Creation Justice Series Coming in 2022

Dec 15, 2021

The Great Lakes Creation Care Collaborative Invites You to Join the Discussion 

The Great Lakes Creation Care Collaborative will offer a series of Zoom webinars designed to help individuals and congregations become better advocates for God’s great gift of planet Earth. The collaborative is a joint effort of the UCC’s Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota conference. The three-part series was developed in response to threats to our watersheds from fossil fuels and chemicals, and informed by the potential harm to the economic, spiritual and physical health of indigenous peoples. The webinars will approach the issues through the lenses of indigenous rights; corporate divestment; and liturgical language that reflects on the health of the planet.

The schedule:

Treaties Broken, Earth and Lives in Crisis: How Do We Change the Narrative for the Land and All Its People?
6:30 to 8 p.m. Central time, Jan. 13

The Minnesota Conference will host Frank Bibeau, tribal attorney for Honor the Earth and the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, who will speak on the treaties that continue to be broken by white settlements and corporations working with the U.S. government. These activities both the livelihood of indigenous peoples and the quality of the water and soil we all share. Register here.

Good Money After Bad: How to Invest in Creation Care
6:30 to 8 p.m. Central time, Feb. 10

In financial terms, “investing” is the process of lending or giving money in support of something – a company, a product, a person, an idea – in the hope that the investment will yield an economic return. “Divestment” is the opposite of that: taking money away from something in which one has previously invested. This discussion, hosted by the Wisconsin Conference, will examine how we spend our money and the damage done to the Earth, and offer some concrete steps “investors” at every level can take to reduce that damage. Register here.

Creation Justice from the Sanctuary to the Street: Linking Worship, Action and Advocacy
6:30 to 8 p.m. Central time, March 3

Repentance requires action. This webinar, hosted by the Michigan Conference on the day after Ash Wednesday, will focus on creation justice language within the life of the church. The discussion will explore the way liturgical and spiritual practices like Baptism, Communion and fasting can move us to advocate and act on behalf of environmental justice. How can the language of the sanctuary change the actions we take outside the building – into the marketplace, at city hall and in the street? How can the experiences in our congregations, such as worship, Bible studies, book groups and youth activities embrace the language of planetary health? Register here.