Get Ready for Earth Day: Resources Spotlight from the Commission on the Environment

By the Rev. Dr. Pamela Dolan

One of the primary goals of our Commission is to seek out and provide to you, the people and congregations of the Diocese, the best resources we can find in the areas of creation care, environmental justice, and related topics. 

Even as we’re about to enter the great journey of Holy Week, some of us are looking ahead to April 22, Earth Day. We hope you saw last week’s article about the April 19 viewing of the film The Ant and The Grasshopper. What follows are more resources for your Green Team, worship planners, Sunday school teachers, or other caring individuals to do even more to make Earth Day a meaningful event.

Why celebrate Earth Day?

*Evangelism: There is a widely-held belief that Christians don’t care about science or the environment. You can show your community that your church is different. We do care!

*Formation: Our faith is the number one reason we care for God’s creation. Helping people of all ages within your church make the link between loving God, loving neighbor, and loving our planet is simply good Christian formation.

*Hope: One of the foundations of the Christian faith is hope. Most of what people hear about the environment is depressing and even frightening. The Church has a different story to tell—one of reliance on God, faith in the future, and a shift toward working together on common goals.

Resources to help you have a great Earth Day:

  • The Faith Climate Action Week website, sponsored by Interfaith Power and Light, with a focus on April 14-23, the days surrounding Earth Day. Resources for preaching, teaching, and acting to heal the planet are all included.
  • Sowing Seeds: A 2023 Earth Day Sunday Resource. Each year, Creation Justice Ministries offers FREE Christian education materials to equip faith communities to protect, restore, and more rightly share God’s creation. This year’s offering focuses on food system, climate change and regenerative farming, but the resource hub includes downloadable curricula going back more than a decade, so there are many options to choose from. 

Please check out these great resources, and then let us know if you will be using them in your own home or church. We’d like to know what Earth Day activities are happening all around the Diocese, so we can collect and share the wonderful work you all are doing! We are always happy to get good news stories from you, our partners in caring for God’s creation. Stories can be shared with Miriam Casey at ednccoe@gmail.com