EcoFaith Events This Month! |
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As we prepare to gather together, let us consider the questions raised by our twin themes of Holy Ground and Holy Table. Read the summit theme statement here.
Here is a bulletin insert for the EcoFaith Summit.
Here is a poster to share for the EcoFaith Summit.
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Starting March 3rd! Still time to register. |
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Hear stories from congregations involved in caring for the creation through worship, education, congregational life, building and grounds, and community action.
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Original Music Videos featured at the EcoFaith Summit
The upcoming online March 26th summit, “Holy Ground, Holy Table” presented by NE Minnesota Synod’s EcoFaith Network and St. Paul Area Synod’s Care of Creation Work Group, will be sown together, so to speak, with a new hymn, In Sacred Manner from All Creation Sings. The author of this hymn text is the late Susan Palo Cherwien, who left our mortal community this last December. We are using her hymn as a loving tribute to Susan, who is one of the most powerful voices in our church’s hymnody for this generation. Six of Susan’s hymn texts are found in Evangelical Lutheran Worship and six in our new supplement, All Creation Sings.
Her voice will sing on.
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On March 26th the six stanzas of In Sacred Manner will be interspersed with stories of Holy Ground, Holy Table: Regenerative Practices for Wholeness of the Earth, told by story tellers whose work centers on issues of food justice, earth-healing, agriculture, gardening, setting the table, urban/rural conversation, and the place of our church in the middle of all this. The text of the hymn almost seems to have been written with our summit in mind. Stanza one ends with the couplet “We stand on holy ground. We stand on holy ground.” Actually, the name of the summit was coined before we discovered this beautiful hymn. Can we say it was “a God thing?”
Read the full article here.
Come to the Summit on March 26th!
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Creation Advocacy
How You Can Stand with Creation
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Lutheran Advocacy-Minnesota
March 2022
Submitted by Tammy Walhof, Executive Director
New Congressional Districts: On Feb. 15, the non-partisan panel of five judges released the new Congressional District Map for Minnesota, and the MN State Legislative District Map. (The panel included two Republican-appointed judges, two Democrat-appointed judges and one judge appointed by former Gov. Jesse Ventura (Reform Party). While some Congressional Districts (CDs) only change a little, there were changes in the 1st & 2nd districts that make the 2nd district more competitive, and the 7th and 8th CDs change substantially. Most notably, the northern reservations are bunched into the 8th district rather than being split between the districts. This should give the tribes more influence on issues they have in common. This map lets you toggle between the old & new districts.
Legislative Activity: Early House Climate & Energy committee meetings have been largely focused on information sharing, including around grid transmission challenges, electric vehicle (EV) issues (markets, charging, building infrastructure, etc), and weatherization/pre-weatherization of homes. The Senate Energy & Utilities committee meetings have been more focused on transitioning natural gas plants and creating new hydrogen hubs (not all hydrogen is as clean as previously thought), taking advantage of Federal matching funds (and how to address match regulations which will come out after session has finished for this year), and figuring out how to work or not work with legislation coming from the House Committee.
Read the full update from
Lutheran Advocacy Minnesota here.
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EcoFaith Book of the Month
“Eco Bible,” Vol. 1 and 2.
Rabbi Yonatan Neril and Rabbi Leo Dee, eds.
Copy right 2020 the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development
Last month I shared a book on Native American spirituality as it relates to the environment. This month I am once again getting ecumenical by reviewing a biblical commentary on the Pentateuch (first five books of the Old Testament) as it relates to ecology and care for the earth. It is edited and contributed to by Rabbis Yonatan Neril and Leo Dee. They were kind enough to send me a copy of the two volume commentary.
Some thoughts on their process, as different from Christian commentary on the Bible. The editors used 100 rabbinic scholars, the Midrash, and the Mishnah (commentary accepted in Jewish circles) to show how the first five books of he Old Testament speak to care for the earth in our modern context. I was amazed at their scholarship and refreshing new look at what Holy Scripture can say to each new generation.
Did Moses, Abraham, King David, or Solomon voice concerns about climate change and the human exploitation of God’s creation? No. They marveled at the whole created order that God gave as a gift to humans created in his image, and purposed for enjoying and being sustained by the created order.
Read the whole review here.
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This book review is by John Hanson, a retired pastor living on Turtle Lake, north of Grand Rapids, with his wife, Linda. He is a member of the NE MN Synod EcoFaith Leadership Team.
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Worship with the Whole Creation
Tools for Preaching and Worship
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Preaching for Creation Roundtable |
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Pastor Karen G. Bockelman
ASH WEDNESDAY – March 2, 2022
Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
Psalm 27
Philippians 3:17—4:1
Luke 13:31-35
As long as I can remember I have loved scripture. This love was an inheritance from my father, who never read a Bible passage he couldn’t love. For almost as long, I have loved liturgy and ritual. I’m not sure where that came from, definitely not my father, but it has been a strong presence in my life and ministry. So, as powerful as the Ash Wednesday scripture readings are, you won’t be surprised that when I reflect on connections with creation, I am drawn to ashes and dust.
In my childhood, ashes represented for me the confession and repentance that were the hallmarks of Lent. I could resonate with the image of humility found in the alternate first reading from Isaiah 58:5, “a day to humble oneself, to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes.” I could also resonate with Psalm 51’s images of cleansing: “wash me through and through from my wickedness,” “cleanse me from my sin,” “wash me and I shall be purer than snow,” “create in me a clean heart.” It is no accident that, in the Ash Wednesday liturgy, the imposition of ashes follows an extended confession of sin.
Read the whole reflection here.
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Pastor John Dietz
Third Sunday in Lent, Year C | March 20, 2022
Isaiah 55:1-9 | Psalm 63:1-8 | 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 | Luke 13:1-9
As I write this review, I have also been enjoying Robert Farrar Capon’s book, The Supper of the Lamb: A Culinary Reflection. Today as we open the scriptures to these words from Isaiah 55, what a fitting reminder Fr. Capon makes when he writes: “We were given appetites, not to consume the world and forget it, but to taste its goodness and hunger to make it great.”1 The prophet welcomes us to the smörgåsbord of grace: “Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat!” The invitation is as unmistakably clear as it is absolutely unbelievable.
Read the whole reflection here.
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Rev. Greg Garmer Duluth, MN
4th Sunday in Lent
Sunday, March 27, 2022
Joshua 5:9-12; Psalm 32; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21
I belong to a Synod “Spirituality” group with five other active or retired pastors. We meet monthly (now via Zoom) to share our stories and reflect on books. Our present reading of Caste by Isabel Wilkerson led to reflection on the racial/sociological circumstances in which we grew up. Sharing humble backgrounds, it was nevertheless notable that we all had grown up in families where our parents owned their own home. As Wilkerson notes, this was more “rare” than “routine” among American minorities when black, indigenous and hispanic families experienced “red-lining,” lending barriers and attitudes that openly said: “We don’t want you here.”
Having your own “place” - your own “land,” is thematic, and fundamental to the Old Testament Exodus story. It is also presently crucial in the defense of Ukraine, the Palestinian quest for a homeland, and on and on.
Read the whole reflection here.
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Reflections on the EcoFaith Summit
Pastor Bob Lehner,
St. Paul Area Synod Care of Creation Work Group
Last Sunday, I did what so many other people in this country did. I watched Super Bowl LVI. My wife and I drove over to my son's house to watch the game and eat pizza, salad, and some dip that my daughter-in-law made. It was fun first and foremost because we could spend time with my grandchildren.
The Super Bowl has become somewhat of a national holiday. It is not just a championship football game which both teams struggle mightily to win. Families and friends use it as a time to get together. Entertainers are eager to provide half-time shows. And large companies pay dearly to produce creative commercials for which they will be graded. Many analysts this year gave the nod for the top commercial to Polestar, a start-up electric car company. I had to smile about that. Anything that calls attention to what we need to do to combat climate change can't be a bad thing, I thought. I often pray for others who are trying to find ways to do things in a more climate friendly way.
Read the whole reflection here.
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JOURNEY NORTH: Monarch Update
by Tom Uecker
The monarchs are getting restless. Daily, there is more sunlight in their winter home of the oyamel fir forests high in the Mexican mountains. Average temperatures are rising also. Streaming behavior is beginning. One or two monarchs will take flight, and this activity stimulates more to take flight. Suddenly, there is a flood of monarchs leaving on mass from a tree. It is a spectacular sight. The monarchs are in search of water rich in minerals. Mating will begin, and the urge to begin their journey north is becoming stronger. Near the end of February, throughout March, and into April the northward migration begins.
This is the Methuselah generation. They live 9 or 10 months which is much longer than the lifespan of 5 or 6 weeks for the summer monarchs. This Methuselah generation has been in reproductive diapause. Now they are becoming able to reproduce. As they head north, they begin looking for milkweed. It is the only plant upon which they will lay eggs.
In Texas the milkweed is starting to grow. If there is no milkweed emerging yet, there will be no egg laying when the monarchs arrive. If the milkweed plants are small and few, the monarchs are forced to “egg dump”. This means they will leave many eggs on one plant. The caterpillars that emerge will devour the plant before it can grow large. Most of these caterpillars will die due to lack of available milkweed for food. If the milkweed plants have grown to sufficient numbers and size, the female will lay one egg and then look for another milkweed. There is some concern that this timing and delicate dance the monarchs have with milkweed will be affected by global warming.
Normally, monarchs arrive in Northern Minnesota during the latter part of May. They need milkweed too. If the females can’t find milkweed, it is like a desert to them, and they lay no eggs. Huge amounts of milkweed aren’t necessary in one spot, but huge milkweed deserts will result in no eggs laid. Small plots of milkweed in many places will avoid milkweed deserts.
My goal is to have all churches in the NE MN Synod monarch friendly by having some milkweed growing on church grounds. Gloria Dei, in the heart of Duluth, planted milkweed about 15 years ago, and monarchs have visited there every year since.
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This Month's Green Tips
Use these in your congregation's bulletins, Facebook pages, websites, or newsletters!
Here are Steve Spigarelli's
Green Tips from First Lutheran, Aitkin
Here are John McDonald's Earth Stewardship Tips from
Here are Laura Raedeke's Green Tips
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Connections with Creation
March 6 – First Sunday in Lent
In Ash Wednesday’s gospel reading, Jesus warned about practicing piety before others. Today’s gospel voids that possibility by practicing piety in the wilderness. Jesus going to the wilderness gives room to consider the “place” of our faith. The place we associate with faith may be a church building, dinner table, bedside prayer station, or church camp. For Jesus, the desert wilderness wasn’t a place of fearful scarcity but a place to preserve his faith, himself, and the world God so loved. If Deuteronomy focuses us on settling in and claiming land and using first fruits, we shouldn’t forget God’s preservation amid wilderness wandering. Our settling and developing also shouldn’t obstruct the fact that we don’t own the land; even resident aliens and immigrants are welcomed to the gifts of life.
Read all Connections with create for March and April here.
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We want to hear from you!
If you are interested in sharing anything with the network in the newsletter, email ecofaith@nemnsynod.org
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Click here to see previous
Green Blades Rising newsletters
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The EcoFaith Network NEMN Synod
Living out God's call to be stewards of the earth for the sake of the whole creation.
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