Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

Pink petals fading to ivory, softer than air, filtering sunlight. Tears streak my cheeks as I meander luxuriously under the DC cherry blossoms. I am reminded of how I feel on a crisp fall day, vine maple leaves orange and yellow, blueberry leaves burnt red – the beauty made all the more poignant freighted as it is with the knowledge of its impermanence.

On the plane to DC I began reading God, Creation and Climate Change: A Catholic Response to the Environmental Crisis. If I were not so used to reading the litany of climate change impacts already upon us, along with likely future scenarios, my cheeks would not only have been streaked with tears, but drenched.

Of course the irony of reading about climate change as I hurtle through the air in a metal cylinder powered by the very stuff causing the change is not lost on me.

I carry all this -- the beauty of the blossoms, the knowledge of my culpability in contributing to climate change, my sadness and sometimes despair at what ecologists report from the front-lines of our fossil fuel-powered economy’s assault on natural systems -- with me this Lent.

Holy Week

It strikes me as a profound co-incidence that this year’s celebration of Earth Day not only falls in Lent, but on Holy Week. If we are to move in the direction of creating an economy that no longer assaults natural systems, we will need to live every week as a holy week. Indeed, every day as a holy day. We may believe life – creation – is holy, sacred, a gift; but we also make choices every day that belie that belief, and live in a system that sees life as a resource for our use. As simple and obvious as it sounds, we need to reclaim the theology that knows, and actions that proclaim, that Earth is ‘very good,’ is holy.

Good Friday

And not only is Earth Day celebrated during Holy Week this year, but specifically on Good Friday. On Good Friday we mark the death of One we believe is our best picture of God, is God embodied on earth. It is that body that is crucified.

More and more Christians today, as well as Christians throughout the last 2000 years, also see Earth as one part of God's body, as an image of God. Western theology has traditionally emphasized God's transcendence almost to the exclusion of God's imminence. The Scriptures, however, are replete with the belief that God is very present, all around us. In Acts 17 the apostle Paul points to the statue of the "unknown God", and proclaims to the Athenians: I will now speak to you of this God "in whom we live and move and have our being." It’s as if we are swimming in God's presence.

If that is so, if God is not only transcendent, but imminent as well, then might it be that when Earth is degraded, when species go extinct, when our brothers and sisters are forced to leave their homes due to rising sea levels, that another part of God's body experiences yet another sort of crucifixion -- that another way of seeing and experiencing God is diminished?”

Celebrating Earth Day

While parishes have well-established liturgies planned during Holy Week, there are ways to integrate (see the resource list below) a focus on creation-care, on eco-justice. Or, consider celebrating Earth Day on a Sunday soon after Holy Week.

Doing so would be a good opportunity to give thanks for cherry blossoms and fall colors; to confess our part in contributing to climate change; to commit to actions that honor the Body of God we see around us every day.

Resources

The Episcopal Church's website has links to some good resources available to guide you in preparing for Earth Day: www.episcopalchurch.org/earthday

Included among the resources listed there:

The National Council of Churches' 2011 Earth Day Sunday resource is titled “Where Two or More are Gathered: Eco-Justice as Community”:

http://nccecojustice.org/resources/index.php#earthdaysundayresources

Earth Ministry’s Worship Aids include homilies, hymns, prayers, litanies, sample worship services, and more: http://earthministry.org/resources/worship-aids

The Episcopal Ecological Network’s Liturgical Resources highlight sample creation season services, litanies, liturgies, service bulletins and related materials: http://eenonline.org/reflect/liturgy.htm

The Earth Day Network has educational resources for all ages, including lesson plans for "green schools": http://www.earthday.org/education

GreenFaith's Resource Center provides resources related to worship, education and spiritual practices: http://greenfaith.org/resource-center/spirit

The Deepwater Horizon disaster erupted onto the national scene on April 20, 2010. The following resources connect Earth Day with the one-year anniversary of the Gulf oil spill:

http://afterthespill.com/faith-work-on-the-oil-spill/

http://urj.org/webinars/archive

http://uuministryforearth.org/2011-ED-GulfCoastSupplement