Off The Pews: Faith In Action was established initially through the Illinois United Church of Christ and still shares close ties within that community.
We recently added the Solar Forum to our events calendar.
Sep 26 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
The Justice and Witness Ministry Team of the Chicago Metropolitan Association of the Illinois Conference will present a Solar Forum, which is open to all Illinois UCC members and friends. This will be an informational event about the positive impact that churches and their members can have by moving to renewable energy sources.
Learn how your church can benefit from the long term and short-term solar solutions
Explore how this can work for our communities
Gain an understanding of the costs associated with this transition
Recognize the role renewable energy plays in creation justice
Appreciate church members as part of the solution
Guest presenters include representatives from Core Technologies, Legislative Perspectives, and Faith in Place.
To attend, visit http://ilucc.org/event/solar-forum/
The term "creation justice" mentioned above was new to me. My research led me to the article "What is Creation Justice?" by Karyn Bigelow and Avery Davis Lamb, Co-Executive Directors of Creation Justice Ministries. The article begins:
“Creation justice” may be a new term for some, but it is a concept deeply grounded in Christian theology and practice. It captures both the depth of our interconnectedness with everything and the necessity to partner with God in the healing and restoration of all -- God’s Shalom.
Using the term "creation" instead of "eco," “nature” or "environment" demonstrates that we are intimately part of the created order, and constantly working alongside our Creator to redeem and sustain it. When we say Creation, we mean all Creation -- justice for God’s people and God’s planet. Seeing the world as Creation is a radical act that counters modern notions of nature as either a resource to be exploited or as something entirely separate from humanity.
In another post, they mentioned "being in a right relationship with God's creation." This is a wonderful touch-point for decision making through all the twists and turns of life. Am I in a right relationship with...? Is there something in my power to change in order to make this relationship more healing and loving?
They conclude the article:
By rightly sharing creation, we participate in God’s economy. Economy is the way we order our collective household. The word comes from the Greek root “oikos” which means family or household. God’s economy is not the economy of the dollar. God’s economy is the collective flourishing of all things. This year, the theme of the global Season of Creation celebration is “A home for all? Renewing the Oikos of God.” God’s economy is one in which creation is shared equitably with all creation. That’s creation justice.
Please visit their site to read the article. https://www.creationjustice.org/blog/what-is-creation-justice8447419
Photo by Aiseinau. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saulės_elektrinė.jpg