Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) Blogs

Eco-Justice Journey

Opportunities and information for education, advocacy, and action to accompany you on your own justice journey.

People’s Climate Marches Oct 2015

2015 has been and promises to continue to be a key year in organizing for climate action and climate justice, in the United States and around the world. It has been a rich time of reflection adn action, with Pope Francis’ papal encyclical in June, Pope Francis’ visit to the United States this fall (here… Read more »

Blessings of the Ways We Get to Work

Today people all across the country in over 200 people’s climate gatherings–will march to ask for meaningful climate action. Today is the middle day of the Food Week of Action, connected to World Food Day. And, today, employees of the PC(USA) gathered at the national offices of 100 Witherspoon St, Louisville, KY to bless bikes,… Read more »

Sept 1 World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation

Designated by Orthodox communities through Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios in 1989, recently instituted as “World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation” by Pope Francis, and even more recently by the World Council of Churches, we are encouraged to set aside September 1 as a day to pray for all God’s people and whole creation.  … Read more »

New Life Presbyterian Church: Earth Care Updates

  New Life Presbyterian Church (formerly North Como Presbyterian Church, and Knox Presbyterian Church) in Roseville, MN continues their faithful earth care work. They continue to make great strides in worship, education, facilities, and outreach activities. In addition to recycling, fair trade coffee, sharing their building, here are some of their accomplishments: Last fall, members… Read more »

First Presbyterian Tallahassee: Carbon Neutrality, Solar Panels, and “Fossil Free”

  Reflections from Brant S. Copeland, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Tallahassee, FL. www.oldfirstchurch.org       I have been serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Tallahassee for almost 30 years.  Throughout my pastorate our congregation has been deeply engaged in environmental stewardship.  In 2006 our Session responded to the General Assembly’s call to… Read more »

Teen Green Lawn Care Service

  Noah Wilding is a rising sophomore at Trinity High School who is fully committed to ending climate change.  He is operating a totally green lawn care business.  He has a solar panel for charging his electric mower, trimmer, and weedwacker, and he rides his bike to his mowing jobs, pulling his equipment in a… Read more »

Eco-Mission Trip: Earth Care Couple travels to El Salvador

  Chuck and Ruth Dow, members of PC(USA) Earth Care Congregation River Glen Presbyterian Church (Naperville, IL), recently returned from a mission trip to El Salvador. They taught nutrition, gardening (including container gardening), and solar cooking (with a foldable solar cooker they designed and can teach people how to make and use, with a cost… Read more »

One Earth! One Family! Celebrations on Papal Encyclical

Last Sunday, in appreciation of the papal encyclical on the environment, local churches rang bells while other people of faith gathered in Rome for a global march. These efforts came under an umbrella called “One Earth! One Family!” and came from diverse people.   Members of Ridgefield-Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church (IL), a PCUSA certified Earth… Read more »

Gender, Race, Environment: Ecowomanism

How do gender and race relate to an environmental ethic? The connection between women and the earth is often seen as both empowering and paradoxical. Because of the hierarchical dualisms that function normatively in Christian and Western thought (i.e. spirit vs. body, male vs. female, heaven vs. earth), there are many ways in which the feminine has been devalued within the tradition. At the same time, the connection that women have with the earth has often been celebrated. For example, a parallel is often drawn between an image of a woman as creator, (creative producer of ideas, thoughts, ethical systems, agency, communities, children, adopted children, space, food) and the earth as a “mother” who also creates.

Read more »

Papal Encyclical

On Thursday June 18, Pope Francis released the long-anticipated papal encyclical on the environment. In this profound pastoral statement, Pope Francis affirmed all creatures as beloved by God, the interconnection of environmental, economic and social systems, and our human responsibility to care for the world around us. Presbyterian General Assemblies have passed many environmental resolutions… Read more »