Picture courtesy of seasonofcreation.org
The third week of the Season of Creation is focused on water. This week contains a call to prayer, a hymn, and a song. It also recommends water sounds to be played in the background and seven candles to be lit and placed in water. To read more, click here.
Picture courtesy of lutheranworld.org
In order to honor their commitment to creation, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) invites its members to engage in the season of creation that is annually observed worldwide. They provide weekly blogs from the communion of churches and biblical reflections. There are biblical reflections for each week of the season and they contain a variety of resources including prayers, poems, reflections and personal stories. To read more on the LWF blog and biblical reflections, click here.
“As people of faith, we are called to live in the right relationship with creation and not exhaust it.”
–Lutheran World Federation Assembly Resolution on Climate Change (2017)
Picture courtesy of churchofengland.org
The Church of England has created a service that is focused on urban communities and the impacts climate change has on them. It is meant to be a guide for a service and includes resources from beginning to end, including a prayer on climate change. To read more, click here.
To read a similar service on rural communities, click here.
Picture courtesy of seasonofcreation.org
The second week of the Season of Creation is focused on climate change and the challenge of responding to Pope Francis’ call to care for creation. This week contains a hymn, a call to repentance, a responsive reflection, and an intercession. To read or download the document for week two, click here.
Picture courtesy of religionnews.com
The Irish Catholic Bishops Conference announced it would divest from fossil fuels hours before the arrival of Pope Francis. The bishops move means withdrawing investments in 200 oil and gas companies within five years. The bill was introduced in the Irish Parliament requiring the country’s sovereign wealth fund to divest from all fossil fuels, and if the Irish bill passes, it will make Ireland the first government to divest from fossil fuels. To read more, click here.
Picture courtesy of ecochurchsouthwest.org.uk
The Church of England is challenging the disposable culture as a response to globally recognized ecological concerns. The excessive emissions of carbon dioxide is recognized as causing ecological imbalances, and people are putting alarming pressure on valuable resources. At the same time, inequality is growing, and poverty continues to be a global issue. Justice is being denied to our neighbors, whether our fellow human beings, future generations, or the rest of creation. EcoChurch Southwest aims to provide resources to churches and church members who seek to address these issues. To read more, click here.
Picture courtesy of creationcare.org
How Bad is Air Conditioning is an article from Evangelical Environmental Network MOMS about the harmful impacts of air conditioning and a Christian’s responsibilities to the earth. Air conditioning accounts for 6% of America’s residential energy usage and releases about 100 million tons of carbon dioxide each year. The article offers some simple and some challenging ways to reduce the temperature without using air conditioning. To read more, click here.
Picture courtesy of yecaction.org/dayofprayer
Day of Prayer for Climate Action was held on September 1st. Young Evangelicals for Climate Action created a list of resources including climate liturgies, a prayer guide, thematic prayers, examples of how to turn prayer into action, a prayer digital toolkit, and a printable climate prayer sign. To read more, click here.
Picture courtesy of creationcare.org
Evangelical Environmental Network has created a resource to give tips and hacks on using less energy. It also includes ways to make energy efficient kits that can be distributed at churches or used as a mission project. To read more click here.
Image courtesy of bakerpublishinggroup.com
Leader of the Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN), Mitch Hescox and respected meteorologist, Paul Douglas team up to bring an evangelical guide to creation care. Caring for Creation: The Evangelical’s Guide to Climate Change and a Healthy Environment looks honestly at the problem of climate change and argues that it is evangelical beliefs and conservative ethics which should inspire evangelical Christians to take action to be a better steward of the earth.
They begin by outlining what climate change is exactly and where it impacts our daily lives and lives of others around the world. They strike down the idea that the science that defends climate change is political. Thermometers, erratic weather, and other signs of a changing climate have no agenda liberal or conservative. They look back to the history of the conservative and republican movement in the US and find that it is deeply rooted in and aligned in conservative ideology to work against the effects of climate change. Statements from heroes in the Republican party, for example Ronald Reagan, who call for care for the environment remind readers of the history of support within the Republican party. The authors defend the development and use of renewable energy; they point to ways in which solar, wind, and other renewable energy forms are the future and provide economic growth.
Contextualizing the tradition of conservative and evangelical care for the environment, Hescox and Douglas give readers a background and examples of actions they can take to be better stewards of God’s creation. They point out that it is our children and future generations who will have to pay if we do not restore the earth; because of this reality, they call for action against climate change as a pro-life issue.
For any conservative evangelicals who feel alienated by creation care conversations in which they are not given space to reconcile their ideology with the movement, this book will be a breath of fresh air.
Caring for Creation: The Evangelical’s Guide to Climate Change and a Healthy Environment can be found on Amazon, through major book retailers, and your favorite independent bookstore.