In affirming the divine gifts of creation and in affirming our connection to God, each other, and the world around us, we at Hope United Church of Christ in Saint Louis, MO unconditionally commit ourselves as individuals and as a congregation to the intertwined responsibilities of caring for creation and seeking justice for the oppressed. We at Hope UCC recognize that the impacts of environmental exploitation, degradation, and global climate change disproportionately impact historically marginalized communities, especially people of color. As followers of Christ, we have a calling and a responsibility to work on behalf of all those who face issues of environmental injustice and oppression.
With purposeful resolve, we at Hope UCC commit ourselves with an awareness of how the abuses of creation may cause suffering and of how factors such as race and inequality inevitably cause some to suffer more than others. We understand our responsibility as a church to care for creation and to help heal and restore it. We affirm that this deeply felt commitment will be reflected in the following aspects of our church life:
• Preaching: Our worship leaders will regularly weave issues of environmental justice, climate justice, renewable energy, water resources, and food justice into the worship experience.
• Studying: We will engage in Biblical reflection and find our role in faithfully responding to environmental injustice.
• Engaging: We will actively participate in the spiritual outreach work of caring for God’s creation by reducing our ecological footprint and addressing local policies impacting creation. We will work on behalf of those facing environmental injustice and oppression.
Five steps to becoming a UCC Creation Justice Church:
1. Create or Designate a Leadership Group or Green Team
2. Reflect on Where You’ve Been and Discern Where You Can Go
Theology and Worship
Institutional Life and Practice
Circles of Awareness and Advocacy
Connections to a Broader Movement
3. Draft a Creation Justice Covenant
4. Vote to Adopt the Creation Justice Covenant and Become a Creation Justice Church
5. Submit an Application to the UCC Environmental Justice Minister
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