Announcing Creation Justice

Earth Day is April 22, and many are calling April Earth Month. One of the ways we are celebrating Earth Month is the announcement that Creation Care Ministry is transitioning to Creation Justice Ministry. What exactly does this mean? 

Our Creation Care Ministry has focused mainly on stewardship of God’s earth both in our church building and our homes grounded in four areas we are already familiar with: pray, learn, act, and advocate …Our Creation Justice Ministry will continue this work with a broader emphasis on advocacy for fairness and equity for vulnerable populations, both human and other species: animals, plants, insects all bearing the heaviest burden of environmental pollution or degradation. There’s a lot of NOT FAIR around climate change.

We will be offering a menu of advocacy opportunities for climate justice such as post-carding for the environment, writing or calling our legislators, and joining with other groups standing out for the environment wearing our t-shirts “This is what faith looks like.” 

We will be working hand in hand with Mission Outreach around environmental injustice. Two examples are Rise for Hunger and Esperanza Academy. 

The food we pack in a few weeks for Rise for Hunger frequently goes to locations where environmental hazards like drought, floods and fires cause food shortages, starvation and migration. 

The second example, currently under discussion, is participating with the Esperanza Academy community in a tree planting project for the new Esperanza school and campus that will open next year in the heart of downtown Lawrence. The tuition-free school will serve girls from K through 8th grade. Why trees? Trees are partners in the work of creation justice. Among many things, they cool cities, support psychological wellbeing, create diverse habitats for species, all while pulling carbon dioxide from the atmosphere mitigating some of the effects of climate change. Interestingly, trees appear more often in Scripture than any member of creation except humans.

Join us at coffee hour to see our resources and learn more about what we can do to promote creation justice. 

To end with a quote from Bishop Julia,

“Let us continue to engage this moment with deep mutual care as we courageously carry God’s love into a world that hungers for God’s justice.”