Putting Faith into Action on Climate
For many, the call to address the climate crisis and the crisis of inequality intertwined with it are rooted in love: love of children, love of neighbors, and love of all God’s creation. Today, a growing number are responding to the prophetic call to act. The body of Christ has many parts, but in answering this call, we are realizing a desperately needed potential that cannot be realized alone but can only be realized as a collective body moving together with a shared vision and purpose.
Climate Hope Campaigns
In 2023, the United Church of Christ conducted its first Climate Hope campaign as a way to embody the member-driven and Spirit-led mandates of multiple General Synod resolutions urging the federal government to address the overlapping crises of climate and inequality. The vision of this campaign was to advocate for solutions that match the scale of the crisis. Through this effort, UCC congregations collected 8,000 postcards delivered to the Environmental Protection Agency as part of an effort to move our country toward greater public health and carbon-free electricity by 2035.
For 2024, leaders from participating congregations determined that electing climate justice champions was a top priority for this year. A multi-phase campaign called Vote for Climate Hope is now underway. The first phase is the Vote for Climate Hope Art Contest for children and youth. The winning art from this contest will be placed on voter pledge cards collected by congregations throughout the country as part of a broader voter mobilization effort.
This Is Who We Are: Environmental Justice in Action
A central commitment of Christians is to care for God’s creation, and this commitment has found unique expression in the life of the United Church of Christ. Leaders from the UCC were integral to the launch of the environmental justice movement in the 1980s with its pioneering focus on environmental racism.
Through General Synod resolutions, we have repeatedly stepped forward to lead the way as people of faith on critical matters such fossil fuel divestment, mountaintop removal, and the Green New Deal. Today, congregations throughout the country have answered our first calling as Christians in tending to God’s creation by becoming Creation Justice Churches. Through webinars, newsletters, reports, and more, we stay connected and informed. Learn more about our denomination’s Environmental Justice Ministries!
Why We Are Called to Climate Action
One could argue that all of us have a self-interest in doing everything we can to fight climate change. As Christians, however, we are called beyond our individual lives to love our neighbor and to care for all of God’s creation. To be in right relationship with our neighbors and God’s creation is ultimately at the heart of being in right relationship with God. To put it more succinctly, when we talk about what it means to be in right relationship we are talking about justice. As disciples of Jesus, we are called to put justice into action.
Today, justice takes many different and interconnected forms. We see this especially in the climate crisis. The burdens of pollution do not fall on everyone equally. Climate-related disasters do not affect everyone the same. Race, poverty, and other societal inequities all play a role in who currently suffers the most and who faces the greatest impending dangers. Often those who have contributed the least to climate change are those who are impacted the greatest.
Learn more about the call for prophetic action today. We have the power to bring about the change the world needs now.
Climate Crisis Handbook
The urgency of the climate crisis requires that we act as if our cathedrals and churches are on fire. Indeed, God’s creation can be seen as one grand cathedral on fire with burning forests and rising temperatures. Amid this dire situation, Brooks Berndt focuses our attention on the unique and vitally needed gifts that churches can offer through this handbook for the climate crisis.
Resources from Blessed Tomorrow and the UCC
The United Church of Christ is a founding member of Blessed Tomorrow, a comprehensive climate change program that provides tools, resources, and opportunities for engagement. Check out the following resources produced by Blessed Tomorrow in collaboration with the United Church of Christ, so that congregations and communities can be inspired and empowered in working toward climate justice.
Train to be a United Church of Christ Climate Ambassador
Strengthen your knowledge about the climate crisis and how to effectively address it. This free four-hour training is done online and on your own time. It comes with resources and the opportunity (in certain parts of the country) to receive financial incentives for advancing climate solutions through speaking and acting in your community.
Find Out More
Start the Training Now — use code “UCCBTAmbassador“
Request an Ambassador to Speak with Your Congregation
Practical Guidance for Churches and Congregations
Download Moving Forward: A Guide to Climate Action for Your Congregation and Community from the UCC partner Blessed Tomorrow. This guide provides practical information and resources to reduce energy use, strengthen the resilience of your church as a sanctuary amid the climate crisis, and encourage support for policies that better care for God’s creation. También disponible en español.
Climate Action Sheets — What to Know & What to Do
Learn how climate change affects things you care about, while also learning about climate solutions and how you can be an agent of change along with others. Use these practical, two-page guides from the UCC partner Blessed Tomorrow. From effectively communicating with others to working with policymakers, these will help provide you with the tools you need to make a difference.
5 Steps to Effective Climate Communication
Climate and Faith
Climate, Food, and Faith
Restore Nature, Restore Ourselves
In Your Home and Neighborhood
In Your Congregation
In Your Community
With Policymakers
