We are a CREATION JUSTICE congregation. This is a United Church of Christ program focused on the climate crisis. The title is apt because it reminds us that climate crisis issues center around the Biblical command for believers to seek justice for all — including the earth. Here is our church’s Creation Justice Covenant prepared by our Environmental Team as part of our application to the United Church of Christ for status as a Creation Justice Church and approved by the congregation at our Annual Meeting on January 26, 2020.
CREATION JUSTICE COVENANT
In affirming the divine gifts of creation and in affirming our connection to God, each other, our
community, and the world around us, we unconditionally commit ourselves as individuals and
as a congregation to the intertwined responsibilities of caring for creation and seeking justice
for the oppressed. With purposeful resolve, we commit ourselves with an awareness of how
the abuses of creation inevitably cause human suffering and of how factors such as race, class,
and global inequality cause some to suffer more than others. Furthermore, as humanity
confronts the current and future crisis of damage to our world, we commit ourselves with an
urgent sense of calling. We desire that these deeply felt commitments be reflected in all the
dimensions of our congregation’s life. We will support one another in our efforts to reduce
further damage to the environment and will promote efforts to heal the earth in the
community, nation, and world. We will support those who have been harmed through creation
abuses through advocacy, education, and direct action. We will launch ourselves beyond the
walls of this church to make good on our promises to God our Creator, to Jesus the Redeemer
of Creation, and to the Holy Spirit and the Sustainer of Creation.
CREATION JUSTICE PROJECTS
Since adding Creation Justice to the ongoing ministry of CUCC in 2019, our Creation Justice Team (CJT) has accomplished several projects.
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The Habitat Refugium Garden. In the autumn of 2020, we removed landscape plants in the front of the church, replacing them with an extensive new area of native habitat plants, shrubs, and trees to benefit pollinators, birds, and wildlife. We offer the REFUGIUM as one practical response to the climate crisis and as a metaphor for how our spirituality and practice must adapt to prepare for life on a climate-altered planet.
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SOLAR PANELS The CJT led the congregation in careful research and discussion of adding solar panels to our CUCC rooftop. The congregation voted to add the solar panels, and we raised $80,000 for the project, which included a tithe to Community Housing Solutions to help low-income residents increase home energy efficiency. The panels have been active since May 2023. CUCC has significantly reduced our carbon footprint by using this renewable energy and provided witness to the community at large. As of 12/31/23, we have saved 93,000 lbs of CO2 emissions!
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EARTH DAY FESTIVAL Since 2020, this annual Festival, held on a Sunday afternoon close to Earth Day, has become popular with our congregation and the community. At the last three festivals, we gave away more than 300 habitat plants (baby plants dug from our Refugium garden) for neighbors to create habitats in their own gardens. Attendees enjoy multiple displays on many aspects of sustainability, plus garden tours, live music, food, and fellowship. Attendance grows each year.
2024 PROJECTS
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A new emphasis for 2024 is ETHICAL CONSUMERISM called “Think Before You Buy.” CJT is collecting information on the impact of our individual purchasing decisions on our pursuit of Climate Justice. We will feature action ideas weekly in the CUCC e-news and add all these to new pages on the CUCC website. We introduced this program during coffee hour on Sunday, 12/3/23, with an emphasis on “Un-STUFFing Christmas”, i.e. ideas for alternatives to wasteful consumption and gift giving. We distributed THINK BEFORE YOU BUY bookmarks, which include the link to access all our information – tinyurl.com/thinkbeforeyoubuy
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FOOD WASTE PROGRAM CJT has begun to design a system to help the church, our CUCC families, and our neighborhood reduce the amount of food waste going to landfills. We are in conversation with the City of Greensboro Office of Sustainability and Resilience to join their Food Waste Collection Pilot Program. We hope to add a large dumpster for food waste in our parking lot for weekly pick-up by Triad Compost Service. When in place, we can compost food waste from the church and encourage church families and families from the neighborhood to participate as well. Removing food waste from the landfill has a significant impact on reducing harmful emissions. Read about the significant impact of this problem HERE. More details of this new program are coming soon.
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We will host our FOURTH annual Earth Day Festival on Sunday, April 21. We plan to include a renewed affirmation of our Creation Justice Covenant in our worship service that day.
A CUCC Checklist for Helping the Environment
The CUCC Creation Justice team has developed a checklist with suggestions for what you can do to help protect the environment. We encourage you to download the checklist and note the things that you are already doing, and then give yourself a challenge: pick three things each month that you can do. As you come up with creative approaches to address the climate crisis, please share short anecdotes for what you’re doing. We’d like to feature these anecdotes in the CUCC e-news. Please email your stories to the CUCC office and inspire your friends!
Here are some resources we invite you to consider.
FOR FURTHER CONSIDERATION
For Children and Youth
- Old Turtle by Douglas Wood
- The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge by Joanna Cole
- Let’s Explore God’s World by Debby Anderson
- The Tantrum that Saved the World by Megan Herbert and Michael E. Mann
- It’s Getting Hot in Here: The Past, Present, and Future of Climate Change by Bridget Heos
For Parents
- nationalgeographic.com/family/talking-to-your-kids-about-climate-change/
For Grown-Ups
- Greta Thunberg, Ted Talk from August 2018
- climaterealityproject.org/sites/climaterealityproject.org/
files/Climate%20101_FINAL.pdf - Earth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet by Bill McKibben
- The Washington Post has a free online course that makes connections between climate change and health. Google it!
- Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It by Anna Lappe
- Sign up to receive the Climate Forward newsletter offered by the New York Times.
- Great Tide Rising by Kathleen Dean Moore
Previous Creation Justice Posts
2023 Earth Day Celebration
Sunday, April 23
11:45 am to 3 pm
The Community Is Invited to Join Us!
It will be a fun-filled and educational festival to celebrate spring and our Earth and to learn about new ways to protect her. There will be over 15 displays, along with activities for adults and children, music, books for sale, free plants, and tours of the habitat refugium garden. Food will be pro-vided by our local Reto’s Kitchen with desserts by Maxie B’s. There will be door prizes – really nice door prizes – awarded by raffle. Bring your friends, neighbors, and family!
Click here to view the event flyer with more details.
Solar Power
Our Solar Power array is on and operational!
In 2022, we were approved for the installation, so we raised funds and began the process. Supply chain issues caused a delay in parts, so much of the work took place in November 2022. The two remaining parts that had been delayed even longer finally arrived in early March 2023. That month, the installation was completed, inspections were completed, and the system was activated on March 23, 2023.
Funds for the project were raised with a quiet capital campaign for the $110,000 cost of the system, plus a tithe that we gave to Community Housing Solutions (CHS) in 2022. CHS works on improving low income housing and especially pays attention to heating and cooling issues. The church borrowed $45,000 from the Cornerstone Fund (a financing arm of the UCC), to provide the additional upfront money needed for the project; that loan will be paid back once the rebate in the same amount, offered by Duke Energy, is received. Research indicates the system will pay for itself in 6-7 years – and it is expected to last 30 years!
JOIN US FOR CUCC’S FAITH CLIMATE ACTION WEEK!
APRIL 14-25, 2022
Published March 27, 2021; Updated April 9, 2021
What would it mean to you if you could easily contribute to making an inroad to climate change? Controlling fossil fuels and harnessing wind and solar energy are making the news nearly every day. However, there is another emergency – an S.O.S. – to “Save Our Soil.”
Your Creation Justice team has chosen to focus on this – to “dig” into how our food systems contribute to climate change, health and food injustice. Why this focus? Learn more
CONGREGATIONAL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
CREATION JUSTICE COVENANT
In affirming the divine gifts of creation and in affirming our connection to God, each other, our community, and the world around us, we unconditionally commit ourselves as individuals and as a congregation to the intertwined responsibilities of caring for creation and seeking justice for the oppressed . . . Read the full Covenant
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Everyone is welcome to participate in all events!
April 14, Wednesday
Sacred Ground Activity Bags available at the church in the brown storage unit (bags for adults and for families with children)
April 18, Sunday, 11 am
Children’s story, The Curious Garden, read during worship
April 18, Sunday, 4 pm
Habitat Refugium Dedication at the church; pick up cone flower seedlings Learn more
April 21, Wednesday, Noon and 5:30-6 pm
Pick up cone flower seedlings
April 22, Thursday
Last day to deliver completed Scavenger Hunt Cards to the church in the brown storage unit and pick up prize (for first 20 participants)
April 22, Thursday, 7 pm
Zoom Film Discussion of Kiss the Ground (registration required) Learn more
View the trailer below.
April 24, Saturday, 9 am
Cottage Grove Gardens Workday (registration required) Learn more
April 25, Sunday, 4 pmZoom Film Viewing and Discussion of Kiss the Ground (registration required) Learn more
ADVOCACY:
THE INTERSECTION OF THE CLIMATE CRISIS, POVERTY, AND RACIAL INEQUITY
How do racial, economic, and climate justice intersect? Learn more
The Climate Reality Project collaborated with the Poor People’s Campaign (co-chaired by Rev William Barber) to produce this webinar on the Intersection of the Climate Crisis and Social Justice. Review the webinar and see if you can complete this crossword puzzle that features some of the key concepts on the issue.
EARTH MONTH CHALLENGE
Greensboro Public Library is hosting a virtual Earth Month challenge for the month of April to encourage sustainable living. To participate, email Melanie Buckingham to receive a challenge card. Complete a challenge in each group, and email the card back to Melanie by May 7. Participants will be entered in a drawing for a gift basket of Earth-friendly goodies.