Establishing a Community to Care for God's People & World
The Creation Justice Team exists to connect congregations and members of the Metropolitan Washington D.C. Synod with resources, partnerships, and communities to help them live out their baptismal calling to care for others and the world God made, and to work for justice and peace.
We do this in four ways:
- Provide resources and recommend partnerships for synod, congregations and members to use and/or join.
- Create small communities of inspiration, challenge, accountability, celebration and prayer around climate justice for individuals in the synod.
- Act as a resource for congregations who wish to create creation justice ministries develop their creation emphasis.
- Interact regularly with related synod tables and teams.
How to Start Your
Creation Justice Journey
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Join a creation community small group.
These are small groups of 6-8 people across the synod who will meet virtually once a month for six months to pray, create personal action plans, and hold one another accountable. We will form groups as interest arises. If you are interested in joining a group, please fill out the form below.
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Develop a creation care emphasis in your congregation.
Check out the recommended partnerships and resources above to help you start an initiative within your congregation! Or reach out to the Creation Justice team for ideas and support at the link below.
Climate Justice Partners
Lutherans Restoring Creation
A grassroots movement promoting care for creation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Creation Care resources for congregations, including worship, theology, lectionary commentaries, curricula, training opportunities, community groups, and more.
Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions
Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions unites people of faith to develop local solutions to the climate crisis.
Four purposes in their work:
- sound an ethical and spiritual call to address climate change;
- encourage moral climate policies from a nonpartisan perspective;
- enable congregations to do good works that protect our planet and its people;
- empower congregations to become champions of change.
The network includes Jewish, Muslim, Catholic, Mainline Protestant, Hindu, Unitarian Universalist, Society of Friends, and other traditions. Our work is done in Northern Virginia, with a primary policy focus on Fairfax County, the most populous jurisdiction in Virginia.
Interfaith Power & Light
Interfaith Power & Light works with hundreds of congregations of many faiths across DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia to save energy, go green, and respond to climate change.
- Helps congregations educate, by incorporating environmental concerns into worship, teaching, and preaching.
- Helps congregations go green, by supporting them in saving energy, purchasing clean power, going solar, and shifting other aspects of their institutional purchasing and practices to minimize environmental impact.
- Helps congregations speak out as part of state and national advocacy efforts to protect Creation.
Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake
Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake works to engage congregations in being good caretakers of our shared watershed. They envision a time when faith communities across the Chesapeake honor, care for, and protect the watershed we share so all our communities, and future generations, may thrive.
IPC works in two ways:
- by raising awareness of the power that people of faith have to restore clean water and environmental justice, and
- by offering hands-on assistance helping congregations plan, pay for, and install healing projects for their communities such as rain gardens, tree plantings, native plantings, and more.
IPC works with hundreds of congregations in Maryland and are expanding into Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia.
Creation Justice Resources
Team Members
The leadership team of the Metro D.C. Creation Justice Team meets at least six times a year to direct our work.
The leadership team will be comprised of seven people, ideally with this mix:
- At least 2 lay people and 2 rostered leaders.
- At least 2 women and 2 men (self-identified).
- At least 3 people of color.
- At least 1 person from DC, 1 from MD, and 1 from VA.
- As least 1 person on the Synod Council.
If you would like to join this team, please complete the form below.
Questions? Reach out to Brother Ken Taylor, the convener of the team, by emailing creationjustice@metrodcelca.org.