By Lisa Brenskelle
For more information on any of the below, or for creation care assistance/information, contact Lisa Brenskelle at [email protected] or see our new website! The team is seeking additional members. If you would be willing to serve, please contact us.
The mission of Lutherans Restoring Creation is to promote incorporation of care for creation into the full life and mission of the church, working in five areas: worship, education, discipleship, building & grounds, and public ministry/advocacy. For some timely information in these areas, see below:
Worship
Contemplate Holy Week & the Groaning of Creation. Or consider Connecting Holy Week with Earth Day. Reflect on the connection between Creation Care & Justice for Lent. A new seasonal creation-focused prayer is posted each week. Creation-focused commentaries on the lectionary are available from a Lutheran source.
Education
Attend Watershed Connections: Land, Water & People online on Mar. 26. It’s not too late to join the Living the Change Weekly Discussion Group to create your personal plan to reduce your carbon footprint, ongoing online on Tuesday evenings. Learn how to approach Greening Finances for Faith Communities & People of Faith online on Mar. 5. Educate using these 17 Principles of Environmental Justice. For kids’ education, make use of the book I Am the Earth’s Keeper.
Discipleship
Share these “Bulletin blurb” eco-tips (+ verses & quotes) with your congregation. Join the weekly online discussion of the film, The Face of God, on Wednesday evenings in March. Enjoy spirituality in nature in a Guided Prayer Walk in the Park in Houston on Mar. 25. Sign up for the My Earth, My Texas sustainability challenge (discount code for church teams is MEMTX COMM), which starts on Mar. 31. Join the Lutherans Restoring Creation – Gulf Coast team for the online Earth Month Ecochallenge, beginning April 1.
Building & Grounds
Learn How the Inflation Reduction Act Helps You & Your Community Go Solar. Rural church? Check out A Treasure Trove for Rural and Commercial-Scale Solar Projects, Rural Renaissance: Revitalizing American’s Hometowns thru Clean Power, and Building Clean & Equitable Rural Community Power. For all churches, listen to Energy Futures 2023: NonProfit Best Practices for Equitable Community Solar.
Public Ministry/Advocacy
The weekly Opportunities to Care for, Learn About, and Enjoy Nature features volunteer events in the greater Houston area. Plan an activity that preserves water quality or conserves water in observance of World Water Day in March. A new eco-justice advocacy opportunity is posted on the synod team’s website each week. Save the date for the Spring 2023 Interfaith Environmental Stewardship Event on Sunday afternoon, April 23, in Houston. Urge the EPA to issue a final soot standard that will protect our air, advance environmental justice, and protect public health.
February & Early March Creation Care Events
- Living the Change Weekly Discussion Group – Tuesdays thru May 9, 6 p.m., online
- The Face of God – Wednesdays, March 1–March 29, 6 p.m., online
- Greening Finances for Faith Communities & People of Faith – Sunday, March 5, 3 p.m., online
- Justice Advocacy Event – Sunday, March 12, 9 a.m.–1 p.m., Christ the King Lutheran Church, Houston
- Guided Prayer Walk in the Park – Saturday, March 25, 10 a.m., Hermann Park, Houston
- Native Plant Pollinator Garden Party – Sunday, March 26, 12:30 p.m., Christ the King Evangelical Lutheran Church, 2353 Rice Blvd., Houston
- Watershed Connections: Land, Water & People – Sunday, March 26, 6 p.m., online
- Earth Month Ecochallenge – April 1-30, online. Join Lutherans Restoring Creation – Gulf Coast Team!