Dear friends,

We step into the new year deeply aware of the social and ecological challenges that beset us. To name just one, it’s virtually certain that 2023 was the hottest year on record, fueling climate-driven disasters around the world. In this precarious, dangerous time, we need to act wisely and skillfully and to access our whole human intelligence, our right brain as well as our left, as we search for a path forward. 

Eager to tap into a different, perhaps deeper kind of intelligence than the intelligence of the conscious, rational, thinking mind, I’ve been re-reading The Chronicles of Narnia and other books written for children. I found surprising inspiration in the 19^th century classic, The Princess and the Goblin, which led me to write my first blog post based on a children’s story. Follow the thread explores the power of story and includes reflection questions and an outdoor spiritual exercise.

• An Episcopal Path to Creation Justice

We have good news from the Rev. Rachel Field (Project Coordinator). Here is her report:

"We are already almost halfway through the Pilot stage of the Path! In early December, the six Companions trained to walk with parishes during the Pilot program met in Worcester to compare notes and discuss any emerging trends.

"With the addition of one more parish, twelve parishes are now exploring the Path. The congregations range from large, program-sized parishes to small, family-size parishes. Some have clergy leadership, others are in transition, and still others are currently without a clergy leader. 

"Every congregation is different, and one of the strengths of the Path is that it is sufficiently flexible to adapt to the varying needs and strengths of each community. Parishes begin the Path by completing an inventory of their creation care ministries. With the help of a Companion, each parish is then coached through a process of developing a vision and goals for their next steps in creation justice ministry. 

Meeting in December at All Saints, Worcester (l. to r.): Sue Swanson, Rachel Field (Coordinator), John Lemly, Mary Sherman, Alex Chatfield, Martha Gardner, and Margaret Bullitt-Jonas. Not pictured, but present via Zoom: Edith Allison and Deb Baker.

"In our December meeting, we learned that many parishes have switched to LED light bulbs and have taken other basic steps to “green” their church buildings. Some parishes have carried out a limited degree of public advocacy around environmental issues by connecting with their wider community. A few parishes regularly engage in outdoor worship or have tried out “creation care” prayers and liturgies. So far, it seems that most parishes have engaged in the categories of Pray and Act but are less familiar with Learn and Advocate."

We are delighted to be working with these parishes and we are grateful for their leadership. In February, keep an eye open for registration information for our Earth Day Celebration, which will take place on Saturday, April 20, from 9-3 at St Mark’s Church, Southborough. In the meantime, if your parish is curious about Christian formation resources around creation care or advocacy, please take a look at our website-in-progress! Resources are available for review: episcopalcreationpath.org.

• “Bending Toward Justice” Conference

Saturday, January 20

8:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. • All Saints Episcopal Church, South Hadley ($20; for financial help, contact communications@diocesewma.org)

Come pray in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Listen to the Word, and discern how the Spirit is calling the Church to action. Connect with others who are working for God's justice in our time and place. Sponsored by the Social Justice Commission of DioWMA, our annual conference draws Episcopalians from across Massachusetts.

Bishop Douglas J. Fisher will preside at the Eucharist, with the Rev. Dr. Valerie Bailey Fischer (Chaplain to the College, Williams College) preaching. Bishop Allen K. Shin (Bishop Suffragan, Episcopal Diocese of NY) will give the keynote address, via Zoom. You can choose from affinity groups in the afternoon, including Building Creation Care Justice, which I will co-facilitate with the Rev. Rachel Field (Project Coordinator, An Episcopal Path to Creation Justice). For the complete schedule and to register, click here. Please join us!  

• Lament with Earth

Wednesday, February 21

7:30 – 8:30 p.m. (Eastern) • Online (free)

Join The BTS Center and Creation Care Alliance for another in this excellent series of seasonal event honoring the pain of loss through the liturgical year. Heart of Winter Event: Via Creativa, with the Element of Earth will feature original music, poetry, rituals, images, scripture and videos. Registration is open.

• Preaching Climate Justice in Lent

Tuesday, February 20

10:00 – 11:15 a.m. • Online (free)

As the world awakens to catastrophic threats to our climate and as authoritarian leaders threaten democracy, Lent invites us to join Jesus on his journey to Jerusalem. If we are to engage the greatest moral challenge humanity has ever faced, we need Jesus’ guidance. This webinar will suggest ways in which our Lenten texts provide an opportunity to shape sermons that offer hope to our congregations, engage their imagination, and inspire them to take action for climate justice. 

Speakers:

The Rev. Dr. Jim Antal (Special Advisor on Climate Justice to the General Minister and President, United Church of Christ). His book, Climate Church, Climate World, has been read by hundreds of congregations and is now in a new, updated edition.

The Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas (Missioner for Creation Care, Episcopal Diocese of Western MA & Southern New England Conference, United Church of Christ; Creation Care Advisor, Episcopal Diocese of MA). A selection from her co-edited book, Rooted and Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis, was recently featured in Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditations.

• A Taste of the EcoSpiritual Leaders Course

Thursday, January 11

1:00 – 2:00 p.m. (Eastern) • Online (free)

Join The BTS Center to learn more about its upcoming EcoSpiritual Leaders Course with Kimberly Knight — no commitments; just a chance to get a taste!

• It’s All About Love: Festival Thursdays

Thursday, January 11

3:00 - 4:00 p.m. (Eastern) • Online (free)

On the Second Thursday of the month, The Episcopal Church offers a free, 60-minute Zoom presentation to keep the revival flames going in Evangelism, Racial Reconciliation, and Creation Care. The topic on January 11 is “Standing Together Against Environmental Racism.” Registration is open.

• EcoSpiritual Leaders: Encounters with Wholeness Course

February – April • Online ($200; some scholarships available)

Offered by The BTS Center and Kimberly Knight, this course is for spiritual leaders serving in congregational or community settings. Course description: In this course we will engage our minds, bodies, and spirits in explorations of ideas and practices aligned with EcoSpirituality. We will move through four sections — Gratitude & Grief, Forest Bathing, EcoSpiritual Practices, and Creation Care. Each week participants will engage in a bit of reading to pique our curiosity, watch a video to expand our understanding, experience embodied practice to connect us with nature, craft a prayer to nourish our spirits, complete an “invitation,” and participate in a conversation to collaborate in our interdependent growth. For more information and to register, visit here.

• Anglican Communion Environmental Network (ACEN) webinar

Thursday, February 8

11:00 a.m. (Eastern) • Online (free)

Join ACEN for an informative and engaging webinar on “Building a movement around environmental justice.” This is a wonderful opportunity for us to learn from and to stand with our global siblings in faith. Registration is open.

• Sign up for the ACEN Digest! 

Anglican Communion Environmental Network publishes a newsletter with inspiring stories from around the world. You can sign up here.

• Ecology and Faith in Christian History

Four Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. (Eastern) 

Feb. 17, Mar. 16, Apr. 20, May 18 • Online Taught by the Rev. Holly Morrison and the Rev. Dr. Stephen Hastings, this course from the Maine School of Ministry (a program of the Maine Conference, United Church of Christ)

will consider how Christian communities have related to land, water, animals, and all life. Topics covered in the course include ancient scripture, medieval mystics, global church experiences, sacrament and ecology, rural life, foodways, oral tradition, the encounter of colonization and indigeneity, the church’s influence on environmental movements in Maine, and practical examples of congregations engaging their ecological legacy today. Course syllabus will be emailed to registrants after January 12. Learn more here and register here.

• The Climate Pod: Katharine Hayhoe on Healing Dangerous Climate Divisions

Atmospheric scientist and renowned climate communicator Dr. Katharine Hayhoe talks about her new book, Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World. Her book is an incredibly helpful guide for anyone who wants to feel more comfortable talking about climate change – and talking about climate change is one of the most important things we can do. The hour-long podcast is here.

• Climate Changed podcast

The BTS Center’s podcast, Climate Changed, is about spiritual leadership in a climate-changed world. Episode 4, Season 2, features Ray Buckley speaking about “How Do You Love the World as It Is?” Ray is a teacher, storyteller, author, and poet of Lakota, Tlingit, and Scots descent. He brings a unique blend of cultural and spiritual wisdom, particularly the profound understanding of what it means to be in "good relationship" with the Creator, fellow human beings, and all of creation. For more information and to listen, visit here. You can also download a discussion guide for groups.

• Episcopal Parish Network 2024 Annual Conference: “Inspiring Leaders”

Wednesday, March 6 - Saturday, March 9

Houston, TX

As “the largest and most anticipated annual gathering in the Episcopal Church," the EPN conference brings together over 700 clergy, lay leaders, educators, sponsors, and exhibitors. This year’s theme is "Inspiring Leaders." On March 7, I will serve as a panelist for the workshop, “Perspectives on Creation Care – How Can the Church Respond to the Climate Crisis?.” This workshop will be held right after Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s keynote address. For a description of all the workshops, visit here. For complete information about the conference and to register, visit here.

• “Ecological Restoration and Environmental Justice: Earth Repair”

April 5 (1:00 – 6:00 p.m.) & April 6 (9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) • Online ($150)

Communities around the world are working to restore health and balance to damaged ecosystems. In this two-day, virtual course with Professor Karenna Gore, students will learn from restoration projects that are grounded in complex “ways of knowing” where ceremony, community, and longstanding and attentive relationships with the land are fundamental. Karenna Gore is the founder and executive director of the Center for Earth Ethics and visiting professor of practice of earth ethics at Union Theological Seminary in New York. Complete information is here. Registration deadline is March 22.

December sunset, Ashfield MA. Photo: submitted.

• “Environmental Justice and Building Our New Grid - Where Should It All Go?”

Saturday, January 20

2:00 – 3:30 p.m. (Eastern) • In person (First Parish Concord, 20 Lexington Rd, Concord, MA) & Online (free)

For more information about this special event, including an impressive list of sponsors and a Zoom link, visit here.

• Which public campaigns should faith-based groups endorse?

Several years ago, in a bid to clarify the basis for signing public petitions or endorsing public campaigns, the Social Justice Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts developed nine questions to guide its discernment process. Creation Care Justice Network (CCJN), the network of climate-concerned Episcopalians in Massachusetts, recently adopted a version of these guidelines to help us make thoughtful decisions rooted in our Christian faith. We invite you to review these questions for yourself and to consider whether they might be useful in your work to care justly for God’s creation.

• Stop Private Jet Expansion at Hanscom or Anywhere

After considering the guidelines above, CCJN recently issued its first endorsement of a public advocacy campaign: CCJN is publicly supporting the Coalition to Stop Private Jet Expansion at Hanscom or Anywhere. 

Expanding the use of luxury private jets will substantially increase greenhouse gas emissions, negating the climate goals of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, while offering no social or communal benefit. State Senator Michael Barrett recently said, “In seriously entertaining a proposal to build multiple new hangars for super-polluting private jets at Hanscom, MassPort is on the verge of a terrible two-fer: aiding and abetting the warming of the planet and pandering to the concentration of private wealth. You can’t do much worse than that.”

For more information, including a list of the more than 60 organizations across the state that support this campaign, visit here. If you haven’t done so already, please share and sign the petition to Governor Healey to stop private jet expansion. The petition has garnered almost 13,000 signatures!

• “After COP28 – Where Governments Have Failed, Faiths Must Now Lead”

I commend this short essay by Dr. Lorna Gold (Chief Executive, FaithInvest) which considers the question, “Faced with a deeply troubling outcome of COP28, what should faith groups who care deeply about climate change and care for God’s earth do next?”  

Here are her two strong recommendations:

1. Look seriously at our finances and investments and… signal to our providers that we want to change how we bank and invest. Banks and investment houses are the lifeblood of the fossil fuel industry;
2. Support the global campaign for a fossil fuel treaty. (To endorse the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty as an organization or an individual, visit here.)

Trusting in the power of God’s love to guide us, I wish you a joyful New Year. Please drop me a note if you’d like to be in touch (mbj@revivingcreation.org).