Education

Our faith-inspired work is organized around the four areas of connection, education, advocacy and action.

​In each monthly issue of our newsletter, we list some educational resources. We also have a page of education opportunities such as book studies and webinars that are upcoming or still available to download or watch.

Social Principles

“We recognize the inherent worth of God’s creation, celebrate earth’s abundance and diversity, and, along with the entirety of the cosmos, give praise to its Creator. We recognize we are interconnected members of complex ecosystems, intricate webs of life, all of which have their origins in God’s gracious act of creation.” From “The Community of all Creation” in The United Methodist Revised Social Principles, which passed overwhelmingly at General Conference. Take a read! You can also download the social principles in multiple languages.

The Basics

There are six 90-minute videos on our YouTube Channel that the Task Force has created in 2023 on “Climate Change, Climate Justice, Climate Action: The Basics for Churches.” Most of the speakers are from our Annual Conference.  Watching and discussing these videos is a good entry point to climate justice work. Our emails and newsletters offer other learning opportunities, worship resources and Bible and book study ideas.

Monthly Cafés

UM Creation Justice Movement hold a monthly Movement Café where you can learn about a new topic each month. Attend on Zoom on 3rd Wednesdays at 10 am PT or watch the recording when it is uploaded about a week later.

Book List

There are many books that have been published about climate justice and creation care. We maintain a list of books that have been recommended by various members of our task force.

Some other Educational Resources

• Creation Justice Ministries has a resource section with a lot of studies and curriculum. These include:
  
  • Plastic Jesus: Real Faith in a Synthetic World
    Designed to help congregations think more deeply about the ways that plastics impact our lives and God’s creation and to equip people of faith to take actions to address this epidemic in faithful and practical ways.
    
  • Truth, Healing and Repair: ​A Resource for Churches on Environmental Justice with Indigenous Peoples
    A comprehensive resource designed to guide churches in their journey towards environmental justice in partnership with Indigenous communities.
    
  • The Power of God: From Extractive Theology to Transformative Faith
    What we believe about God’s power changes how we interact in the world! It changes how we adjust our thermostats, fuel up our cars, commute to work, carry out our jobs, engage in politics, advocate for legislation, shop for home goods, and plug or unplug our toaster.
    
• UM Creation Justice Movement resources including their ‘curriculum’ and ‘educational’ sections
  
• United Methodist Women in Faith have a set of climate resources including some educational and study material.
  
• Council for Ecological Discipleship, a ministry of St Columba’s Inverness, offers some online book studies.
  
• Just Faith offer small group programs that advance peace, racial equity and a sustainable world for use at any time of the year. They currently have three Eco-Justice courses that you can organize and run. Each program in the eco-justice series includes eight 2-hour sessions, an immersion experience, and an optional get-to-know-you session. The eight regular sessions include prayer, dialogue, active listening, weekly spiritual practices, and relationship-building. The immersion experiences connect participants with people and organizations working on eco-justice issues; this real-world experience guides groups in discerning how they can put their learning into action. Cost is $35 upwards per participant.

Training

Climate Ambassadors. The United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society partners with Blessed Tomorrow. They are offering a free, self-paced, online Climate Ambassadors training course to empower and equip you to inspire your community, colleagues, the public, and policymakers to take action on climate change that makes a difference. Make sure you select the UM training. This course includes 5 engaging video chapters, approximately 2 hours of content, 3 short quizzes, and 1 writing exercise. This course is provided in partnership by The United Methodist Church, United Women in Faith, United Method Creation Justice Movement, and Blessed Tomorrow.

Global Ministries EarthKeepers is a training and incubator program. It provides a collaborative space for United Methodists to develop and grow environmental projects in their communities. The training is usually offered twice a year alternating in-person and online.

Speakers

Some of the members of our Task Force are willing to be guest speakers or preachers at local churches. This could be either in-person or online.