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We will continue, for the next couple of months, our look at how we might live more simply on the planet.

Why this focus on simple living as a means of caring for creation?



Jesus, usually depicted as owning little more than his robe and sandals, is quoted as saying, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Matthew 19:21)

Two thousand years later, Pope Francis wrote in his creation care encyclical, “Humanity is called to recognize the need for changes in lifestyle, production and consumption, in order to combat this warming [of the planet] or at least the human causes which produce or aggravate it.” (Laudato Si’ #23) Adoption of a simple lifestyle is required to promote a culture of sufficiency and reduce harm to the planet and all creation.

The challenge, though, as Sallie McFague shares in Blessed Are the Consumers, “…is the disconnect between belief and practice. That is, while we can imagine different and better ways of living in the world, we do not seem able to change at the fundamental level necessary to actually bring about a just, sustainable world for all.”

How do we move from belief to practice? As we consider New Year’s resolutions, perhaps it would be useful to spend the Season of Epiphany in an attitude of mindfulness and discernment about our patterns of consumption. We can take this time to ask ourselves the hard questions like “how much is enough?” and “what does abundance look like?", while paying close attention to how our actual practices may diverge from our professed beliefs regarding caring for God's creation.

McFague continues, "Spiritual growth begins with the call to live differently. Sometimes it is nothing more than the sense that things are not right, that I am not living as I should, as I want to. It is the sense that a different world is possible, a sense of disjunction between what is and what ought to be.”

She proposes these questions for reflection:

• How should we live in partnership with the planet?
• How can we live well while doing so?
• Why am I here, and what should I be doing?
• How can my life be a reflection of divine love in this time and place?
• What does God require of me, of us, in this particular time and place?

Let us prepare ourselves for a follow-up Lenten challenge to try new ways to move from lip service to heart service in caring for God's creation.

Resources for the Journey

Some people find a more formal "ecological examen" useful in doing this kind of inner, spiritual work. Consider using one of these tools in your reflections during January, and in preparation for Lent:

• An Ignatian Examen - Reconciling God, Creation and Humanity
• The Art of Creation: Ecological Examen
• An Ecological Examen in printable format can be found here and here.

Lent begins early this year, so for those who like to plan ahead, we are including some creation-forward Lenten resources below. For those who prefer to focus on Mardi Gras in January rather than Lent, laissez les bon temps rouler! But please try to responsibly reuse/recycle all of those parade throws!

Stations of the Cross in Nature for Children, from the creation care team at the Diocese of Louisiana

Creation Care curriculum suggestions:

• Love God, Love God's World - The Episcopal Church
• Climate Justice Curriculum for Youth and Young Adults - The Episcopal Church
• Ecological Grief and Creational Hope - Anglican Diocese of Toronto

Not all Lenten offerings are available at the time of publication, so additional resources will be shared in our February newsletter. If you are trying to plan for the season and would like to be notified as soon as we become aware of any additional resources, let us know with an email.

The Creation Care Compline is creatively adapted from the service in the Book of Common Prayer by a different team of facilitators each month. Mindfulness of God's creation is woven throughout the peaceful service. Creation Care Compline is generally held the first Monday of each month and is a partnership between the Green Caucus and the Mission Program Office of The Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop’s Office. This month's Compline:

Monday, January 5

8:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. CT

Join Episcopalians across the Church for an evening of prayer and meditation. Register here to receive a monthly reminder, or simply join each month's session using the button below.

Province IV and V Monthly Gathering

Monday, January 12 at 12:00 pm CT

Nurture & Sustain ~ Action-Based Climate Resilience

Resources for Climate Resilience

with Chad Brinkman, Episcopal Relief and Development

Please join us in January as we learn about issues of climate resilience and resources available from Episcopal Relief and Development called Nurture and Sustain.

We welcome Chad Brinkman, Director of Faith Fundraising at Episcopal Relief & Development (ERD). Chad will lead the discussion on what it means to nurture and sustain in today’s challenging climate, and will introduce us to ERD’s toolkit, Nurture & Sustain: Action-Based Climate Resilience. You can learn more about that toolkit here. 

Come and engage with us as we explore the root causes of our continued march toward ecosystem collapse and its connections to our faith. In these five sessions, we will examine the human conditions of alienation and the ineffective responses of our faith practice. We will consider the spiritual import of issues such as capitalism, individualism, and materialism, and explore how a deeper green mission and ministry can help us respond to these challenges in more effective and life-giving ways.

The course will include five sessions on Zoom, Tuesday evenings, January 13 – February 10, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. Central time. The session titles are:

• The World We Have: Anthropocentrism, Individualism, and Materialism
• The Faith We Have: Cultural Captive or God’s Dream?
• The Gospel We Need: Good News for All Creation
• The Church We Need: Demonstration Plots of the Kingdom of God
• The Ways We Can: A Deeper Green People of God

Tuition is $95 for all five sessions.

Creation Spirituality and the Celebrating & Healing

of Mother Earth & Ourselves

The Episcopal Diocese of Wisconsin and the Matthew Fox Legacy Project are sponsoring a free, 4-session, online lecture series with Matthew Fox. Presentations are held Wednesdays: January 14, 21, 28, February 4, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. CT. Registrants will receive a Zoom link prior to the session and a recording link following.

Topics include:

• Creation as an Original Blessing and the Springboard of Awe and Wonder
• Sacred Mother Earth: The Holiness of Creation and Recovering the Cosmic Christ
• The Cosmic Mass, and the Stations of the Cosmic Christ: Reinvigorating Liturgy and Rituals
• Jesus as a Teacher of Democracy and the Renewal of Education and Values through the “10 C’s”

Through the ages, the natural world has sung magnificently on its own and has inspired a wonderful body of human songs. The presentation, interspersed with song, is an autobiographical walk through a life of singing around family campfires, in church settings, on field trips with students, and in a variety of concerts. My selections, narrowed from many dozens of songs, reveal a bit of my life’s passions and influences, and my hope is that the presentation will remind you of your own songs, even songs that had left your recent consciousness.

Sometimes it is difficult to know where to turn for accurate, timely information about critical issues affecting our planet and all that God has created, so in 2026 we plan to highlight regional organizations that are doing good work in areas that concern the viability of the planet. This month we invite you to check out and follow the work of the folks at Healthy Gulf, including a link to an action you can take today.

Healthy Gulf is a regional nonprofit organization working on the frontlines of a variety of water, climate, energy and endangered species issues along the Gulf Coast. Their staff of 15 work in all five Gulf states, from Florida to Texas, and includes staff in Pensacola. It's a team of scientists, attorneys and organizers all working to fulfill the organization’s purpose, which is “to collaborate with and serve communities who love the Gulf of Mexico by providing the research, communications, and coalition-building tools needed to reverse the long pattern of over exploitation of the Gulf’s natural resources.”

Much of Healthy Gulf’s work is around stopping the expansion of fossil fuels, making sure that continued oil and gas drilling is done more safely, and supporting a just transition to renewable energy. An urgent issue at the moment is a proposal by the Trump administration to dramatically expand offshore drilling in the Gulf, and to bring drilling closer than ever to Florida. You can send an email expressing concerns about expanded offshore drilling in the Gulf by following a Healthy Gulf action alert here.

Sign up for regular action alerts from Healthy Gulf and advocate for a better planet in our own back yards.