Earth Day Resources

Life-giving Breath of God: Protecting the Sacred Gift of Air
Thanking and praising God for the beauty of God's creation is an essential part of our ongoing faith journey and worship experience and each year we dedicate one Sunday for creation stewardship and the Earth Day celebration. The emphasis for 2004 is on God's gift of air, the "Life-giving Breath of God." The following resource highlights a number of ways individuals and congregations can celebrate and protect this integral part of God's creation. We have included:

• Basics on the state of the world's air quality and sermon starter (.pdf file)
• Sample liturgy/call to worship Bulletin Insert (.pdf file)
• Ideas for personal, congregational, and community action

We hope these ideas inspire further thoughts, conversations, and actions in answering God's call to be faithful stewards of creation.

Basics on Air Quality. As people of faith, we understand our responsibilities to protect the sacred gifts given by God and to heal a world torn by brokenness and human strife. Air pollution, like all human-induced environmental degradation, is a sign of this brokenness. As a community of faith we understand our moral obligation to protect the air around us--as stewards of creation and as instruments of justice and reconciliation for our neighbors, nature, and generations yet to come. We can clean our air so that future generations will inherit a world as pure and clean as the one first touched by the life-giving breath of God. To read more, click here . . .

Ideas for Action. Congregations and individual people of faith have the opportunity to put their faith into action to protect our precious air resources and to give glory to God's creation. Reduce your energy use both at home and in the office, use energy efficient transportation such as fuel efficient cars, and use less toxic substances when purchasing items such as carpeting and paint for home and office use. Since our energy use is a major contributor to both local air pollution and global warming, reducing our consumption and choosing cleaner, greener alternatives will help protect God's precious air resources. To read more, click here . . .

If you have innovative ways your congregation incorporates creation stewardship into the ongoing life of your church, please let us know. We would love to share those ideas with others. Send photos, liturgies, sermons, and action ideas to:

Cassandra Carmichael
Director of Eco-Justice Programs
National Council of Churches, 110 Maryland Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002
e-mail: cassandra@toad.net