Creation Care

United Methodist Women’s national office has made climate justice one of its four social justice priorities. To welcome and support environmental justice advocates like you, we work to provide practical, theologically sound tools to guide and inspire your work. The tools were developed to delve through deep intersectional injustices between gender, racial, economic and climate injustice.
http://www.unitedmethodistwomen.org/climate-justice

Tools:

• Practical Planning Guide for Sustainable Meetings
  General information about what to consider, links to relevant checklists, forms, and tip sheets
• 13 Steps to Sustainability:  A Practical Event Planning Guide
  Complete with planning team checklists, evaluation questions, registration questions, sample language for requests for propoals and where to go for help.
• 13 Steps to Sustainability: A Principled Approach to Sustainability
  These 13 principles form the core of the social justice concerns that United Methodist Women has committed to. There are measureable, practical steps to the 13 principles’ implementation that have been developed with experts’ guidance and experienced national office staff. For inspiration and encouragement you will find specific questions on the survey as well as bible studies, videos and an introduction to sustainability.
• 13 Steps to Sustainability Measurement Survey:
  After your event, report back on what worked and what didn’t for one or all of the steps and guidelines.
• Jurisdictional Guides:
  Contact your trained jurisdictional guide for help and to explore or share additional resources.
• Carbon Footprint Calculator (on epa.gov):
  Measure your personal or family carbon footprint with this calculator and see what you can do to reduce it.
• The Women’s Carbon Fund:
  As the first women for women carbon fund, we’re proud of this addition to our mission giving! Donations to the carbon fund address climate injustice with two approaches:
  1. Your gift can be used to care for those already facing the profound affects of climate change
  2. Your gift can work for greenhouse emission reduction by supporting energy efficiency and biodiversity projects
• News and Updates:
  Read articles on the work of United Methodist Women and the Church to curb climate change, shape policy and raise awareness.
  • Marching in the Light of God: Read the first-hand account of United Methodist Women at the People’s Climate March.
• More Tools and Resources for Environmental Advocacy

United Methodist Book of Discipline

All creation is the Lord’s, and we are responsible for the ways in which we use and abuse it.  Water, air, soil, minerals, energy resources, plants, animal life, and space are to be valued and conserved because they are God’s creation and not solely because they are useful to human beings.  God has granted us stewardship of creation.  We should meet these stewardship duties through acts of loving care and respect. (Social Principles, ¶ 160)

United Methodist Women calls for sound stewardship of the earth and environmentally friendly lifestyles that preserve creation for the benefit of present and future generations.

Get involved in our environmental work:

“They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.”

_____

From:  United Methodist Women – http://www.unitedmethodistwomen.org/climate-justice