On Oct. 29 people from 14 states representing 7 denominations came together to explore the Christian Season of Advent as it intersects with creation care and social justice. See full video below.
The meeting included 15-minute teachings & exegesis on each of the Advent 2020 Year B texts for sermon & worship preparation. You can find the links for the Advent B Lectionary Readings here.
Our Lectionary presenters were:
Advent 1-Rev. Derrick Weston, HopeSprings and Food and Faith Podcast
Advent 2-Rev. Anna Woofenden, Protestant Chaplain at Amherst College Find Informational Slides Here. Advent 2 Creation Presentation
Advent 3- Rev. Dr. Leah Schade, Assistant Professor of Preaching and Worship Lexington Theological Seminary Find Informational Slides Here. Advent 3, Year B, preaching through a green lens
Advent 4– Rev. Dr. Wilson Dickinson, Director of D.Min Program at Lexington Theological Seminary, Find Informational Slides Here. Advent 4 and Environmental Justice
This was a free offering for ordained or commissioned Clergy from Green Chalice of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the Creation Care Alliance.
Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade is Assistant Professor of Preaching and Worship at Lexington Theological Seminary in Kentucky. An ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America since 2000, Leah has written three books focusing on environment and faith. She has served as an anti-fracking and climate activist, community organizer, and advocate for environmental justice issues, and is the “EcoPreacher” blogger for Patheos.com: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/ecopreacher/.
Rev. Dr. Wilson Dickinson is the Director of the Green Good News and teaches theology and is Director of the Doctor of Ministry and Continuing Education Programs at Lexington Theological Seminary.
Rev. Anna Woofenden is the author of “This is God’s Table: Finding Church Beyond the Walls.” She is the Protestant Chaplain at Amherst College and the interim pastor at Zion Lutheran Church in Pittsfield, MA.
Derrick Weston is the director of programs and partnerships for HopeSprings, a faith-based organization serving those living with HIV in the city of Baltimore. He also manages the Rockrose community farm on the city’s east end. Derrick received his Masters of Divinity from San Francisco Theological Seminary and is the co-host of the Food and Faith Podcast. Derrick and his wife, Rev. Shannon Meacham, have four children.
A conversation for and with clergy people. Oct. 29, 4-5:30 PM Eastern Time Register Here.
We wait. We are in the midst of deep challenges globally and locally as our congregations face the division associated with an upcoming election as well as systemic racism, COVID-19, and the climate crisis. You are leader in this particular time and place. The burden is heavy. Our hope is that you might find some seeds of inspiration to help with Advent worship planning and sermon preparation. More than that we hope you will find a few minutes of connection, care, prayer and support in our breakout rooms.
The meeting will include: 15-minute teachings & exegesis on each of the Advent 2020 Year B texts for sermon & worship preparation and Clergy self-care through contemplative practice, prayer, and connection
Our Lectionary presenters will be:
Rev. Dr. Leah Schade, Assistant Professor of Preaching and Worship Lexington Theological Seminary
Rev. Dr. Wilson Dickinson, Director of D.Min Program at Lexington Theological Seminary
Rev. Derrick Weston, Faith and Leadership
Rev. Anna Woofenden, Pastor of the Garden Church, San Pedro, CA
This is a free offering for ordained or commissioned Clergy from Green Chalice of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the Creation Care Alliance.
You can find the links for the Advent B Lectionary Readings here.
Space is limited so please register soon. SIGN UP HERE
Voting your Faith Values in 2020
The election of 2020 is the most important election in our lifetime and will determine the future of life on this earth. Make sure that your vote gets counted. The Creation Care Alliance of Western North Carolina offers this voting information to help you make the best voting choice during this pandemic. As you consider your vote you might imagine that you are offering a vote for those who are often voiceless. As you cast your one vote you might consider the needs of: 1)the most vulnerable among us; the poor, sick, and oppressed, 2) the young and future generations who will face the brunt of our current and past environmental and social sins, and 3) creation itself; the animals, trees, oceans, birds and rivers that will never get a vote but will feel the impact of our policies and practices.
You may vote in-person early (October 15 – 31) or on Election Day (November 3). Also, all voters in North Carolina are eligible to vote absentee this year.
Check your Registration OR Register to Vote
Confirm that you are registered to vote. If you are not registered or need to change your address you can do it online. The deadline to register is October 9. You can also register in-person at early voting sites.
To Request and Return an Absentee Ballot
OR
Faith communities have a complicated history when it comes to mental health and wholeness. In some ways faith communities have failed by ignoring mental health challenges that are present within our communities and among clergy people. Oftentimes the stigma that has been placed upon the shoulders of those who are experiencing a variety of temporary and chronic mental health challenges has been ignored and even increased by communities and people of faith. REGISTER FOR WINTER 2021 ECO GRIEF CIRCLES
At our best, faith communities have encouraged people to face suffering and loss with heart, mind, and body by using rituals, encouraging conversation, and honoring sacred stories from ancestors and community members. I am encouraged to see more and more clergy seeking professional mental health care, and more congregations offering opportunities to not only express and explore experiences of grief but to engage in caring for those with mental health challenges.
The climate crisis offers yet another opportunity to be our best, and to lovingly accompany one another in the midst of suffering and grief. In my work at the Creation Care Alliance I have seen a recent increase in the ways that climate change and ecological degradation has impacted emotional, mental, and spiritual health.
Over the past six years I have had the opportunity to listen to people of faith as they grapple with the realities of our changing climate. I have heard the fear of the threats made to God’s good creation, felt the anger of those standing against a fossil fueled future, seen the tears of grandparents on behalf of their grandchildren.
This is not new – the reality is that ecological destruction in Western North Carolina has been impacting our community for many years. For many, these stories are intertwined with stories of blatant racism, economic oppression, and food insecurity. Ecological grief is not a new experience, however climate anxiety and eco-grief are being more widely recognized as another component of climate change.
Back in the 1950s, environmentalist Aldo Leopold described environmental grief when he said “one of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds.” More recently, Dr. Glenn Albrecht coined the term “solastalgia” to describe mental distress caused by environmental change, a kind of “homesickness” without leaving home that we feel as our common home becomes more unrecognizable.
We see grief showing up in a variety of ways. One way is for people to be experiencing grief and suffering due to past or current eco-challenges. These mental health concerns are the results of climate phenomena like increased heat indexes, displacement due to flooding or storms, increased stress due to illness and food insecurity. This kind of grief would be a natural response to well water being rendered toxic, beloved forests being burned, or generational farmland drying to dust.
Another way that grief shows up is in anxiety about a future that is inhospitable to people and creatures. As people learn more and more about the climate crisis and see the decade- long predictions from scientists beginning to come to fruition, we become increasingly aware of the fragility of our common future. With this awareness comes anxiety and even despair.
After hearing story after story of these (and other) kinds of grief, people within the Creation Care Alliance network – two counselors, two pastors, and a chaplain – began to plan ways for people to care about one another in their grief. The result was a pilot project called the Eco-Grief Circle.
This six-week experience offered hour-long sessions that explored grief and sorrow, anxiety and fear, guilt and shame, anger and despair. The pilot project included 16 people who were connected with environmental and justice work. This was not a grief therapy experience, yet healing, insight, and love were present. Participants expressed the profound gratitude of being among people who could talk honestly about grief, suffering and the ecological and social challenges of our time. In the particular six weeks that we gathered, we not only faced the climate change challenge but also grappled with the pandemic and the deep brokenness of racism in our society. It was a powerful six weeks to be sure.
The leadership team will launch two more eco-grief circles in mid-September, and is currently finalizing the curriculum and receiving inquiries from a variety of people and faith communities that are interested. We will have limited space available in these initial classes, but let us know if you are interested in participating in the future by emailing scott@creationcarealliance.org.
Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: American Psychological Assoc. and Eco America, March 2017
Majority of US Adults Believe Climate Change Is Most Important Issue: American Psychological Association, Feb. 2020
Ecological grief as a mental health response to climate change-related loss: Nature Magazine-April 2018
How scientists are coping with ‘ecological grief’-The Guardian, Jan. 2020
Hope and mourning in the Anthropocene: Understanding ecological grief – The Conversation, April 2018
Ecological Mourning Is a Unique Form of Grief- Psychology Today, March 2019
Embracing Pain- 3 minute video by Joanna Macy, 2012
Geared for high-school students, young adults, and adults, we invite you to seek shalom with us, joining other groups/families in stimulating discussion, prayer, and brainstorming about how they are turning challenges into opportunities, how to re-frame our daily lived practices, and how to foster a fuller imagination for our world! We want this experience to meet you where you are, so if attending all the sessions is not a possibility, let’s be in touch about creative alternatives! Sliding scale registration can be found at: https://christmount.
Join us to experience what it’s like to negotiate a climate deal to address one of the greatest human and environmental challenges of this century. The Climate Action Simulation is a highly interactive, role-playing game. It uses the En-ROADS simulation model to engage a wide range of participants in exploring key technology and policy solutions for addressing climate change. The game is conducted as a simulated emergency summit organized by the United Nations that convenes global stakeholders. In the game, it’s our job to establish a concrete plan that limits global warming to Paris Agreement goals.
This two-hour workshop hosted by Climate Interactive allows you to do a deep dive into the decisions that have to made to create a world that meets Paris Climate Agreement goals. You’ll have the opportunity to negotiate over factors such as decreasing deforestation worldwide, improving building efficient, or increasing oil taxes and watch as the models respond to your decisions.
You may join as an individual or invite your congregation’s creation care team. If you’ve joined us previously for the Climate Interactive experience, we are using a new version that was released recently, so the experience will be different than previous ones.
What do Oaks, Violets, Native Bees and Robins have in common? They are native species in Western North Carolina and they are part of the CCA Neighborhood Natives Scavenger Hunt. While we are caring for our human neighbors by maintaining social distance, this can be a wonderful time to get to know some of our other neighbors- our local botanical and animal friends! The next time you’re out for a stroll, consider taking this guide with you and seeing if you can identify some of these common urban and suburban dwellers. Then if you like, try one of the mindfulness activities. We are so impressed and excited to try and find these ten neighbors and deepen our spiritual lives in the process. Many thanks to Rhys Burns, Kevin Bates and Emma Childs for this inspirational work.
Find it here: CCA Neighborhood Natives Scavenger Hunt
Help Solar in Buncombe July 21
Posted on by Scott Hardin-Nieri
A Historic Vote On Solar July 21
Share your faith and passion for a clean energy future. Learn more here. On July 21, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will vote on whether or not to move forward with a plan to install solar panels at 40 sites of county government, city and public school and community college properties. The project is the equivalent of powering 677 homes entirely with solar. The solar energy systems will save county taxpayers $27 million by reducing electricity payments to Duke Energy over the next 30 years. This vote is a huge opportunity to move our county forward to a renewable energy future. In addition, the prices offered to install these solar projects are millions of dollars cheaper than expected, and the energy savings from the solar panels would actually save the county and schools money.
To make this happen, we need at least 4 out of 7 County Commissioners to vote YES to this proposal on July 21. We are asking people who value renewable energy to write personalized letters to the County Commissioners to encourage them to vote yes.
Could you write a personalized message to Commissioners asking them to vote yes to this proposal here?
Sharing how your faith or spiritual life informs your beliefs about clean energy and creation care is a unique and helpful way to communicate values that we all hold dear regardless of political affiliation. You can also spread the word to your friends and family about the need to make your voice heard before this vote.
Submit a public comment to be read at Tuesday’s Commission meeting before the vote by emailing comment@buncombecounty.org.
Category: CCA in the News, Latest News, Public Comments & Testimony