Voices of Faith for Creation, Unity & Resilience
A round-up of news this week.
Find the full weekly(ish) news round up here.
Plea for Repair. A lovely essay calling us to conscience and action on the occasions, both, of Season of Creation and Rosh Hashanah from Sister Teresa White and published this week in The Church Times, Time to repair the world.
Generational Equity. From Buck’s County Beacon, Pennsylvania, This Grandparents’ Day, Elders Are Protesting Vanguard For Their Children And Grandchildren’s Futures. Vanguard and the company’s leadership are allowing fossil fuel companies to destroy our world and set up future generations for climate catastrophe. A Grandparents’ Day Action, Tuesday, Sept. 19, organized by Elders Action Network. Faith partners include the Earth Quaker Action Team, and The Shalom Center
Holy Days Stewardship and Pollinators. A beautiful homage to honeybees as Jews celebrate the High Holy Days with apples and honey. From The Detroit Jewish News, The Vital Role of Honeybees in Michigan's Rosh Hashanah Celebration and Beyond. And, a call to faithful action on climate from Rabbi Josh Weisman in the Jewish Journal. The High Holy Days Were Made for this Moment. Each element of the classical High Holy Days imagery finds its counterpart in our present reality: The fateful books in which we have written our destiny with our own hands – the climate change we have wrought ourselves.
Getting Local & Strengthening Community. Two from the Seventh-Day Adventist tradition to share, from Adventist Review an article that highlights the effort to plant thousands of fruit trees in communities, ADRA Celebrates 40th Anniversary by Planting 40,000 Trees in Zimbabwe. And a story about rebuilding local knowledge and traditions by teaching heritage craft skills, Adventist Entrepreneur Teaches Young People His Craft to Prevent Migration. —Okay, one more. It is so important with so much at stake in the natural world that people of faith study and acknowledge the material importance of the creation in theological traditions. While this news does not specify what this theological perspective will be, none-the-less the engagement is notable: From Adventist News Southern Asia Pacific, AIIAS Launches Groundbreaking Graduate Certificate Program in Faith and Science.
Resilience Hubs—Shout out. A resilience hub is a place in the community where there is active effort to provide a place of sanctuary and support efforts in the community to build both acute and ongoing resilience. One effort that is absolutely a model for everyone is the Community Lighthouse mobilization through Together Louisiana, the wider Louisiana faith community, collaborators and partners. This week the project got a huge shout out (and Holy Visitation) from the Pope. From The Times-Picayune /Nola.com Pope Francis gives 'big thumbs-up' to Together Louisiana solar program at Vatican meeting. Community Lighthouse seen as response to pontiff's framing of climate change as moral issue.
Church Gardens! A lovely newsletter article to boost from the United Church of Christ. Church pollinator gardens in full bloom. UCC churches is Wisconsin, Illinois, and Kentucky are showcased in this article that moves us beyond simply ornamental landscaping to native restoration and pollinator gardens.
Islamic Relief & Response. Generosity is a key tenet of the Muslim faith and Islamic Organizations such as Islamic Relief step up when disaster strikes. The flooding in Libya is yet another example of world wide efforts to address tragedy, Libya Floods Emergency Appeal. A powerful storm has triggered devastating flooding in Libya, killing over 11,000 people.
Faith Unity for Peace and the Environment. From the Orthodox Times, an article sharing the words of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew calling for people of faith to build bridges together of faith and understanding in order to better address global challenges including environmental degradation and climate change, Meeting of the Ecumenical Patriarch with the religious leaders of Finland.
Yes, Nebraska! The Nebraska News Service reports on the Upcoming Youth Climate Summit to Focus on Solutions, Hope, a summit that centers Nebraska and Nebraska Youth and sponsored in part by Nebraska Interfaith Power and Light.
Serving Community in Resilience. From Louisville Public Media, Louisville’s plan to combat urban heat could take a century at its current pace. The story within the headline is the good work being done by the faith community, such as the First Lutheran Church, in addressing resilience. The reality is that we just need much more of this kind of action to meet the need.
Pilgrimages for this Earth. The Pilgrimages that were planned in the UK during Season of Creation continue this week and next, an article sharing the latest as well as how groups are coming together around the urgency of climate change from The Church Times, Christians protest against climate change as UK temperature hits 30 degrees.
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Just to say… my updates are not endorsements, and links are almost always third party and over which I have no control. Please make your own determinations. My goal here is to amplify the conversation and encourage engagement, learning, and resilience. And of course, to bless your efforts!