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.
January 2025 Tips
A Reminder from God’s Seasons
January is just a few days past the darkest day of the year, December 21. With this month’s long dark nights,
it’s hard to not let our disposition and energy darken too. But January is ever inching forward into the light. God’s seasons remind us that the Light came into the world and the darkness did not overcome it. God remains faithful, working through the dark toward a new season. We can follow God’s leading.
WE CAN renew our commitment to be good stewards of our Earth. Choose one new thing to do throughout the year to care for creation.
WE CAN make our homes and churches more energy efficient. Fix the air leaks, use drapes to block the cold, change to LED lights, investigate possibilities for solar or Energy Star appliances.
WE CAN embrace zero waste. Create a reminder: Put a recycle bin next to your trash basket. Offer composting. Challenge family, colleagues, and church members to be thoughtful about their habits.
WE CAN learn and teach. Dig more deeply into the connections between science, the natural world, and faith. The more you learn, the more you can help others in your family, your circles of influence, and your congregation seeing themselves as faithful followers of Jesus and doing what is right for God’s planet and people.
WE CAN clean up. Review your closets for items to donate for reuse, to repurpose, or to recycle. Challenge your clean-up crew of family or congregation to avoid letting anything go to the landfill. One church’s campaign netted 220 serviceable winter coats that they donated to an organization helping unhoused persons.
WE CAN consume less meat. Explore the options for foods that are kinder to earth and to health. What we eat does have an impact on nature and climate change, as well as our own bodies. Try a new recipe. Host a meatless potluck and invite people to share their recipes.
WE CAN avoid single-use plastics. Take your own reusable bags when shopping. When eating out, bring your own non-plastic take-home container. Substitute bamboo, silicon, cloth from natural fibers, glass, or aluminum products for ones made of plastic.
WE CAN support the creation justice efforts of others. Help fund organizations that care for the environment and for communities that are vulnerable. They can gather resources and amass power that creates greater impact than individuals can.
WE CAN reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Minimize the use of paper, which comes from chopping down trees. Choose instead email, texting, recycled paper, or reusable scrap paper. Change to bamboo toilet tissue, which is not wrapped in plastic, and that spares trees so they can continue to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
WE CAN speak up. Talk to your family, friends, and church members about what you are learning and doing. You are a trusted resource for them. Your example and your encouragement are key to spreading wider the circle of caring for God’s planet and people.