Creation Care Alliance of Western North Carolina
Wild Goose Festival 2019 Reflections
The Creation Care Alliance was part of the rich ecosystem of the Wild Goose Festival again this summer in Hot Springs. Our team hosted table conversations and workshops about climate change and creation care for faith communities, using our Guide for Cultivating Creation Care, as a basis for our work. We prayed with one another, played with one another and were moved by the profoundly deep connections among those teaching about spirituality, anti-racism, ecological healing, economic and social justice. Several times our team heard gratitude from participants for our presence and for more voices to be heard regarding the environment and faith. The Mountaintrue Outings Coordinator, Catie, provided amazing leadership for a robust volunteer team attending to the transportation needs of guests and musicians.
A Personal Reflection. On the last day, as I listened to Rev. Brian McClaren I was struck by the conversation about holding the tension between being prophetic and pastoral. Read More
One Cello, One Planet Concerts: Music, Science, and Spirituality
Cellist Judith Glixon Returns to WNC for Tour Supporting Creation Care and Climate Action
Judith Glixon, a former Asheville resident who was once the principal cellist with the Asheville Symphony and the Brevard Chamber Orchestra, is returning to WNC to perform a series of solo cello concerts highlighting the urgency of climate change. Proceeds will support the work of the Creation Care Alliance of WNC, a program that empowers faith organizations to act on climate change.
“The goal of the tour is three-fold,” says Glixon. “It’s to raise awareness about the urgency of our changing climate; to inspire people to act; and to raise funds for organizations like the Creation Care Alliance of WNC whose primary mission addresses climate change.”
Glixon is returning to WNC for the tour out of a sense of duty. “This is the only planet we have and all living beings share it. As humans, collectively, we are responsible for the well-being of all its current and future inhabitants. Yet, even one individual (or cellist) can make a difference.”
Glixon’s tour will have stops in Black Mountain, Tryon, Hendersonville and Asheville this August, and will take listeners through an abridged history of the human race with compositions by J.S. Bach(Unaccompanied Suites 2 & 3), Benjamin Britten (final movement of Suite for Cello, Op.72), Maurice Ravel and Daniel Crawford. The tour is being hosted by the Creation Care Alliance of WNC, an organization that empowers communities of faith to act on climate change. “We’re excited for Judith’s tour to blend the arts, science and spirituality in our community,” says Scott Hardin-Nieri, Director of the Creation Care Alliance. “So often when we explore climate change it’s with charts, data and temperatures. My hope is that exploring this issue in another way, through music, may touch something deeper within us too.”
“One Cello One Planet” Tour Dates and Tickets:
August 11- Winston Salem Get Tickets
Parkway United Church of Christ
1465 Irving Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27103
August 16, 7:30 pm – Black Mountain Get Tickets
First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
201 Blue Ridge Rd, Black Mountain, NC 28711
Sunday, August 18th, 3 pm – Tryon, NC Get Tickets
The Congregational Church-United Church of Christ
210 Melrose Ave, Tryon, NC 28782
Friday, August 23, 7:30 pm – Hendersonville Get Tickets
Trinity Presbyterian Church
900 Blythe St, Hendersonville, NC 28791
Sunday, August 25, 4 pm – Asheville Get Tickets
Jubilee! Community
46 Wall St, Asheville, NC 28801
Creation Care Alliance Launches Toolkit to Help Spiritual Communities and People of Faith to Act on Behalf of Our Planet
The Creation Care Alliance of Western North Carolina has launched the Guide to Cultivating Care for Creation – a new resource for churches, spiritual communities and people of faith looking for tangible ways they can act on behalf of our neighbors and Creation.
The Guide to Cultivating Care for Creation was put together with the help of local members of WNC’s faith communities and is a culmination of congregational wisdom, science, sustainability, prayer, educational theory, and ecology. CCA intern Holly Cunningham has been working to compile this wisdom and create a toolkit which can be used by anyone wishing to go deeper into the work of loving their neighbors by caring for the earth. Her passion for sustainability and environmental justice, guided by the CCA and MountainTrue team, fueled this project and helped bring it to fruition. Read More
CCA to present at the Wild Goose Festival!
The Creation Care Alliance will have the privilege to share some of our work to a wider national audience at the Wild Goose Festival this Summer. The Wild Goose Festival is a Spirit, Justice, Music and Arts Festival hosted in Hot Springs, NC July 11-14th. The Creation Care Alliance will be offering “Creation Care: Practicing Love-Practical Seeds for Change” outlining our Creation Care Toolkit. The team will also offer “Role Playing for a Healthy Planet-Climate Interactive.” We are excited to collaborate with North Carolina Interfaith Power and Light and to connect with one another and the incredible wealth of wisdom and creativity sure to be present at the Goose! See more below about details.
Also if you are interested in volunteering to help support Wild Goose through a CCA Collaborative effort email Scott@creationcarealliance.org or Sign up here.
It’s a place where all kinds of people come together, not only to hear great music and incredible speakers, but also to dive into lively conversations with thought leaders, writers, dreamers, artists, visionaries, social justice activists, peace-makers…the ones you’ll find on the official program, and the ones you might meet while just getting lunch or hanging out by the river. It’s also a place where you can be a spectator, but where you can be a co-creator as well. A place where we affirm the creativity in all of us, and opportunities to make art and music, to tell stories and take in stories, can be found around every corner.
It’s transformational, experiential, it’s a sing and dance and play and dream and eat and camp and meditate and talk and listen and twirl-you-around-and-shake-you-up gathering, born out of the “Wild Goose” spirit metaphor which is all about beauty, grace, and yes, unpredictability. We also take inspiration from events such as, Greenbelt, Burning Man, Lightning In a Bottle and SXSW.
It is a place where all are welcome. Seriously, ALL. Because we are rooted in a progressive Christian tradition, we welcome you, whatever your age, race, culture, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, religious tradition, disabilities, different abilities, whether you have money or not, whether you have a degree or not, whether you have a strong faith or no faith, or perhaps a billion questions about faith, whether you have a home or not, whether you’re an extrovert or introvert, everyone is welcome here. Even eye-rolling teenagers. And rambunctious little kids. Rambunctiousness is, in fact, encouraged. We welcome all to come and seek the common good together.
PRACTICING SHALOM IN OUR TIME OF CLIMATE CHANGE
PRACTICING SHALOM IN OUR TIME OF CLIMATE CHANGE Wednesdays, April 24 – May 15
6:00 – 7:00 p.m. | Crouch Chapel First Baptist Church of Asheville 5 Oak Street, Asheville, NC 28801 ca.net
We are happy to present this 4-part series for our church and our community to examine climate change. We will consider its effects on our world, and explore the role of our Christian faith in response.
Join us as leaders share their expertise.
April 24 – “Living in this time of Climate Change”
Deke Arndt, Chief, Monitoring Branch, National Center for Environmental Information, NOAA
From his experience as a climate scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Deke will speak to us about the recent report from the National Climate Assessment, helping us understand major points of interest. Additionally, he will speak to conditions we might expect in the Southeastern US with regard to climate change. We are fortunate to have Deke share his scientific expertise with us.
May 1 – “Practicing Shalom in Climate Change”
Rev. Nancy Sehested, Co-pastor, Circle of Mercy Congregation
Nancy will lead us in an exploration of the relationship between our faith and climate change. glean from our Scriptures that speak to this issue? How are we then called to respond?
May 8 – “Asheville Responds”
A Panel of Local Leaders:
Sophie Mullinax, Blue Horizons Project, Coordinator
Dawn Chavez, Asheville Greenworks, Director
Scott Hardin-Nieri, Mountain True, Director of Creation Care Alliance
What can we learn from these community leaders, we will learn of their e orts in Asheville and Buncombe County to mitigate climate change. Additionally, they will help us know ways we can participate with them or on an individual basis to make a positive difference in combating climate change.
May 15 – “First Baptist Responds” Dr. Mack Dennis, Pastor
Mack will give an overview of ways our church has already taken steps to reduce our energy consumption and live more sustainably. Where do we go from here? Mack will share ideas that are being explored and visions for our future of ways we can help as we live in this time of climate change.
Project Drawdown Workshop-Hendersonville
On April 16, MountainTrue, the Creation Care Alliance of WNC and the Citizens’ Climate Lobby of Henderson County are proud to co-sponsor the Introduction to Project Drawdown workshop – a workshop sharing what international researchers have identified as the one-hundred most impactful solutions to reverse climate change. The event will be held from 5:30 P.M. – 7:00 P.M. at the Morris Kaplan Auditorium in the Henderson County Library.
This event is designed for individuals and groups who are ready to identify personal and family solutions to global warming that are within reach, and/or have an interest in working with community organizations and local governments to implement climate solutions and policies. Social and eco-justice advocates Pam and Charley Rogers will lead the workshop.
The workshop is based on the book, Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reduce Global Warming, edited by environmentalist Paul Hawken. The book features the work of more than 200 researchers and scientists who have mapped, measured and modeled the top 100 solutions to reverse global warming, concluding that we can begin a reversal of greenhouse gases by 2050 using existing technologies.
Gardner-Webb University Caring for Creation
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.—Gardner-Webb University is celebrating Creation Care/Earth Week this week with a series of programs to highlight the ways people of faith can preserve the integrity, beauty, and health of God’s creation. CCA is excited to participate with the Earth Week Festivities, Tuesday we will have the opportunity to share during the Dimensions worship service and the Earth Fare on Thursday will focus on Bees and Pollinators! Read more here
Earth Day Vigil-“Walking the Path”
Sunday, April 28, 2019
4:15pm-5pm Walking the Labyrinth 5:30 p.m.-Vigil with Reception to follow
First Baptist Church
Sacred Garden/Labyrinth
5 Oak Street, Asheville, NC 28801
Often times, we cannot fully see the destination in our ecological, social and spiritual paths. Despite the obscurity of the destination it is important to take steps toward a healthier future. This step by step movement is what has inspired the theme of the Earth Day Vigil this year. The Labyrinth location at First Baptist Church will provide an embodied way to experience a spiritual invitation to move toward a healthier planet. While there are many ways to interact with a labyrinth there are 4 basic movements that might give us hints during this Earth Month. The movements as taught by the Veriditas School based in Grace Cathedral in San Francisco can be named Remember, Release, Receive and Return. On Sunday, April 28th the Labyrinth will be open at First Baptist at 4:15 with a vigil to follow at 5:30pm. Volunteer to help here.
The time will have Words of reflection and blessings delivered by Rev. Carol Hovis from Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, Rev. Nancy Walton of Trinity United Methodist Church, Rev. Tommy Bratton and Marian Sadler Arledge of First Baptist Church, Rev. Scott Hardin-Nieri of the Creation Care Alliance of WNC, Dr. Hun Lye, Founder and Spiritual Director of Urban Dharma, and Isa Whitaker a member of the Islamic Center of Asheville and the Community Garden Network Coordinator at Bountiful Cities. Sound and musical leadership will be offered by Jenna Lindbo from Land of the Sky United Church of Christ, Daniel Barber from the Jubilee! Community and Joe Hallock of Solar Powered Sound.
Please join people of various faith communities from across WNC as we:
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- Celebrate the beauty of creation
- Share our gratitude and appreciation for the earth
- Enjoy music, poetry, and prayer
- Grieve for the damage we are causing to creation and our neighbors
- Reflect on our responsibility to our children and future generations
- Resolve to bring our hope and faith into action
- Enjoy food and drink and connect with great people
