mess is ours.” “God has created a world that is designed to be self-replicating,” Simon-Peter said. “God replicated himself in us and we act on his behalf when we treat Creation with benevolence and creativity.”
The Rev. Pat Watkins teaches the theology of caring for creation as a missionary with Global Ministries. Photo courtesy of Pat Watkins.
For further study:
Click here for Bible verses and commentary by the Rev. Pat Watkins. These will serve as a great way to think about and discuss a theology of Creation care.
Watkins is a missionary with Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church. He is guiding a new, globally-focused United Methodist Ministry with God’s Renewed Creation, based at Global Ministries and closely related to the Council of Bishops. He is an expert in educating others about how theology relates to caring for Creation.
Watkins said, “The United Methodist Church is an amazing and powerful group of Christians because of our scriptures. We just don’t use that power enough. We need to be the voice of Creation care.” His commentary will help us begin to be that voice.
Use these thoughts with a group of friends, your Sunday School class, youth group, or small group.
by Rebekah Simon-Peter | Feb 9, 2015
‘Tis the season of red: red hearts, red candy, red cards, red bows, red boxes of chocolates…all for Valentine’s Day. I love red as much as the next person, but when it comes to how followers of Jesus show love, I believe green is the new red.
In the church we know green as the color of growing in Christ, of maturing in faith. It’s the color of Ordinary Season–the weeks between Advent and Lent, and between Easter and Advent.
Green has another meaning as well. It’s also the color of sustainability, eco-friendly practices, and environmental awareness. Both the ecclesiastical and the ecological meanings are deeply intertwined.
They’re so deeply intertwined that I don’t think we can grow in Christ and mature in our faith without taking an active interest in the health and vibrancy of the Creation too. Why do I say this? The Creation is the general revelation of God, revealing God’s own nature. (Romans 1:20) We have been given dominion over it and asked to be caretakers of it. (Genesis 1-2). So wiping it out is like erasing God’s own imprint on the planet. Not a good idea. Christ himself is the firstborn of all Creation, through whom all Creation has been made. (Colossians 1:15). We have a responsibility toward it, as much as toward one another. That’s why I say green is the new red.
I want to share with you five things to start doing to green your love of God and one important thing to stop doing immediately.
Start Doing: Incorporate awareness of the Creation in Worship
When we gather to worship God we are joining our voices with the majestic choir of creation. Just as we humans gather to praise God through song, liturgy, sermon and communion, so the creation offers its praise to God, too. The psalmists write that the earth rejoices, the coastlands are glad, the trees clap their hands, and the heavens and earth praise God.
Sing: So many of the traditional songs of the church lift up creation. Sing them!
Pray: Ask for God’s wisdom in how to fulfill our role as stewards of the Creation. Focus on different aspects of the earth weekly such as different animals, rivers, forests, oceans, beaches, soil, and sky. Use your prayers to affirm positive advances being made.
Children’s sermon: Teach children about our interconnectedness with nature. Jesus told stories incorporating sky, sheep, goats, birds, flowers, mountains, and fields. So can we!
Sermon: Develop a yearly series on our deep relationship to the Creation. Incorporate the new four-week Season of Creation into your liturgical calendar. It highlights the work of God the Creator and the wonders of creation.
Observe Earth Sabbath or Environmental Sabbath, a worldwide ecumenical day of reverence for the earth around June 5, World Environment Day. Gather with other congregations in your area to hold an interfaith service. Consider patterning your service after the United Nation’s Environmental Sabbath Programme.
Holy Communion: Recognize Christ as the firstborn of all creation, our oneness with him, and by extension, our unity with creation.
Stop Doing: Thinking It’s Too Hard
All of us live on one planet. We all share the same water, air, earth, and sky. God would not give us something to do that we are not capable of. Read the Green Bible (NRSV) to get grounded in the Word in a new way. Start a Green Team. Read Green Church with your friends. Or simply begin with a prayer for courage. Just don’t say it’s too hard! Love always wins. Especially if it’s green.
Adapted in part from 7 Simple Steps to Green Your Church, by Rebekah Simon-Peter, (c) copyright 2010.
