Hope is the Thing: A Sermon for Climate Justice from United Methodist Women is an account from Bishop C. Joseph Sprague on the sermon he gave at the United Methodist Caretakers of God’s Creation Conference. The Bishop discusses the complexity of being caretakers of God’s creation and how to remember that you are not alone in the journey. To read the entire article, click here.
Environmental Justice
The Unthinkable Undrinkable: A Fight for Clean Water
The Unthinkable Undrinkable: A Fight for Clean Water is an article from United Methodist Women about four young women who began working towards ending climate injustice, starting with water in the United States. Their hope was “to show people that water quality issues are not only global problems, seen in third-world countries, but that they happen in our backyard as well.” To read more on the research they did in three regions of the United States, click here.
Valuing Things and People: Responding to Natural Disasters
Valuing Things and People is an article from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The article is meant to create a discussion about the value we place on money compared to the value we place on people, especially those we don’t know. There are questions about the recent natural disaster in Indonesia and the moral lines people are crossing to survive, and about wealth and the effects it has on a person’s relationship with God. Additionally, there is a gospel reflection on the relationship between wealth and God. To read the entire article, click here.
Air Pollution and Public Health
Air Pollution and Public Health is an article from United Methodist Women. It focuses on the impacts that air pollution has on health, specifically in communities of color and children. It goes on to discuss environmental justice and ways to combat this injustice. To read more, click here.
Climate Change is a Civil Rights Issue
Climate Change is a Civil Rights Issue is an article form Sojourners magazine that discusses the issue of climate change as a civil rights issue and four ways to respond. Author Gerald Durley quotes Martin Luther King Jr. by saying, “We must learn to live together as brothers and sisters or perish together as fools.” He believes that climate change is a civil rights issue which business, political, educational, and faith leaders must join forces to stop. To read more on how to respond, click here.
Ethics of Eating Cards
Catholic Rural Life has seven Ethics of Eating Cards that talk about different food and farm issues. The cards are meant for personal or parish uses. The seven cards cover topics such as water, nutritious and safe food, animal welfare, human rights, and a sustainable food system. To read more on the seven Ethics of Eating Cards, or to purchase the set, click here.
A Hymn for Justice
A Hymn for Justice is published by Sojourners and written by Caroline Winfrey Gillette who has written over 400 hymns. The hymn describes justice, mercy, kindness, love, and peace and references Luke 1:46-55. To view the entire hymn, click here.
German Church aims to be CO2 Neutral by 2050
Helena Funk, the COP23 delegate from Germany, comes from the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Northern Germany where their goal is to be carbon neutral by 2050. She discusses her personal experiences as a theology student and how she got involved with climate justice. Helena is one of ten young adults from the European and Asian regions that form the Lutheran World Federation delegation to the COP23 climate conference in Bonn, Germany. To read more, click here.
When Water Comes to Life
Australian Lutheran World Service Community Action Manager Jonathan Krause reflects on the importance of providing clean water. Krause describes the importance of clean water in communities like Nakururum in Kenya where the lack of clean, safe water can be life threatening. The Lutheran World Federation states that across the world, three children die from impacts of dirty water every sixty seconds, and that is why they work to provide water in places like South Sudan, Cambodia and Nakururum. To read more or watch a video about the work that LWF does to provide clean water, click here.
A Service for Urban Communities in Times of Environmental Crisis and Climate Change
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.