Creation Care Justice Network

Autumn and the Season of Creation

Creation Season (CreationTide) begins Sunday, Sept. 1, with the World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation and concludes on Oct. 4, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. The recently concluded Episcopal Church General Convention adopted Resolution D041 to support global ecumenical efforts to declare a worldwide Feast Day of Creation in 2025, but it’s not too early to start the celebration!  And if these days don’t work for your congregation, any time is a good time to celebrate God’s creation.

An Episcopal Path to Creation Justice is an excellent resource for congregations seeking to continue their creation justice ministry throughout the year.  A second cohort of congregations in the New England dioceses of Province I is beginning this fall.  For more information, e-mail episcopalcreationpath@gmail.com.

Pray:

• The popular “Celebration Guide for Episcopal Parishes” is now available in an updated edition for 2024 and is approved for use in more than 40 dioceses, including Massachusetts.
• The Creation Care webpage of The Episcopal Church includes this and other resources, including the Prophetic Voices podcast series.
• The One Home One Future Resource Hub also has an excellent collection.

Learn:

• The Love God Love God’s World curriculum offers an in-depth look at creation care ministry.
• The Season of Creation provides a faith-filled lens with which to approach our national elections.  Use the Episco-Pols podcast series to launch a discussion about how to “Vote Faithfully.”
   

Act:

• Extreme weather and climate migration are in the news, affecting communities across the country. Creation Justice Ministries offers a six-part “storybook” series on "Faithful Resilience.”  Session 5, “Building Resilience,” is particularly relevant for practical ways for congregations to address extreme weather emergencies.
• Massachusetts Interfaith Power & Light is partnering with MassSave and others to offer energy audits and upgrades for houses of worship at greatly reduced cost!  This program ends on Dec. 31.  For more information check our “Sustainable Life” resource list or e-mail Jim Nail  at jnail@massipl.org.

Advocate:

• In addition to the podcasts mentioned above, both The Episcopal Church's Office of Government Relations and Interfaith Power & Light have non-partisan campaigns to educate and encourage voters to see voting in a faith-based context.  
• Secular groups like the Environmental Voter Project and the Center for Common Ground’s Reclaim Our Vote have active get-out-the-vote programs directed to environmentally concerned non-voters and people of color.  These are not-for-profit, non-partisan and unaffiliated with any political organization.

Additional suggestions are available on the Episcopal Church website, on the An Episcopal Path to Creation Justice website, in the Creation Care Justice Network's monthly Green Justice News and in the regularly updated Sustainable Life resource list.  

Creation Care Justice Network 

We are Episcopal clergy and lay people across Massachusetts, working together to help our congregations PRAY, LEARN, ACT and ADVOCATE on behalf of God's creation and to mobilize a robust, justice-centered response to the ecological and climate emergency.

Here is a short video from 2022 that frames our mission. Whether you're an experienced climate activist or just beginning your journey, we welcome you into our work to protect the web of life that God has entrusted to our care.

If you join the Creation Care Justice Network, you'll receive a monthly newsletter, Green Justice News.

• Sign up here to get connected with the network and receive its e-mail updates.

For more information e-mail creationjusticeepisma@gmail.com. 

If another meeting is more than you can manage, please fill out this short survey to help us learn more about our collective Episcopal community here in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts bishops declare climate emergency

On March 23, 2021, the bishops of the Episcopal dioceses of Massachusetts and Western Massachusetts declared a climate emergency.  From their declaration:

“We believe that God is calling us all to embrace brave and difficult change.  Everything we do as faithful individuals and as a church must reckon with the unprecedented emergency in which humanity now finds itself.  

“We therefore encourage all Episcopalians to explore The Episcopal Church’s Covenant for the Care of Creation , a commitment to practice loving formation, liberating advocacy, and life-giving conversation as individuals, congregations, ministries, and dioceses.

“We strongly urge congregations across Massachusetts to pray, learn, act, and advocate as we build a bold and faith-filled response to the greatest moral challenge of our time.”  

Read the bishops’ full declaration and their suggested actions and resources here.

View recordings of four webinars on responding to the climate emergency here.

Green Loans and Fossil Fuel Free Fund

Additional Resources

• An Episcopal Path to Creation Justice supports congregations as they amplify and accelerate their response to the climate emergency.  For more information contact episcopalcreationpath@gmail.com.
   
• Creation Care Ministry of The Episcopal Church:  The Episcopal Church's "Covenant for the Care of Creation" is a commitment to practice loving formation, liberating advocacy and life-giving conversation as individuals, congregations, ministries and dioceses.  Explore the covenant here and sign up for the newsletter.
   
• Creation care action alerts and advocacy resources from The Episcopal Church's Office of Government Relations
   
• Creation Care Ministry of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts.  Subscribe to their newsletter here.
   
• Massachusetts Interfaith Power & Light offers energy assessments tailored to the needs of houses of worship, and works to mobilize faith communities to advocate strong climate legislation in Massachusetts.
   
• One Home One Future provides resources to build thriving congregations, support faith leaders, and strengthen local communities in their efforts to protect creation and advance just and equitable climate solutions.

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