Creation Care Network E-news |
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Dear friends,
• Our Lenten season is filled with opportunities to listen to the Lord of life who speaks in the quiet of our hearts and renews our strength.
• Last call to join me on retreat this Saturday!
“Lent and the Longing for God”
The Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas
Saturday, March 6
9:30 a.m. to 12 Noon (ET) • via Zoom (free)
Lent calls us to claim our deepest longing: our desire for closer union with the Love that created us and that longs to be set free among us. This free, online retreat will include presentations and guided meditation, with options for solitary reflection or small group conversation.
If possible, please bring a candle and matches. For the periods of free time, you may wish to have a Bible, Prayer Book, journal and/or art supplies nearby, or a warm coat so that you can head outside.
This retreat is co-sponsored by The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts and The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts, and open to the faithful - lay and ordained - of both.
For more information and to register, click here.
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• “Preaching Hope in a Time of Climate Crisis”
The Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas & the Rev. Stephanie Johnson
Live sessions on Thursdays, March 3, 10 & 17
7:00 - 8:30 pm (ET) • via Zoom ($60)
This special 3-week course is offered through Bexley Seabury Seminary for all preachers, lay and ordained. Climate change is called the moral challenge of our time, yet many preachers avoid discussing it. Looking ahead to Easter and Pentecost, we will discuss the spiritual/moral imperative to preach about climate change, identify obstacles to climate preaching, and receive theological and homiletic resources. For information and to register, visit here.
• “Super Saturday”
Registration deadline: March 4
March 13 & March 20 • via Zoom
Virtual Super Saturday, organized by Southern New England Conference, UCC, offers more than 50 workshops on a wide range of topics, plus a keynote address by Rabbi Elan Babchuck, Founding Director of Glean Network, a network of faith leaders who seek to reimagine the role of religion in an ever-changing world yearning for meaning, belonging, and justice. One of the many workshops is “Eco-Contemplation,” led by The Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, on Saturday, March 20, 1:30-3:00 p.m. For information about SuperSaturday, visit here. Click to download a brochure. Click to register.
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• Good News Gardens: “Time to Start Planting, with Rachel Field”
Tuesday, March 9
5:00 – 6:00 p.m. (ET) • via Zoom (free)
We’re thrilled that the Rev. Rachel Field has joined the Good News Gardens movement in Massachusetts and is serving as a Farm Educator. Join us for our next free webinar as she talks about the ins and outs of planting our Good News Gardens. Rachel will walk through her process for starting onions and leeks, including what kinds of soil to look for, what type of set-up to consider, and how to care for those little babies as they start the incredible work of transformation from seed to plant. Click to sign up.
We are excited that both Episcopal dioceses in Massachusetts are collaborating on this shared effort to address food insecurity, deepen our connection to God’s creation, and learn how to plant, grow, and share good food with hungry neighbors. If you are interested in learning more about the Good News Gardens movement in Massachusetts, please visit our website, join our Facebook Group, and like our Facebook Page. Want to get involved and receive the newsletter? Please fill out this form. Questions? Send an email to gnginma@gmail.com.
• “Sacred People, Sacred Earth”
Thursday, March 11 • Anytime!
Led by GreenFaith International Network, faith groups from around the world announced a global day of action, Sacred People, Sacred Earth, and released a set of 10 demands. We hope that this day of action, on March 11, 2021, will be the biggest and boldest the faith community has ever seen on climate justice. Please read and sign the statement – available in 14 languages – and share it with friends and family. On March 11, religious and spiritual communities around the world will ring bells, sound gongs and chimes, blow the shofar or conch, or sound a special call to prayer - whatever sacred sound they make, calling out for climate justice and this bold set of demands.
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• “Facing Our Forest Crisis with Faith and Action”
March 22
7:00-8:30 p.m. (ET) • via Zoom (free)
The tree of life in Eden's garden is a symbol of the key role forests play in our spiritual, physical, mental, economic, and ecological health. Yet in this nation and around the world, forests -- gifts from God -- are in crisis.
Science and religion stand together in the effort to protect forests. Margaret will offer an opening prayer at this webinar, which features forest and climate experts Bill Moomaw, Danna Smith and Chad Hanson. The scientific information they offer will be put into context by Judeo-Christian leaders. You will come away informed and inspired, ready to share, teach, preach and advocate for the forests, benefitting all. There will be time for questions and answers after the presentation. The webinar is sponsored by the National Religious Coalition on Creation Care and the John Muir Project of Earth Island Institute. Registration is free.
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• Good News Gardens: “The Color of Food: Exploring Race and Justice in Our Food Systems, with Derrick Weston”
Tuesday, March 23
5:00 – 6:00 p.m. (ET) • via Zoom (free)
Please join us for a discussion about the intersections of social justice, racial justice, and food justice. To receive a registration link for this and future Good News Gardens webinars in Massachusetts, please fill out this form.
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• “Climate Justice on Sacred Ground: The Role of Church Lands in Resilience and Adaptation”
Thursday, March 25
6:00 – 7:00 pm (ET) • via Zoom (free)
This event, sponsored by Creation Justice Ministries, is perfectly timed as we launch Good News Gardens in Massachusetts. Let’s learn how the land that churches hold can contribute to climate resilience and adaptation. Click to register for this free event.
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• “Love and Lamentation for Creation”
During our Lenten season, the Rev. Lise Hildebrandt in the Diocese of MA invites everyone into a practice of experiencing deep grief for the Creation, as we acknowledge the terrible harm we are inflicting on “the body of God” – our home. At the same time, you are invited to fall in love with the God-infused world around us by seeing, feeling, hearing, and sensing Creation together. The attached flier shares how you can join in-person outdoor gatherings in the Boston area. If you live too far away, you can request free materials to use outdoors for your household or small gathering.
• “Planting Seeds of Hope: 40 Devotions on Creation”
Margaret contributed one of the meditations to this Lenten book of creation-centered meditations, which was prepared by Anglican Communion Environmental Network to honor the memory of Bishop Ellinah Wamukoya, the first woman bishop in Africa and one of the pioneer Eco Bishops of the Anglican Communion. The booklet is available for free download. May the seeds that Bishop Elinah sowed continue to grow.
• Carbon Fast for Lent: “Build Forward Better” #Fast4Earth
The Anglican Communion Environmental Network – otherwise known as “Green Anglicans” – has prepared a small calendar for the 40 days of Lent, with suggested activities for each day to help us tend God’s creation.
• Green Sabbath Project
With its focus on spiritual practice and on restoring the limits that support life, Lent is the perfect season in which to introduce the Green Sabbath Project.
“Our mission is to spark a mass movement of observance of a weekly day of rest -- shabbat, sabbath, a green sabbath or a weekly earth day -- on which impact on the environment is minimized as much as possible. We envision individuals and groups choosing whichever day is most meaningful to them. While inspired by ancient religious sources, the green sabbath is a self-consciously refashioned ritual practice aimed at addressing current realities.”
“A green sabbath stands as a weekly interruption of the suicidal economic fantasy of infinite growth, divestment from fossil fuels, investment in family and local community, and moment of rewilding. Green sabbaths are a ritualized, recurring time for programmatic individual and communal reflection on how we are undoing creation and a time for reviving our passion, energy and commitment for the work of environmental change needed during the rest of the week.”
Visit the website for more information, including vision, mission, and suggestions for Green Sabbath Activities. Enjoy Green Sabbath Gatherings, “a series of Friday afternoon virtual get-togethers helping us transition from the work week to our day of rest and weekend. These loose-format, 60 min. gatherings are an opportunity for reflection, meditation, discussion, readings, melodies, short videos or prayer. Led by a diverse group of spiritual leaders, environmentalists, activists, and writers, the contents range from religious to spiritual to secular.”
“I used to think that the top global environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse, and climate change. I thought that with thirty years of good science we could address these problems. I was wrong. The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed, and apathy, and to deal with these we need a spiritual and cultural transformation.” – James Gustave Speth
• Take local action for climate justice!
Please support the campaign against the Palmer biomass plant!
Thank you, Bishop Doug Fisher, for signing on the Diocese of Western Massachusetts to this campaign. Thank you, Social Justice Commission of DioWMA, for signing on, as well.
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• Take national action for climate justice!
Please tell President Biden: Stop Line 3 and Build Back Fossil Free!
• Looking ahead to Earth Day, April 22, 2021. You’ll hear more in next month’s newsletter, but here is a glimpse of upcoming celebrations and opportunities, many of which turn out to resonate with the Good News Gardens movement. Earth Sunday can be celebrated on April 18 or April 25.
Interfaith Power & Light will focus its annual Faith Climate Action Week (April 16-25) on Sacred Ground: Cultivating Connections Between Faith, Food, and Climate. Click here to reserve a copy of your 2021 Faith Climate Action Week kit. The kit will include a Sacred Ground guide with information on the way in which we grow our food can be part of the climate solution, and also address injustice. In the kit there are faith-based discussion materials, suggested short films, a Garden Blessing ceremony, and suggestions and resources for how to get engaged in supporting food justice and healthy soil.
Earth Day Network will center its celebration of Earth Day 2021 on Restore Our Earth. Sign up for email updates and to find or register an event.
Creation Justice Ministries has chosen as its Earth Day Sunday topic, "A New Heaven, and A New Earth," focusing on health, environmental racism & eco-justice. If you are interested in a printed hard copy, please fill out this form by Wednesday, March 3rd! If you plan to download the resource and don’t need a hard copy, there is no need to fill out the form. The link to download will be available on its website shortly.
Ecumenical Advocacy Days (April 18-21) will focus on “Imagine God’s Earth and People Restored.” EAD 2021 is an opportunity to support the global movement centered on and led by the people and communities most vulnerable to the effects of climate change because of historic racial and colonial inequities. Learn more about plenary speakers, worship, workshops, and an advocacy opportunity, and register at Ecumenical Advocacy Days.
• Finally, for a refreshing take on faith-filled climate action, download the new Creation and Climate Care ‘Zine from Sojourners. The short ‘zine – full of colorful doodles and action – is an easy and engaging way to learn about climate justice, to jumpstart conversations on climate change, and to come together to heal and protect our common home – whatever our age and wherever we live.
• Do you have news to share or suggestions to make about creation care and climate justice in our dioceses? Please be in touch (mbj@revivingcreation.org). Thank you.
I wish you a holy Lent.
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Blessings,
(The Rev. Dr.) Margaret Bullitt-Jonas
Missioner for Creation Care
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Photo credit: Robert A. Jonas. |
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Opportunities for engagement |
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Please support the campaign against
the Palmer biomass plant!
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HOME | NoToxicBioMass
SEND A LETTER NOW! December, 2020 Sens. Ed Markey, Elizabeth Warren oppose Springfield biomass project by Palmer Renewable Energy We write to urge the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) to consider suspending the...
Read more
www.notoxicbiomass.org
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4/18-4/21 Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Global Peace with...
Ecumenical Advocacy Days is an annual gathering of Christian advocates and activists. We worship, delve deeply into the pressing issues of the day, and lift our voices by speaking truth to power on Capitol Hill. The 2021 theme is ""Imagine! God's ...
Read more
advocacydays.org
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Green Sabbath Project
The Green Sabbath Project believes that our sabbath days must become a time of active avoidance of environmental vandalism, a time for programmatic congregational and individual reflection on how we are undoing creation. Our main focus is...
Read more
www.greensabbathproject.net
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If you've enjoyed this newsletter, please feel free to forward to one or two friends you think may be interested.
Blessings!
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MBJ photo: Tipper Gore, 2014 |
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