Creation Care

A Call to Climate Action Across the Church

The Anglican Communion released a new eco-theology resource, Renewing the Life of the Earth, which includes a video from our recently retired Missioner for Creation Care calling the Church to share in God’s mission of restoring all people and all Creation to unity with God and each other in Christ.

“Let’s repent and turn away from any anthropocentric theology that claims that human beings are somehow separate from the rest of God’s creation, as if we alone were worthy of God’s saving love. Let’s stop praying, preaching, and acting as if God cares about only one species, Homo sapiens.

Scripture tells us that God created, redeems, and sustains the whole creation, not only human beings. After all, this is God’s creation, not ours – the Earth belongs to God, not to us. When we grasp that truth, surely every one of us will start sounding the alarm about climate change and start fighting to keep fossil fuels in the ground and to build a more just and sustainable society. The living world is holy, and destroying Earth is a desecration, a sin against the Creator.”
- The Rev. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas

On March 23, 2021, the bishops of the Episcopal dioceses of Massachusetts and Western Massachusetts issued a declaration of climate emergency, with suggested resources and actions.

Here's the "why."

Runaway climate change, toxic waste, and resource depletion are threatening to unravel the web of life upon which we, and all God’s creatures, depend. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Christians in this diocese are rising up to proclaim God’s love for the Earth, which God pronounces “very good” (Genesis 1:31) and which the crucified and risen Christ gave his life to redeem.

Now is the time to experience afresh our reverence for the Earth, which reveals God’s glory, and to express our concern for our neighbors, here and worldwide, who are already affected by extreme weather events, rising seas, and conflicts over natural resources, such as water. Now is the time to proclaim our vision of a just, sustainable, and healthy world.

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Here's the "how."

The best way to stay informed and connected with our diocese’s Creation care ministry is to join Creation Care Justice Network, the growing band of Episcopal clergy and lay people across Massachusetts who are working together to address the climate emergency. For more information, about CCJN, go here. To join us, please email creationjusticeepisma@gmail.org.

Thank you for everything you do to bear witness to God’s love for the whole Creation.

Equity and justice have to be the lens
through which we solve this problem.
It can’t be an afterthought. It can’t be an aside.
If it doesn’t work for the most disadvantaged among us,
it will not solve the problem.

- Varshini Prakash, Sunrise Movement

Climate Emergency Webinar Series

Visit The Episcopal Church’s webpage for Creation Care

The Episcopal Church’s Covenant for the Care of Creation is a commitment to practice loving formation, liberating advocacy and life-giving conversation as individuals, congregations, ministries and dioceses. Explore the Covenant here and sign up for the newsletter and opportunities to formally adopt the Covenant in your community.

Our Creation Care Resolutions

Our diocese has passed three strong resolutions on Creation care.

In 2019, the 118^th Diocesan Convention passed “GOOD NEWS FOR ALL CREATION”

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‍This resolution affirms the Episcopal Vision for Creation Care put forward by Bishop Michael Curry and The Episcopal Church, and calls upon all our clergy and lay members to: take the pledge to Creation Care and “place the care of God’s Creation at the heart of our common life” as we work to grow a (1) loving, (2) liberating, and (3) life-giving relationship with the whole of God’s Creation.

The resolution calls on all our clergy and lay members to meet each of these goals by carrying out a wide range of actions – such as preaching and praying, engaging in legislative advocacy to keep fossil fuels in the ground, and reducing our personal carbon footprint.

The full text of the resolution is here.

In 2018, the 117^th Diocesan convention passed “LIVING LIGHTLY ON GOD’S GOOD EARTH”

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Among other things, this resolution called on all parishes in the Diocese to be faithful stewards of our fragile planet by creating a Green Team and undertaking an energy audit of all parish buildings in order to reduce the parish’s carbon footprint.

‍The full text of the resolution is here.

In 2017, the 116^th Diocesan convention passed “WE ARE STILL IN: A RESOLUTION TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE"

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‍Among other things, this resolution praised the “We Are Still In” declaration, in which hundreds of signatories pledge support of the goals of the Paris Climate Accord, and joined with the United Church of Christ in living out the principles of the Paris Climate Accord by committing our time, financial resources, and prayers to:

call on our congregations and every person of faith to set a moral example by making decisions of integrity in our energy choices and holding our leaders accountable to likewise reduce carbon emissions;
call on our clergy and lay leaders to speak from the pulpit about our moral obligation to protect God’s creation; and
call on our communities of faith to be bold and courageous in proclaiming the urgency of the climate crisis in the public square and at the local, state, and federal levels.

The full text of the resolution is here.

Green Team Resources

The Episcopal Church has been on the forefront of the movement to save God’s earth.

As part of living into the Jesus Movement, The Episcopal Church has asked individuals and congregations to commit to its Creation care pledge.
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Nineteen resolutions regarding the care of Creation were passed at the 2018 General Convention (read more here).

Energy Audit Resources

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Local & National Resources

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For more information:

An Opportunity For Which the Church was Born
‍How can faith communities address the climate crisis?
‍‍Trustees of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts Divest from Fossil Fuel Interests
‍The Episcopal Church Votes to Divest from Fossil Fuel Holdings
“The Episcopal Church and Climate Change: The First Twenty-Five Years,” by the Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas (Anglican Theological Review, 2013)
“Preaching When Life Depends on It: Climate Crisis and Gospel Hope,” by the Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas (Anglican Theological Review, 2021)
“Climate Change, Addiction, and Spiritual Liberation,” by the Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas (Religions, 2021)

Ways to Connect

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Creation Care Justice Network (CCJN) is a growing network of Episcopal clergy and lay people across Massachusetts who work together to help our congregations pray, learn, act and advocate on behalf of God's creation and to mobilize a robust, justice-centered response to the ecological and climate emergency. To join us, please signup here.
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‍‍Creation Care FB Group
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To connect with Creation care ministries in the Diocese of Massachusetts, visit here.
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RevivingCreation.org - Creation care blog of the Rev. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, recently our Missioner for Creation Care

Archive of Creation Care Network news

2022 Archive

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2021 Archive

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2020 Archive

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2019 Archive

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2018 Archive

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