A special message to pastors and church leaders: According to a 2023 survey across Canadian denominations, over 90% of Christians 18-40 years old said that they are worried about climate change and nature loss, with 60% “quite” or “seriously worried.” 78% said it's impacting their mental health. And 92% said that they believe that creation care is an essential act of discipleship and the Church’s mission...
But here's the kicker: only 25% have found a way to take action themselves, and only 33% think their church is adequately engaged. And despite so many believing that creation care is a core faith issue, only 17% said that the church and church leadership influences their thinking on the matter. When CLWR surveyed convention attendees last summer, more than three quarters said their congregations haven't had a Sunday where talking about creation care was a major focus within the last three years.
Read on for an easy, compelling way to signal your congregation's care about creation and provide leadership to your members and your community as you learn, pray and respond together!
We all know we have a responsibility to care for God’s creation, but when we hear about the impacts of a warming world, it’s hard to know how to really make a difference.
Around the Lake Chad basin, thousands of farmers are fighting back to stop an entire ecosystem from unraveling. And we think they can win, with your congregation’s help.
Our new Nature-Based Solutions project is exactly what it sounds like — giving nature a chance to solve the problems facing dozens of communities, by tipping the balance of the ecosystem back towards sustainability. It's a project about climate change, food security, water, education, gender roles, migration — and life itself.
Once you've read about the project, start talking to your congregation about joining our upcoming Friends of Creation Challenge in 2025. The challenge requires just three easy steps:
- Commit 4 Sundays to learning and praying about how climate change is playing out around Lake Chad. The 4 Sundays don't have to be consecutive and you can plan them in wherever they fit best!
- Choose one thing from our list of suggested actions your church can take (Coming soon!) -- or come up with your own!
- Decide on a number of acres around Lake Chad that you'll take on together as a congregation by raising funds as part of your four Sundays. Whatever amount is right for your congregation is ok!
Here's what your congregation gets back as Friends of Creation:
- Biblically-rooted worship resources for 4 Sundays, including prayers, readings, sermon starters, and education resources!
- A practical, easy way to engage more deeply in climate action and show your congregation's concern
- A tangible goal to work towards as you raise money for your acres and join the fight to limit climate change by standing with communities around Lake Chad.
- Follow-up stories, impact reports and videos from the project so your congregation can see the different on the acres you sponsored
- A badge for display on your church website and social channels and certificate for your building, giving you easy ways to show your values to your community
- Access to CLWR's online fundraising platform for an easy, low-administration way to collect money towards your acres
- A way to help members of your congregation feel some hope about climate, global justice and the difference they can make, and how the church is part of these big questions!
Resources will be available starting soon - but pencil in your Sundays now! And let us know now if you want to be notified when the resources are available - email heidi@clwr.org today!
