United Methodist Church God's Creation and the Church As disciples of Christ, we are called to be good stewards of God's creation. Accordingly, we call upon The United Methodist Church to adopt fresh ways to respond to the perils that now threaten the integrity of God's creation and the future of God's children. Specifically, The United Methodist Church: designates one Sunday each year, preferably the Sunday closest to Earth Day, as a Festival of God's Creation, celebrating God's gracious work in creating the earth and all living things, incorporating it into the church's liturgical calendar, and developing appropriate ways for congregations to celebrate it; endorses the work of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, and the World Council of Churches Climate Change Program and urges conferences and congregations to support their activities and programs; supports the annual observance of the United Nations' World Environment Day and encourages conferences and churches to participate in programs such as Environmental Sabbath; recommends that annual conferences establish annual awards to honor prophetic defenders of God's creation from within their own constituencies; affirms the importance of nurturing, community-building approaches such as the Global Action Plan's Household Eco-Team Program designed to foster resource efficient lifestyle practices; encourages a simplified and environmentally sound lifestyle throughout the church and requests that Church agencies, conferences, and congregations be stewards of God's creation by reducing levels of consumption and participating in programs that reuse and recycle goods; and ADOPTED 1996, AMENDED AND READOPTED 2004 See Social Principles, ¶ 160B. From The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church — 2004. Copyright © 2004 by The United Methodist Publishing House. Used by permission.