Learn Pray Join - Climate Justice | Mennonite Church USA

Climate justice recognizes the importance of caring for all God’s creation together with caring for people who experience the most harm from climate change. May we commit to being more faithful in caring for the gift of creation and one another.

This initiative is a partnership between Mennonite Church USA (MC USA), Mennonite Creation Care Network and the Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions.

Learn

Engage with Climate Justice resources.

Watch the recording of our webinar, Caring for climate: Beyond denial and despair.

Many people are still in denial about the climate crisis and still others are in despair. How can congregational ministries help us navigate the myriad emotions we experience related to climate, moving us from inaction to hopeful engagement? Doug Kaufman and other Mennonite climate leaders Dr. Christy Miller Hesed, Dr. Sibonokuhle Ncube and Ken Pitts, discuss how people become involved in climate action, including why we are involved and how to help others get involved.

The webinar took place Thurs., Feb. 27. Meet and watch the panelists here.

Learn from people engaging with climate justice from across MC USA:

Visit the Menno Snapshots blog and news.
Subscribe to PeaceMail.
Follow @MennoniteChurchUSA on social media or follow #LearnPrayJoin.

Read MC USA’s Creation Care Resolution from 2013.

It resolves for people within MC USA to “commit to growing in their dedication to care for God’s creation as an essential part of the good news of Jesus Christ.”

Pray

Resources to join in collective prayer.

Communion liturgy from Wild Church

This liturgy invites you to widen the table of communion to include the body of earth. Developed by Katerina Friesen for Wild Church, a community seeking to reconnect with God and all creation in their watershed.

Lament and Hope service

This service was created by Wendy Janzen for Burning Bush Forest Church, an outdoor worshipping community that meets year-round in natural spaces in and around Kitchener-Waterloo.

Creation Care liturgy

This service liturgy was created by Peace Mennonite Church in Claremont, California.

Pray for those who are most vulnerable among us and who are most impacted by climate change, including those who have already been displaced.

Pray for the waters, the plants, all living creatures and the earth with gratitude, that we may recognize their sacredness and participate in their restoration.

Pray that we will find the motivation to respond to climate change in our own lives, congregations and communities.

Pray for local, community and business leaders to help make communities healthier and greener while centering those who are vulnerable. Pray that our political leaders and world leaders would become more active in reducing carbon emissions worldwide.

Pray for the youth and future generations, who will live with the growing consequences of climate change.

Join

Opportunities for churches to engage with the issue in their homes, churches, communities and society.

New resource! Blueprints for climate action

New Creation Care Action Plans provide strategies and resources to empower congregations to pursue creation care in their communities. There are four different plans to match your congregation’s journey. Developed by Katie Isaac as part of Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions’ Climate Futures Fellowship program.

Join the Climate Ride

Join the Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions as we bring attention to the climate crisis. This group of passionate young adults are crossing the country on bicycle in order to talk with communities and hear how climate change is affecting their communities. Join their journey in learning about how climate change intersects with issues which are important to people’s lives.

Caring for God’s Earth: A hopeful response to the climate crisis

“Caring for God’s Earth: A hopeful response to the climate crisis” is Friday evening to Saturday afternoon, May 7 – 8, 2021. The event includes both virtual and in-person components and will equip and give hope to current and developing church leaders. The day includes online plenary sessions and workshops as well as inspiring in-person field trips to explore climate action work being done in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania area. Keynote speakers have years of experience in climate action and awareness, with Mennonite pastor Douglas Kaufman of Indiana and Brethren in Christ international development leader Dr. Sibonokuhle Ncube of Zimbabwe. Online sessions are free; field trips request $5 for included lunch. Sponsored by the Peace & Justice Committee of the Atlantic Coast Conference of Mennonite Church USA, Mennonite Central Committee, and the Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions. Information and registration at https://atlanticcoastconference.net/gods-earth/

Advocate for Climate Justice:

Reach out to your elected officials.
Mennonite Central Committee U.S. recommends sharing concern for both the impacts of climate change and the impact that carbon pricing proposals may have on the most vulnerable. For more information:

Support Climate Justice work:

Donate to MC USA Transformative Peacemaking.
Donate to Mennonite Creation Care Network.
Donate to the Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions.

Additional resources and suggestions:

Use the curriculum,“Every Creature Singing: Embracing the Good News for Planet Earth,” available for free from Mennonite Creation Care Network.
Explore sermon topics and worship ideas from Mennonite Creation Care Network.
Listen to the Shifting Climates podcast, a podcast about climate justice and the church, which includes a curriculum for using in Sunday School.
Appoint a creation care liaison for your congregation.
Evaluate your congregation’s attention to creation care and plan for the future with Mennonite Creation Care Network (MCCN)’s Greener Congregation Score Sheet.
Calculate your carbon footprint.
Join MCCN’s Green Patchwork congregations.
Consider using MCCN’s Shared Practices to create accountability groups between congregations.
Apply for MCCN’s Zero Energy Grants, which helps congregations interested in installing various forms of renewable energy. Everence also offers church loans that can be used for green projects.
Find your state’s Interfaith Power & Light organization for advocacy opportunities, ideas for enhancing energy efficiency and grants.
Congregations and schools with libraries can consider building a climate justice section.
Draw attention to climate justice for Earth Day on April 22.
Watch a children’s time, Sunday school lesson and sermon that engage climate change from Katherine Jameson Pitts and Ken Pitts at Zion Mennonite Church in Hubbard, Oregon.
Reach Out, Reach In, Reach Back pamphlet: Congregational Response to Climate Change written by Ken Pitts and designed by Curt Weaver as part of the Justice Committee of Portland Mennonite Church.

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.