Creation Care Retreat is Oct. 13-14 at Daycholah

We want to remind you that the Wisconsin Conference Creation Care Team will host a retreat this fall for congregational green teams and others interested in discerning the church’s role in confronting the climate crisis. The cost of this retreat is $250 for two nights, with one-day options available.

This retreat, planned for Friday and Saturday Oct. 13-14, will be at Daycholah Center on Green Lake. The keynote speaker will be the Rev. Daniel Cooperrider, a UCC pastor, writer and teacher. He writes at the intersection of theology, environmental ethics and climate justice and is the author of “Speak with the Earth and It Will Teach You,” which will provide the theme for his talk. The rest of the program will include opportunities for worship and networking, along with workshops that will provide ideas for individuals and congregations that want to exercise care for God’s Earth.

Click for more details and to register for the Oct. 13-14 retreat at Daycholah. Registration deadline is Oct. 5.

This summer's climate news has underscored the need for decisive action to protect our environment. Please join us at Daycholah as we discern God’s call to us amid the climate crisis.

Movie Review: Message for our Earth

By Carol Phelps, Middleton Community UCC, Middleton

The following movie will be shown and discussed at the Fall Creation Care Retreats on Friday evenings

The Letter: A Message for our Earth (2022) is a touching and heartwarming movie of how five very different people—a teenage girl from India, an Indigenous leader from the Amazon rainforest, a young African refugee, and an American couple who are marine biologists—are brought together by the climate crisis and an invitation to travel across the world to meet the pope.  This is a true story, which gets its name from Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home. Run time is 80 minutes. Watch the trailer here.

This is a great movie to show to your congregation or as a community outreach. I’d consider it PG-13 (young children wouldn’t grasp it, and a few brief scenes might be scary). You can show it for free by going to this link. Be sure to follow the movie with discussion time and refreshments, because the movie will leave you wanting to take action and make a difference. 

The pope’s efforts to unite people of all faiths to care for our planet are inspiring. This movie will appeal to lots of people—on Google, 96% of viewers said they liked it. 

Leaders From Six UCC Conferences In Great Lakes Watershed Develop Plan Of Action

Congregation members and staff from six UCC conferences met in August to explore ways to align their actions on creation care and environmental justice, and began developing a plan of action around plastic pollution and transforming divestment from fossil fuels into investing in alternative sustainable energies.

The meeting of the Great Lakes Collaborative-UCC (formerly Great Lakes Creation Care Collaborative) included representatives from these UCC conferences:

• Heartland
• Michigan
• Indiana-Kentucky
• Illinois
• Wisconsin
• Minnesota

The gathering emphasized the importance of healing and protecting our Five Sisters – Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario – and their watersheds.

Wisconsin Conference Creation Care Team Co-Chair the Rev. John Helt offered this reflection after attending the event: "My sense of the retreat is that while we gathered with the intention to protect our 'Five Sisters,' it turns out that they blessed us with new hope, joy and resolve to further our care for the Earth."

Are you passionate about healing and protecting the Great Lakes and their watersheds? More information about future meetings, resources and activities of the Great Lakes Collaborative-UCC is available by contacting the Rev. Sheri Nelson or the Rev. Mike Mulberry.

‘Apocalyptic Hope’:

How Shall We Proclaim It in a Time of Climate Crisis?

Since the last edition of the Kairos Newsletter, the world has seen numerous disasters associated with the climate crisis, including the fires in Maui and the floods in Libya. (See image of historic Waiola UCC Church in Lahaina destroyed in Maui fire.) What is our faith witness to be in these times?

Creation Care Team Co-Chair the Rev. John Helt shared these excerpts from a sermon he gave during a recent visit with Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Milwaukee:

No one needs to be told that July was the hottest on record, not just for Wisconsin or North America, but for the Southern Hemisphere in their winter, and for the planet as a whole….

You know very well why some are saying that the climate crisis is best described in apocalyptic terms, even as Armageddon. There is no shortage of shocking reports about today and dire predictions for tomorrow. 

Recently, David Brooks wrote of an “epidemic of hopelessness” among us and reported that some are saying that the word “trauma” is the word of our decade. I am loath to cave into trauma and hopelessness. Thus, my purpose this morning, as with our three-evening conversation during VBS earlier this month, is to insist on a gospel of hope. During this timely decade of renewed creation care we are called to proclaim hope instead of trauma. Let’s call this apocalyptic hope.

(Read John’s full sermon.)

What gives you hope during this time of Apocalypse? How are you sharing this message with members of your faith community?

Please email your messages to Kairos Newsletter editor Joe Scarry so we can make “Apocalyptic Hope” a regular feature of the Kairos Newsletter!

A Gentle Theatrical Reminder: There Is No ‘Planet B’

“Chancel dramas” and other types of staged readings are great ways to share information and stimulate conversation, including about creation care and the climate crisis.

In connecting with a three-evening adult Vacation Bible School class at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Milwaukee presented by the Rev. John Helt, participants staged a chancel drama by James F.D. Martin allied “Nice to Meet You, Terra!” It is based on Psalms 8 and 24, and Matthew 6:25-33, Luke 12:16-21. The author shared these reflections:

Addressing human-driven climate change with a humorous chancel drama? Danish physicist Niels Bohr famously said, “There are some things so serious that you have to laugh at them.” So, yes, let’s laugh at our serious predicament while spurring ourselves to action in defense of God’s magnificent creation. Feel free to use this piece as a discussion starter and, perhaps, a catalyst to encourage further faithful study. And if you feel inspired to return an honorarium to me, I would appreciate it. Mostly, let us work together give our home the respect it deserves.

The full script is available here for others who wish to present it. You can contact James F.D. Martin via email here.

New Janesville Creation Care Window Will Have Children in Mind

Pastor Tanya Sadagopan shared designs for a new stained-glass window – “Caring for God’s New Creation” -- at First Congregational Janesville that will complement the existing beautiful windows gracing the sanctuary there.

According to the project plan from FCC Janesville, “Richard and Joan Skyles, in whose honor these windows are dedicated, worked in elementary education. They desired a story from the Bible that children would love. They want the families of the church to have fun discovering each animal in the window and find joy. During this time of ecological destruction, we must care for the earth, the land, the sea, the waters, and the air. We should take care that humanity does not dominate, abuse, or displace God’s creatures. A new world order is coming into view where creation is at the center and humanity is called to care and be stewards for God’s new creations. We are assured that there is hope after natural disasters, like the great flood. There is hope after war. We must partner with God in the care of these two new creations. We are responsible. We must care for the earth and all God’s creatures within it.”

The project plan explains several of the scriptural references for the window include Genesis 9:13 (“God said, “I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.”) as well as Genesis 1:26-28 and Revelation 21:1-4, 21; 22:1-2.

This fall at FCC Janesville, there will be a six-week series on “Caring For God’s Creation,” along with a similar theme in the Christian Education and Outreach Education departments. The series follows scriptures and taking action around six themes: Air, Water, Land, Animals, Trees, and Food.

For more information, contact Pastor Tanya Sadagopan

By Rebecca Malke, Memorial UCC, Fitchburg

Getting Started Outdoors

When I started at Memorial United Church of Christ in Fitchburg as director of faith development, I knew I wanted to start offering summer Sunday school. I also knew I wanted to take advantage of the church’s 5 acres. The first few summers we had outdoor walks and nature scavenger hunts and made nature-themed mandalas. We used two books by the Rev. Randy Hammer: God’s Blue Earth: Teaching Kids to Celebrate the Sacred Gift of Water and What’s So Amazing about Polar Bears? Teaching Kids to Care for Creation. Our lessons often were included in the children’s sermon during worship.

What Is a Bible Garden?

Quite simply, a Bible Garden is a garden that only contains plants mentioned in the Bible. Some of these plants can be grown only in the Middle East while some can also be grown in the Americas. Gardens and plants were important and mentioned throughout the Bible. The first garden mentioned is right at the very beginning: the Garden of Eden. Depending on where you live, you have a variety of options to choose from when selecting which plants you want in your garden.

Read more

The Memorial UCC Bible Garden looked AMAZING! We had several cucumbers (Numbers 11:5), the barley thrived in the good soil but not in the rocky soil (Matthew 13: 1–9, 18–23) and the fennel (Isaiah 28:27 CEB) developed some nice bulbs.

As we went to press, McFarland UCC Pastor Bryan Sirchio shared a message from Dallas, where he was attending a songwriting workshop sponsored by Creation Justice Ministries. Bryan said the group is generating lots of new resources for use in worship and other parts of congregational life, particularly for Earth Day 2024. (You can find a wealth of resources on the Creation Justice Ministries website.)

Bryan also reports that creation care is on the agenda at Converging 2023 – the Convergence Music Project’s gathering Oct. 18-21 for musicians, pastors, worship leaders and anyone interested in justice-building, inclusive and progressive music and worship. The national setting of the UCC is one of the sponsors of Converging 2023.

Bryan will share examples of the new compositions from both these events in the next edition of the Kairos Newsletter. In the meantime, he shared words from the chorus of a work in progress about the climate crisis (working title: “God Only Knows”):

God only know if we’ll ever fix this,

God only knows if there’s time enough.

But there is one thing God knows we can do:

We can always respond with love.

To be continued …

The Cool Congregations Challenge is an annual national contest to recognize “Cool Congregations” that are becoming energy efficient and sustainable role models within their communities. The contest is brought to you by Interfaith Power & Light, a nonprofit organization inspiring and mobilizing people of faith and conscience to take bold and just action on climate. There are no fees to enter. The application period opens Oct. 1. Deadline for entries is Dec. 15. Get ready to enter the Challenge!

Click for more information

UCC National Setting Website Provides Guide to Solar Financing Resources

UCC Minister for Environmental Justice the Rev. Brooks Berndt reports that a new webpage provides information to assist congregations assessing how to finance solar installations. “For most churches that own their own building, it is now to their financial benefit to go solar, regardless of whether they need financing or options that require no upfront costs,” he said. “Even churches with roofs that prohibit installations can explore parking lot canopies, ground-mounted solar, or community solar gardens.”

Learn About the ‘Wild Church’ Movement With Daniel Cooperrider

The Rev. Daniel Cooperrider and his wife, the Rev. Julia Burkey, said they are launching a new pop-up “wild church” experiment together. It’s named Flicker – “a playful, poetic, and emergent community, seeking to model our way of being after the ways of life and nature.” Learn more about Flicker. Daniel Cooperrider is the author of Speak with the Earth and It Will Teach You: A Field Guide to the Bible.

October Study Group: Explore Who You Want to Be as a Leader in a Climate-Changed World

What does it mean to practice meaningful leadership in a moment where everything is shifting under our feet? During the month of October, the BTS Center offers a book study group based on Margaret Wheatley’s Who Do We Choose to Be: Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity. BTS programs come highly recommended by Creation Care Team co-chair the Rev. Bob Ullman. Full details are on the BTS website.

Climate Crisis the Focus of UN General Assembly

As we went to press with this edition of the Kairos Newsletter, the current session of the UN General Assembly was opening, and the climate crisis has been a major focus. According to news reports, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres opened the related “Climate Ambition Summit” by saying, “Humanity has opened the gates of hell . . . . We must make up time lost to foot-dragging, arm-twisting and the naked greed of entrenched interests raking in billions from fossil fuels.”

Do you have a news item for the Kairos Newsletter? Email it to Joe Scarry.

First with the sad news: The Creation Care Team has exhausted grant funds available for 2023. The good news? The team provided support to six projects across the Conference that will help congregations take better care of their slice of God’s precious creation. More good news: We are hopeful about receiving additional funds for 2024. In the meantime, congregations should hold off on submitting applications.

We’re grateful to every congregation for your support for Creation Care grants and other important initiatives through your donations to Our Church’s Wider Mission. Thanks also to all of the congregations working to protect our earthly home, both with grant assistance or through your own funds and efforts.

Here are the projects we have supported in 2023:

First Congregational UCC in La Crosse hosted a sustainable products fair in the community for Earth Day. They also shared some of the products in a display at the Conference’s Annual Meeting and with nearby churches ($500).

First Congregational UCC in Wisconsin Rapids held an Earth Day event, featuring EcoEvie, a young person who has developed a company selling clothing made from recycled plastic bottles. Part of Evie’s proceeds go to raise awareness of the threats to endangered species. The event included tree planting at the church ($1,000).

Memorial UCC in Fitchburg hosted a discussion of Daniel Cooperrider’s book “Speak with the Earth and it will Teach You.” Grant funds were used to defray the cost of the books. The members and Sunday School students also planted an herb “pizza garden” to enjoy nurturing plants together ($1,000).

First Congregational in Ripon converted a portion of the church lawn to a native garden for pollinators and provided a small gathering area for the members and community ($1,000).

The Joint UCC and Presbyterian Church in Ashland has been installing a 53-panel solar energy system. This project will reduce carbon emissions by 23 tons and save the congregation an estimated $4,000 to $5,000 a year in electrical costs ($1,000).

Pilgrim UCC in Fond du Lac received $1,000 toward a native planting project.