Our covenant partner congregation, The Congregational Church of Tryon, NC, is hiring a Climate Hope Fellow to join their team this summer! The full job description and link to apply are pasted below. Learn more and apply at the link at the bottom of the page! For more information, reach out to pastor@ucctryon.org.

Climate Hope Summer Fellow 

The Congregational Church (United Church of Christ) in Tryon, NC, is seeking a Climate Hope  Summer Fellow as part of the Environmental Justice Ministry of the United Church of Christ’s 2024  Climate Hope Summer Fellowship Program. We are seeking a young adult between the ages of 18 to  26, who is passionate about the movement for climate justice.  

About Us: 

The Congregational Church, UCC in Tryon is a progressive, multi-generational community engaged  in loving our neighbors by following the way of Jesus. We care a lot about each other, God’s  beautiful creation, and what’s happening in the world around us. When we say “you are welcome  here,” we mean it. And not because we want to change who you are or cast judgment upon you. 

We are family-sized congregation that does big things, actively focusing on serving the wider  community. We emphasize collaboration, experimentation, and creativity as a congregation, seeking to listen and follow where the Holy Spirit is guiding. 

Our church formed a Creation Care Team in 2018 – care for creation was a unifying issue in our  congregation, connecting folks across political lines. Initially, our efforts were small, focused on increasing  energy efficiency and placing visible recycling bins in the Fellowship Hall. However, it was the pandemic,  with its shift to online learning opportunities (a game changer for a rural church that typically has to drive at  least an hour to get involved in such offerings) that truly catalyzed our congregation around Creation Care.  In December 2020 we voted to install solar panels on the roof of our church and parsonage. Outdoor  worship in summer 2020 inspired church members, tired of staring out at our woodlands covered in ivy and  kudzu, to apply for grants to begin efforts to remove invasives and restore our woodlands. A webinar  offered by the UCC, which featured Doug Tallamy, inspired church members to start a regional movement  around native plants that led to grants to create native plant gardens in front of the church, hosting free  creation focused films with local conservation partners at our local 1-screen movie theatre, and an annual  Gardening For Life Celebration, that has attracted over 700 folks each year, showcasing nationwide  speakers, native plant growers, and creation care focused non-profits. Recently we have become a Creation  Justice Church in the UCC and renamed our team the Creation Justice Team.  

The Congregational Church, UCC in Tryon is an Open & Affirming congregation. We welcome  persons of all ages, races, social and economic circumstances, sexual orientations, gender identities  and gender expressions, abilities and church backgrounds to participate in the life and ministry of  our church. 

Learn more at www.ucctryon.org. 

About Your Role: 

Our hope is that a fellowship can build on our church’s creation justice efforts, helping our congregation to  explore what it means to engage in Creation Justice as opposed to Creation Care. Potential areas of focus  for the Fellow include: 

• Continuing to design, plant, and maintain our native plant gardens. 

• Continue to restore our woodlands, and help design/build trails for the benefit and education of the  church and community. 

• We are located in the mountains of Western North Carolina, and are increasingly aware of the role that our geographic area will play in human and non-human climate migration. We would love a  fellow to help us think through, and offer education to the congregation, about what role our church  can play in offering climate hospitality to human and non-human creatures.

• Advocacy efforts to convince local nurseries to stock native plants. 

• Advocacy efforts around clean water (our town’s sewer system is not the best and we receive  frequent alerts about discharges of untreated waste water) 

• Creating and leading an education series for the congregation around what Creation Justice might  look like. 

• We are overdue to replace our boiler and some hvac systems. A fellow could help lead a planning  effort for this that focuses on energy efficiency, how to take advantage of the inflation reduction act,  and educate the congregation on similar steps they may want to take in their own homes. 

Our hope for the fellowship is that it can be a mutually beneficial learning opportunity for both the fellow  and our congregation. To that end we are open to crafting a fellowship around the passions and interest of  the fellow. 

Requirements: Between the ages of 18-26. Must be a good communicator, have the ability to  prioritize, self-start, collaborate and manage time. 

Hours: 25-32 hours per week for approximately 8 weeks during summer 2024. Start and end  date is negotiable. 

Pay: $2500 stipend for the summer 

Housing: For those out of our geographical region, we are able provide housing at a church member’s residence.

Apply: https://app.smarterselect.com/programs/96560-United-Church-Of-Christ Please specify “The Congregational Church, UCC in Tryon” as the site location.