CREATION CARE TEAM
"The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it."
Psalm 24:1
As Christians we are called to care for all of God's creation. As United Methodists, we believe that we are not called to merely be observers. Rather, we are called to actively love and tend to all of God's creation. We are called to seek justice and liberty for all of God's creation. The Social Principals of the United Methodist Church speak to the issues in the contemporary world from a sound biblical and theological foundation. One of the United Methodist Church's Social Principals is to care for The Natural World. God has charged us to be stewards of God's creation. "Water, air, soil, minerals, energy resources, plants, animal life, and space are to be valued and conserved because they are useful to human beings".
The Aldersgate Creation Care Team works towards living into the United Methodist Social Principal: The Natural World and our Aldersgate UMC Strategic Priorities of Missional Outreach and Social Justice. To help educate, disciple, and model ways to transform for the better those people and causes we seek to serve locally, nationally, and internationally.
The Creation Care Team comes together every 2 months to find ways that Aldersgate can improve the way we care for God's creation. We talk about engaging this ministry in the following ways: Worship, Learning and Teaching, Lifestyle, and Community, National and Global Involvement. Our key focus areas for 2024 are energy efficiency; native trees, shrubs, and flowers; and plastic reduction policy for Aldersgate UMC. We are open to all subjects and ideas for creation care education, events, and policies.
Upcoming Meeting Dates
Tuesday, November 26th • 1-2pm • Room 203
For more information, please contact Lorrie Rezendes (lorretired@aol.com or 571-309-6001).
United Methodist Creation Justice Monthly Tips
The United Methodist Creation Justice Movement provides tips each month to help us respond to God's call to care for creation and do justice with our neighbors. Share these tips with your family, friends, and neighbors. CLICK HERE to see more tips and to subscribe to receive the monthly tips in your email directly from the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement.
For more about the UMC Creation Justice Movement, visit to umcreationjustice.org.
November 2024 Tips
Thanksgiving
November brings the anticipation of the day set aside for turkey and all the fixin’s, family, and football. However, turn around the words to become “giving thanks,” and discover new possibilities. We are invited to live every day—not just one—with an “attitude of gratitude.” That invitation also bids us turn our attitude into
action—for which, others will also be giving thanks.
Give thanks for churches that remind us the Earth is the Lord’s. Encourage your church to begin or add to practices, such as recycling worship bulletins, composting after meals, lifting up God’s Creation in liturgy and sermons, and other actions that help us be better stewards.
Give thanks for those who get knee deep in dealing with the mounting litter in streams, rivers, and oceans. Find a waterway near you and create or join efforts to remove harmful debris.
Give thanks for those who look beyond their own convenience and count the cost to God’s earth as they make decisions. Examine your own habits: refuse, reduce, reuse, repair, recycle.
Give thanks for those who are choosing careers and jobs that help the environment. Researchers, environmental educators, entrepreneurs, lawyers, law enforcement officers, workers in green industries, farmer laborers, for example, have a crucial role in protecting and healing this home of ours. Encourage the individuals in your life who are doing this work.
Give thanks for those who engage their families, friends, colleagues, and students in actions that help and not harm the earth. People, especially children, learn from trusted sources—people they see who walk the talk. Tell your story.
Give thanks for those in agriculture and who seek to work in harmony with nature. Before you eat, ask a blessing especially for all who provide the foods that sustain life. Be mindful of those who labor in the fields especially in high heat; speak up for justice for their health.
Give thanks for those who see, hear, and stand with marginalized peoples as they endure the brunt of a changing climate. Respond to disasters, definitely! Also, speak up for the necessary changes to avoid the suffering.
Give thanks for people who donate leadership, time, and money to help organizations that marshal the many for a greater impact as catalysts of change. Individuals can’t do all, but all—together—can. Choose your group(s) to support in some way.
Give thanks for those people who plant trees and gardens that nourish pollinators. Fall is a good time for planting many species. Look for places where you can add a tree or three or sow some wildflowers, for example. If you involve children in the event, you will also be sowing seeds of caring for nature.