Classes and Conversations

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Planting Seeds: Host a forum, panel discussion, or Creation care event

Suggested Practices and Examples for Implementation:

  • Host a speaker, panel or workshop on a Creation care topic at your place of worship or in the community
    • Invite CCA speakers or other community leaders to discuss the work of creation care
  • Hold a “sustainable potluck” with an emphasis on plant-forward dishes, reusable/non-disposable products, and engaging conversation around meaningful green practices folks can try at home
  • Have a Potlatch party:
    • A Potlatch is a gift-giving festival and/or feast practiced by indigenous people in the Pacific Northwest, held to celebrate a family or community event that also upholds a person’s community standing. It is also about redistribution and reciprocity of wealth and possessions. On a spiritual level, a potlatch is about generosity as a response to the belief that everything in this realm is a gift from the Divine.
    • This could take the form of having a potluck of food and household items offered as gifts, which would be distributed after the food is served and enjoyed (sometimes the gift bringer or the gift receiver might want to say something about the meaning of the gift. In this way, often very special moments in the lives of community members are shared, strengthening community bonds)

General Information Related to this Strategy:

Local Faith Communities Currently Utilizing this Strategy:

Nurturing Growth: Offer an environmental book, study, or film series

Suggested Practices and Examples for Implementation:

  • Offer a 4-6 week book study on a text focused on Creation and/or care for the environment such as:
    • GreenFaith by Fletcher Harper
    • Laudato Si by Pope Francis,
    • Eco-Womanism by Melanie Harris,
    • Church of the Wild by Victoria Loorz,
    • Drawdown by Paul Hawken,
    • Active Hope by Joanna Macy,
    • They Will Inherit the Earth by John Dear,
    • Rooted & Rising by Margaret Bullitt Jonas and Leah Schade,
    • All We Can Save by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson & Katherine Wilkinson,
    • Making Peace with the Land by Fred Bahnson & Norman Wirzba,
    • Earth & Word by David Rhoads,
    • Saving Us by Katherine Hayhoe,
    • Climate Church, Climate World by Jim Antell,
    • Green the Church: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rejoice by Rebekkah Simon-Peter,
    • For the Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vision of Creation Care by Steven Bouma-Prediger
  • Additional books on Creation for Christian liturgical seasons:
    • Lent:
      • For the Beauty of the Earth by Leah Schade
      • Wild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing by Gayle Boss
    • Advent:
      • All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings by Gayle Boss
  • Host a weekly or monthly film series to show documentaries or other environmental films
  • Have an adult a bible study class focused on Creation and environmental stewardship, highlighting these themes throughout scripture
  • Seek out relevant events happening in the broader community and encourage participation from members of your faith community

General Information Related to this Strategy:

Available Resources in Western North Carolina:

  • Creation Care Alliance upcoming events
    • Contact Sarah Ogletree at sarah@creationcarealliance.org
  • Project Drawdown Workshops (in-person workshops reliant on COVID-19 safety)
    • Contact Charley & Pam Rogers: crogers216@gmail.com

Local Faith Communities Currently Utilizing this Strategy:

Provide regular events, speakers, and classes focused on care for Creation

Suggested Practices and Examples for Implementation:

  • Instead of the hosting one-time events, offer studies and preaching series regularly throughout the year. Studies could include book study classes, podcast listening/discussion groups, or classes/Wednesday night lectures centered around Creation. For preaching ideas, check out our page on worship.
    • Around Earth Day and during the Season of Creation (September in the Christian calendar) are good times to plan a service or study annually
    • If you don’t have the capacity to host regular events, reach out to other faith communities or organizations to form partnerships and facilitate events together–sharing the load and learning from one another
  • Create an EcoChallenge team at your congregation, encourage community members to participate, and share the results
  • In addition to providing education around climate/environmental issues in your congregation, create space for imagination around 1) how people of faith can play a role in creating the beloved community that God desires and 2) what that world would look/feel/be like. Spending time imagining a different way is vital to being able to create it. Check out The BTS Center and their workshop on imagination for more.

General Information Related to this Strategy:

Available Resources in Western North Carolina:

  • Creation Care Alliance upcoming events
    • Contact Sarah Ogletree at sarah@creationcarealliance.org
  • Project Drawdown Workshops (in-person workshops reliant on COVID-19 safety)
    • Contact Charley & Pam Rogers: crogers216@gmail.com

Local Faith Communities Currently Utilizing this Strategy:

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