January 2007 Edition

Global Justice and Creation
Peace, Global Justice and Creation (July 30th-August 5th, 2007), a one-week course at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, will focus on how we can live as Jesus taught while much of the world suffers extreme poverty, disease, homelessness, violence, and exploitation of God’s good Earth. The event features a Presbyterians for Restoring Creation track led by Larry Rasmussen and John Preston. Click here to find out more information.

Young Adult Ecumenical Forum
This year's upcoming Young Adult Ecumenical Forum (YAEF) will be held in Boston, Massachusetts from July 26 - 29. Participants, who will focus on the topic of environmental justice, will grow together through worship, prayer, discussion, service learning, speakers and small events. Register here.

This Little Light of Mine...
Help fight global warming by switching the light bulbs in your church from incandescent to compact fluorescent (CFL). This easy Adamah action can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save money by reducing energy use. Educate your congregation members about global warming and challenge them to change incandescent light bulbs to CFLs in their homes. Click here to read the full Adamah challenge!

Celebrate World Water Day
Join people of faith around the globe in commemorating the United Nation’s World Water Day to protect this sacred resource on which all life depends. Click here for a list of new faith resources that you can use any day to care for our blessed waterways and guarantee access to clean water for all.

Out of the Wilderness
Out of the Wilderness: Building Christian Faith and Keeping God's Creation, encourages Christians to seek out wilderness and other quiet places to reconnect with God, renew and refresh themselves for ministry, and rediscover their role as caretakers of God’s creation. Click here to download this FREE resource.

Earth Day Sunday
Our Daily Bread: Harvesters of Hope and Gardeners of Eden explores the process of putting the spirit of God back into the life-giving acts of producing and consuming food. This Earth Day Sunday resource includes background material, sermon starters, ideas for youth and adult study, a bulletin insert, and suggestions for personal and congregational action. Click here to download this FREE resource for your congregation!

Church of the Brethren

Environmental Justice Office of Presbyterian Church (USA)

Presbyterian Washington Office

Episcopal Ecological Network

Greek Orthodox Church in America

Lutheran Earthkeeping Network of the Synods

Reformed Church in America

United Church of Christ

United Methodist Board of Church and Society

Congregations Around the Country are Stepping It Up!

On April 14th, First Presbyterian Church of Tallahassee, FL will be stepping it up in a rally as part of a much larger national effort. Step It Up 2007, in which local communities all over the couuntry will be taking action to inform elected officials about climate change, will feature many sponsored or cosponsored by churches. The NCC's Eco-Justice Program has teamed up with Step It Up 2007 and are encouraging local congregations to join planned actions in their community or to host their own. Click here to find out ways your congregation can get involved and contact Tyler Edgar.

Green Trumps Red and Blue

Dr. Walter Shurden, a retired church historian who has been dean of two theological schools in the past 30 years, recently issued a challenge to Baptist preachers to preach an entire sermon soon on "The Care of Creation." In an article printed in The Baptist Studies Bulletin, Shurden writes that "one of the most critical moral issues in the twenty first century for Christians is learning to love creation with all our hearts and souls and minds and strength and to protect it in God's name." Click here to read the entire article.

Conserving Energy for Lent

During this season of Lent, many Christians are chosing to fast from excess energy use. The North Carolina National Council of Churches and the North Carolina Interfaith Power and Light and encouraging people of faith to turn off non-essential outdoor lighting and to “Wait for the Light.” To collaborate or find out more, contact Thomas W. Mann, Chairperson of Climate Connection: Interfaith Ecojustice Network of the North Carolina Council of Churches and Interfaith Power and Light (336-760-0265).

Earth Day Sunday, April 22nd

If you haven’t already, take a minute to learn more about and download the 2007 Earth Day Sunday resource for worship, study, and action, "Our Daily Bread: Harvesters of Hope and Gardeners of Eden." This resource challenges us all to create a more sustainable food system in the United States by seeking spirit-filled solutions to the root causes of injustice in our farm and food policy. For the first time ever, we are providing an opportunity for direct action with your legislators for Earth Day Sunday. Contact Karen Galles to request materials so that each person in your congregation can ask your elected officials to “Sow Justice” in the 2007 farm bill. If you’re interested in learning more about the farm bill process and our Christian Call to be better stewards of our food system, e-mail Karen to receive the Faithful Harvest e-newsletter. Don’t forget to register your Earth Day Sunday celebration with the Eco-Justice Network so that others in your area can find your event!

New Study: Environmental Racism Still Looms Large

Toxic Waste and Race at 20, a new report commissioned by The United Church of Christ, shows that environmental injustice disproportionately affects minorities and that episodes of slow and unequal responses to hazardous waste emergencies, like the one seen in the wake of Katrina, are not anamolies. The new report commemorates the 20th anniversary of the ground-breaking report, Toxic Waste and Race, which put the environmental justice movement on the map in 1979. The new report shows that little headway has been made in ensuring that all people, regardless of race and economic situation, are protected equally under environmental laws. Click here to read the press release.

Ecumenical Advocacy Days

More than 1,000 faith leaders and social justice advocates gathered (March 9-11th) to address how problems such as lack of health care, foreign spending, and global warming are harming the world's children. Participants of the fifth annual Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Global Peace and Justice learned from experts in workshops and plenaries designed to educate and train Christian advocates. Close to a hundred participated in the Eco-Justice track, which took a close look at the affects of global warming on children and what people of faith can and should do to protect future generations. Plenary speakers such as Dr. Larry Rasmussen, Dr. Bob Musil, and Dr. Robert Bullard. Click here to read a copy of Larry Rasmussen's speech, To All The Children, that he delivered at the opening Eco-Justice plenary of EAD on March 10th.

From the Desk of...
By Cassandra Carmichael, NCC Eco-Justice Program Director

It was silly really. I just had to ask one person a question, but I couldn't do it. I put it off day after day until weeks turned into months. I quite simply was afraid. And then I was walking my very large dog Jax one evening after dark. We came across a large white plastic bag, stuck in a bush, moving back and forth with the wind. He came to a stand still, the hair on his back standing up. He backed up, making himself smaller, never taking his eyes off of the very scary plastic bag. If he wasn't so scared, it would have been comical—such a large dog afraid of a plastic bag caught in the bushes. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and instead utilized the dog training skills that I had been learning. I announced that we were going to check out the bag and I strode over to the bush, crouched down, and pretended to examine the bag in great detail. Jax, sensing my enthusiasm of discovery, inched towards me and with each step I told him what a very brave dog he was. Finally, he made it to the plastic bag, gave it a few good sniffs, wagged his tail with relief upon discovering the plastic bag was harmless, and happily sauntered off. So, taking Jax's example to heart, with some encouraging words from some friends, I did finally ask my question and got the answer I was seeking. And it was then that I realized that being afraid, even of small things, is okay as long as we, step by step, approach what we fear, embracing encouragement and God's strength along the way.

" Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand." -- Isaiah 41:10