Learning
Terms and Definitions
This section clarifies and illustrates how our ministry uses the following terms:
Creation, Environment, Ecology, Ecosystem
Weather vs. Climate, Climate Change, Global Warming, Climate Crisis
Clean Energy, Renewable Energy
Pollution, Single-use Plastics
Creation Care, Conservation, Sustainability, Biodiversity, Regeneration
Creation/ Climate/ & Environmental Justice; Frontline & Fenceline Communities
Climate Mitigation, Adaptation, and Resilience
See also resources below for additional terms (e.g. greenwashing, net-zero, carbon sink, green jobs, re-wilding):
UNDP (United Nations Development Programme). (2023, February 2). The Climate Dictionary: An Everyday Guide to Climate Change. climatepromise.undp.org
UNDP. (2024, October 2). The Climate Dictionary: Nature Edition. climatepromise.undp.org
Health and Science Articles
The following articles and short videos represent a sampling of the broad content area that undergirds this ministry.
These references are not academic articles, but are written for the benefit of the general public.
1) Scientific Foundations/ Overview:
Basics of Climate Change (United States Environmental Protection Agency website, last updated November 7, 2024)
The Effects of Climate Change. (NASA website, updated October 23, 2024)
Food Waste and Methane: What’s the Connection? pdf. (April 2024. USDA and EPA).
The Methane Impact of Food Loss and Waste in the United States. (October 2024. reFED.org)
The Carbon Cycle.(Riebeek, H., June 2011. EarthObservatory. nasa.gov)
Did Climate Change Supercharge the ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ Storm Pummeling the Central US? (April 2025, grist.org)
Skeptical Science. (Explaining climate change science & rebutting global warming misinformation)
NASA: Earth Minute Videos (This engaging whiteboard animation series explains Earth science to the science-curious; plus each video is followed by links to related articles.)
Climate Weirding with Katharine Hayhoe (This is website containing multiple short engaging videos by Katharine Hayhoe, atmospheric scientist, endowed chair at Texas Tech University and Chief Scientist at The Nature Conservancy)
What is Climate Change: Facts for Kids. (National Geographic Kids)
A Guide to Climate Change for Kids. (NASA Climate Kids)
Children’s Books About Climate Change. (yaleclimateconnections.org)
2) Renewable Energy:
Renewable Energy. (Natural Resources Defense Council, updated 2025)
Our Forests Aren’t Fuel. (Natural Resources Defense Council, May 2020).
How the Energy Grid Works. (Natural Resources Defense Council, 2022)
Geothermal Energy Is Revolutionizing School Heating Systems and Cutting Costs. (May 2025, The Daily Climate.org)
3) Ecosystems, Biodiversity:
Why Is Biodiversity is So Important? (4 min video. TED ED, Kim Preshoff. youtube.com)
How Trees Talk to Each Other (TED Talk, Suzanne Simard, 18 min. August 30, 2016. Conservation, regeneration, resilience)
Birds and Transmission: Building the Grid Birds Need (Audobon Society/ webinar recording, 1 hr, 2023)
Benefit of Isolated Wetlands in TN (February 2024, University of Tennessee School of Natural Resources pdf.)
Soil Health Videos. (Tennessee Association of Conservation Districts. tnacd.org)
Ray Weaver Farms/ Coffee County, TN. (docs.google.com)
Climate Change Threatens Pa’s Farmers. How Growers Treat Their Soil Could Help Them Adapt – and Benefit the Rest of Us, Too. (McDevitt, R. February 2021. StateImpact.npr.org/Pennsylvania)
Under Cover Farmers. (USDA NRCS. 28 min video. No-till/Cover Crops, soil regeneration. YouTube.com)
Cover Crops Trends and Next Steps in Tennessee. pdf (September 2022, The Nature Conservancy).
See the guidebooks below to gain an greater understanding of the positive impact made by pollinator gardens, rain gardens, stream restoration, and the practice of composting in the protection of our air, soil, water, and locally grown food.
The Tennessee Yardstick Workbook: Smart Yards pdf
Tennessee Urban Riparian [stream bank] Buffer Handbook (TN Department of Agriculture & Forestry, pdf)
Rain Gardens for Nashville: A Resource Guide for Planning, Designing and Maintaining a Beautiful Rain Garden (Comprehensive, helpful charts and illustrations; free download pdf, 18 pp. The content is not limited to Nashville or middle TN.)
Your Backyard Pollinator Garden Handbook /updated. (Tennessee Environmental Council)
Come, Compost Your Compost: The Guide. pdf. (2025. Tennessee Environmental Council)
4) Pollution/ Degradation:
About Lead in Drinking Water. (Centers for Disease Control/ CDC.gov. April 2024)
Air Pollution: Everything You Need to Know. (Natural Resources Defense Council, October 2023)
Single-use Plastics 101. (Natural Resources Defense Council, April 2024)
Why Recycling Plastice Waste Will Not Solve the World’s Pollution Crisis. (June 2023, scroll.in)
Chasing Arrows: The Truth About Recycling (10 min YouTube video outlines the recycling challenges, and yet stresses the positive impact of correctly recycling what can be recycled.)
PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ Are Everywhere. Here’s What You Should Know About Them. (June 23, 2022. npr.org)
5) Health
Extreme Heat Hazards. (2024, July 8). Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health magazine).
Effects of Climate Change on Health. (February 2024, Centers for Disease Control/CDC)
Drought and Heat Drive a Surge of Dangerous Dust Storms Across the Southwest. (May 2025. dailyclimate.org)
Climate, Kids, and Health (Harvard School of Public Health)
Health Impacts of Electric School Buses. (The benefits of decreasing the diesel emissions of trucks and buses. October, 2024. Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. 21 min video. YouTube.com)
The Healing Power of Trees. (The Nature Conservancy, February 2025)
See also Justice-related Articles, on this webpage, for examples of health risks.
Justice-related Articles
These articles represent only a sampling of the actual injustices that impact the most vulnerable people in our country and around the world.
These articles also represent the kinds of the changes that are affecting all of us, as we live in a warming climate with increasingly ubiquitous pollution, deregulation, and a challenging transition to clean energy sources and a circular economy.
Environmental Impacts on Vulnerable Communities:
Equity: Kids and Climate Change. (Harvard School of Public Health)
Up Against Musk’s Colossus Supercomputer, a Memphis Neighborhood Fights for Clean Air. (May 16, 2025. nbcnews.com.)
Nashville (Bordeax landfill standoff)
How Decades of Racist Housing Policy Left Neighborhoods Sweltering. (Plumer,B., Popovich, N. August 2020. nytimes.com)
Neighbors of Hog Farms Hopeful After Court Ruling. (December 2020, northcarolinahealth news.org)
Forced Relocation of Native Americans Has Made Them More Vulnerable to Climate Change, Study Finds. (November 2021, wbur.org)
In ‘Cancer Alley;’ Black Communities Get All of the Pollution, Few of the Jobs. (April 2025, grist.org)
Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells Emit Carcinogens and Other Harmful Pollutants. (Gross, L. June 2023, InsideClimateNews.org)
Revealed: Big Tech’s New Datacentres Will Take Water From the World’s Driest Areas. (April 2025, theguardian.com)
Black Residents of Altadena Struggle to Hang on to Their Community After LA Fires. (April 2025, insideclimatenews.org)
Ohio Grid Disparities Leave Some Areas with Older, Outage-prone Equipment. (April 2025, ohiocapitaljournal.com)
Why FEMA is Unavailable to Many Who Need It the Most. (June 2021. npr.org)
Widspread Impacts:
Extreme Weather Isn’t the Future — It’s Already Straining Budgets and Resources. (May 2025. dailyclimate.org)
The EPA is Rolling Back Drinking Water Limits for 4 PFAS. Thousands More Remain Unregulated. (May 21, 2025. grist.com)
EPA Plans to Dismantle Key Offices Overseeing Climate and Air Pollution Regulation. (May 2025. dailyclimate.org)
Climate Crisis Is On Track to Push One-Third of Humanity Out of Its Most Liveable Environments. (June 2023, propublica.org)
Lethal Greed: How Corporate Manipulation of Science and Regulation Makes People Sick. (February 2025, insideclimatenews.org)
Pollution Is Seldom Fully Cleaned Up:
Why EPA Efforts to Clean Up Kentucky Town Haven’t Worked. (April 2024, propublica.com)
Do Calvert City’s Chemical Plants Impact Surrounding Communities’ Health? (May 2025, Louisville Public Media)
How the Kingston Coal Ash Spill Unearthed a Nuclear Nightmare: a Legacy of Contamination. (December 2020. grist.org)
15 Years After Deep Water Horizon, We’re Charging in the Wrong Direction. (April 2025. Natural Resources Defense Council)
Environmental News Websites
These are publications of non-profit organizations dedicated to driving science into public discussion and policy on environmental and health issues, including climate change.
You can subscribe to free newsletters of each.
Curriculum & Program Resources
Discipleship Ministries/ Resources on the Climate Crisis. (updated March 2025. umcdiscipleship.org)
Wake Up, World! New Curriculum, New Opportunity (A six week study for adult groups, developed by two commissioned United Methodist EarthKeepers.)
Harmony Creation Care Curriculum (A multigenerational tool, which ” interweaves gardening stories and strategies with Biblical narratives about creation care.”) Available at Cokesbury.com
Creation Justice Resources for Children & Youth (Includes Harmony: God’s Original Plan and Original Seeds in a World of Diversity; Green Mountain Earth Stewards Virtual Bible School; Creation Care Curriculum by Minnesota Conference UMC and Hopeful Earthkeepers (free download); Virtual Day Camp from UM Camping and Retreat Ministries; and others.)
A Roche Wild Wonder Camp Curriculum (Designed for ages 5-9 yrs)
Climate Weirding with Katharine Hayhoe (This website posts many short engaging talks [Youtube videos] by Katharine Hayhoe: atmospheric scientist, professor, chief scientist for the Nature Conservancy and person of faith.)
Monthly United Methodist Webinars
Just Energy 4 All – United Women in Faith
Looking for ways to connect with other United Women in Faith members and people of faith who are working to advance just energy all year long? Newsletters, monthly webinars, and focus work groups. Get involved!
United Methodist Creation Justice Movement Cafe
Through the Movement Café, the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement now has an informal, virtual space to facilitate connection and conversation about creation care and justice issues. …
Each third Wednesday (10am PT / 11am MT / 12pm CT / 1pm ET), and occasional evenings, the Café will feature a topic and/or a speaker and generate hope for our good earth.
Everyone is welcome—from local churches, districts, jurisdictions, green teams, agency teams. Everyone. By connecting, we become stronger! That’s what the Café can do. This webpage will provide updates on speakers, topics, and recordings.
Creation Justice Tips
Free, monthly tips for churches to use in their worship bulletin, church newsletter, weekly emails, and more.
Our Creation Care Tips resource offers you a simple way to get your congregation actively involved as individuals, families or teams in creation justice and environmental ministry!
These Tips can be found on the website of United Methodist Creation Justice Movement, on our ministry facebook page ( ), and you can subcribe to receive them monthly directly via email. Crys Zinkiewicz who writes them is also a member of our TWK Creation Care Ministry team.
Best Practices/ Individuals & Families
The Powerful Role of Household Actions in Solving Climate Change (Project Drawdown.org. October 2021)
UM Creation Justice Tips (A monthly publication of suggestions designed to engage individuals and congregations in best practices to respond faithfully to our current climate and ecological circumstances.)
Go Zero Waste (Tennessee Environmental Council). “The best way to deal with waste is not to create it!”
Tennessee Smart Yards (Keeping Tennessee”s land and water healthy, one yard at a time.)
The Issue with Tissue. (NRDC.org. September 2021) New Report Uncovers Dirty Truth about Beloved Toilet Paper Brands. (thecooldown.com. October 5, 2023) Encourages us to purchase paper products made from recycled paper rather than trees. Contains consumer information.
Nashville Recycling: Where It Goes and Why You Should Recycle Right (5 min video)
Recycling Roundups: Tennessee Environmental Council (These statewide events offer recycling for the difficult household items – tires, mattresses, etc. Watch for an event near you!)
Newsletters From Our Ministry Partners
Film and Books
Film Recommendations
The Biggest Little Farm Documentary, feature film; true story of family farm and the power of biodiversity (2018)
The Lorax
A Life on Our Planet Documentary by David Attenborough (2020)
Oceans
Leah Penniman: Farming While Black- Ecofarm Keynote 2020 YouTube (40 min)
Under Cover Farmers YouTube (28 min)
How Trees Talk to Each Other TED Talk by Suzanne Simard YouTube (18 min)
The Most Important Thing You Can Do to Fight Climate Change: Talk About It TED Talk by Katharing Hayhoe (17 min)
Book Recommendations
Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home by Pope Francis (2015)
Climate Justice: A Call to Hope and Action ed. By Pat Watkins (2016 United Methodist Women Mission Study)
All We Can Save: Truth, Courage and Solutions for the Climate Crisis ed by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson & Katharine K. Wilkerson (2020)
Climate Hero Handbook: How Kids Can Defend, Protect, and Restore the Planet by Jennifer Manley Rodgers and Jessica Gamache. (2022. United Methodist Board of Higher Education) Interactive, illustrated book designed for ages 9- 13 yrs.
Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World by Katharine Hayhoe (2021)
Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land by Leah Penniman (Paperback 2018)
Attracting Birds, Butterflies, and Other Backyard Wildlife, Expanded Second Edition by David Mizejewski/ National Wildlife Federation (2019)
Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee: The Spirit of Place by Margie Hunter (2002)
Climate Courage: How Tackling Climate Change Can Build Community, Transform the Economy, and Bridge the Political Divide in America by Andreas Karelas (Paperback, 2020)
Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard (2021)
From Nature to Creation: A Christian Vision for Understanding and Loving Our World by Norman Wirzba (2015) [in The Church and Postmodern Culture series, ed.by James Smith]
Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible by Ellen F. Davis (2008)
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer (2013)
May Newsletter UMC Creation Justice Movement
Movement Cafe
United Methodist Creation Justice