Learn
Start Here: The section below clarifies and illustrates how our ministry uses the following terms.
Terms, Definitions & Related Articles
Creation, Environment, Ecology, Ecosystem
Weather vs. Climate, Climate Change, Global Warming
Greenhouse Gases, Sources
Clean Energy, Renewable Energy
Pollution, Single-use Plastics …
Creation Care, Conservation, Susutainability …
Creation/ Climate/ & Environmental Justice, Frontline Communities …
Climate Mitigation, Adaptation & Resilience
NEWS
If you do not have time to survey numerous news outlets to keep current, consider these resources:
Inside Climate News (website)
Daily Climate (website)
Subscribe to their daily or weekly newsletters
[These are publications of Environmental Health Sciences, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to driving science into public discussion and policy on environmental health issues, including climate change.]
Monthly Opportunities
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!
Creation Justice Tips – January 2023
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!
"How-to" Information
Forming a Green Team
Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. (2020). Creation Care (Green Teams. https://www.flumc.org/creation-care-teams
Berbiglia, J. for (Legacy) TN Conference UMC. (2003). ChurchGardeningResourceBook-1pfd
Advocacy Webinars:
UM Creation Justice webinar (February 2021)
Justice Climate Advocacy in the Time of Coronavirus
UM Creation Justice webinar (June 2021)
Speak Up! Letter Writing Campaign
West End UMC Creation Care Team webinar and related power point/ download
Greening Houses of Worship (Tennessee Interfaith Power & Light)
https://www.tennipl.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Greening-Houses-of-Worship.pdf
Solar Energy for Churches (Georgia Interfaith Power & Light)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JgXGyYWMIN1q1k7fvyO7_LnGtbWFhJVx6HoGfKnfvLk/edit
Solar with Justice https://www.cesa.org/wp-content/uploads/Solar-with-Justice.pdf
Commercial Rooftop Solar: Frequently Asked Questions/ Better Buildings (PDF) https://betterbuildingssolutioncenter.energy.gov/sites/default/files/attachments/BBA_Commercial_PV_Roofing_Guide_071715_508.pdf
Metropolitan Government of Nashville & Davidson County. (2021). Recycling Services in in Nashville: Nashville Recycling: Where It Goes and Why You Should Recycle Right. [5 min Video]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxjUoiXuV88
Come, post your compost! (TN Environmental Council — How to begin composting for home and businesses; plus the invitation to join others in registering your amount of composting)
https://www.tectn.org/comepostyourcompost.html
How to start composting (Comprehensive overview, helpful photos) https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/guides/how-to-start-composting/
Urban Water Stewardship (Rain gardens, rain barrels, water run-off, depaving)
https://cumberlandrivercompact.org/what-we-do/urban-water-stewardship/
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.)
https://cumberlandrivercompact.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/RainGardenManual-WEB.pdf
How to build a rain garden (Cumberland River Compact – short form)
https://cumberlandrivercompact.org/2020/09/17/how-to-build-a-rain-garden/
Gardening Stories From Across the UMC Connection (Church gardens)
https://umcreationjustice.org/stories-from-earthkeepers-across-the-connection/
Generate Some Buzz (TN Environmental Council — Pollinator gardens)
https://www.tectn.org/generatesomebuzz.html
How to Build a Pollinator Garden (US Fish & Wildlife Service)
https://www.fws.gov/midwest/news/PollinatorGarden.html
Nashville Pollinator Project (Nashville A Rocha; information applicable beyond Nashville)
https://nashville.arocha.us/pollinator-garden-workshop/
Homegrown National Park (movement dedicated to planting native plants) https://homegrownnationalpark.org/?fbclid=IwAR110NUq-yKMGsztszqwkFMNTDZLCQOzs2Ct8FyMQhEqvEDTBTa7gH90qRY
FaithLands Toolkit – A Guide to Transformative Land Use (Agrarian Trust.org) (Interfaith/ Indigenous sources; Comprehensive – gardens and more; includes multiple case studies; free downloadable pdf, 146 pp.)
Program Resources
Breathe Again: Healthy Air is Health Care. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMqkfhNHstQ
(You Tube Webinar presentation by Dr. Anne Mellinger Birdsong – 49 min)
United Women in Faith : Just Energy 4 All — Webinars
The Most Important Thing You Can Do to Fight Climate Change: Talk About It.
TED Talk by Katharine Hayhoe. 2018. (17 min)
Climate Weirding with Katharine Hayhoe
Series of short engaging talks (published weekly[Youtube videos]) by Katharine Hayhoe
Professor Katharine Hayhoe is an atmospheric scientist, endowed chair at Texas Tech University and Chief Scientist at The Nature Conservancy)
Climate 101/ Inside Climate News website: a database of answers to common reader questions
How Trees Talk to Each Other (TED Talk [You Tube Video], Suzanne Simard, 18 min)
August 30, 2016) Conservation, regeneration, resilience
Thompson, T. (2021, September 22). Young People’s Climate Anxiety Revealed in Landmark Survey. Nature.
Panecasio, S. (2022, February 17). How Minecraft Is Teaching Kids to Face the Threat of Climate Change
Langlios, K. (2021, June 26). How to Talk to Your Kids About Climate Change. Outsideonline.com.
Beginning the Climate Conversation: A Family’s Guide (The Climate Reality Project, 23 pp. e-book) “In this guide, we discuss when to start the climate conversation and how to approach the topic with children. It is not designed as a substitute for formal science instruction. Our goal is to help you navigate a tricky topic so your children can grow into informed young people excited to learn more about how they can make the world a better place.”
Climate Justice Simulation Experience (United Methodist Women)
Recycling Center Tour (Grades 9-12)
Climate Solutions 101 : Presented by Project Drawdown
(Free educational video series in six units; the website also introduces you to the authors/ experts behind this series. Copyright 2021)
Goodside’s Free e-Book: Model for Effective Climate Action (free download, 99 pp.)
Curriculum Resources
Wake Up, World! New Curriculum, New Opportunity
(A six week study for adult groups, developed by two commissioned EarthKeepers. Read more at https://umcreationjustice.org/wake-up-world-new-curriculum-new-opportunity/ ).
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)
Engaging Youth Groups with Creation Care
Detailed plans for a Youth Eco-Mission week for middle and high schoolers shared via FLUMC monthly meeting.
Climate Weirding with Katharine Hayhoe
Series of short engaging talks (published weekly[Youtube videos]) by Katharine Hayhoe: atmospheric scientist, professor, chief scientist for the Nature Conservancy and person of faith.
Recycling Center Tour (Grades 9-12)
Climate Solutions 101 : Presented by Project Drawdown
(Free educational offering in six video units; website link also includes information on the expert panel/authors of the series.)
Lambert, J. (Last updated 2016). Climate Science Investigations South Florida. National Aeronautics and Space Administration/NASA.
“Climate Science Investigations (CSI): South Florida is an online, interactive series of modules and teaching resources that are currently under development. These modules provided the content and learning activities for the course. The objective of CSI has been to develop and pilot modules that enable secondary and undergraduate students to analyze and use NASA data to address the public’s questions and commonly held misconceptions about climate change. The instructional approach is to use the questions about climate change…
The modules are sequenced in such a way that students progressively discover the evidence of climate change and human involvement. They examine data and are guided to formulate reasonable explanations about the causes of climate change as they move through the modules.
Best Practices
Greener Living (US Environmental Protection Agency; broad compilation of resources)
The Powerful Role of Household Actions in Solving Climate Change (Project Drawdown.org. October 2021)
The Issue with Tissue. (NRDC.org. September 2021)
Encourages us to purchase paper products made from recycled paper rather than trees. Contains consumer information.
Greening Houses of Worship (Tennessee Interfaith Power & Light)
This is a monthly publication of suggestions designed to engage individuals and congregations in best practices to respond faithfully to our current climate and ecological circumstances.
Recycle the right way (Davidson CO/ Nashville area. This web page includes the app Nashville Waste Wizard and also general guidelines for recycling.)
Nashville Recycling: Where It Goes and Why You Should Recycle Right (5 min video)
Film and Books
Film Recommendations
The Biggest Little Farm Documentary, feature film; true story of family farm and the power of biodiversity (2018)
A Life on Our Planet Documentary by David Attenborough (2020)
Kiss the Ground: The Solution is Right Under Our Feet Documentary by Interfaith Power & Light (2020)
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)
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)
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)
Video Presentations from Conferences and Summits
Webinars from Faith Climate Action Week (April 2021) / TN Interfaith Power& Light
Sustainable Food Preparation: A Workshop with Seema Prasad [Seema is a chef and local restaurant owner]
Do More With Composting: Workshop with Karen McIntyre [Karen works within the school system toward net zero waste]
Climate Academy / TN Interfaith Power and Light
IPPC & COP26 (October 23, 2021)
United Methodist Creation Justice Summit – (October 16-17, 2020)
The complete 7 hour recording with links to 23 separate/short videos highlighting work of our UMC Boards and Agencies for support of creation care ministry in the local church.
Keynote Address — Rev. Michael Malcolm: For Such a Time as This
National Creation Care Summit UMC (July 2019)
Keynote Address — Katharine Wilkinson of Project Drawdown (July 12, 2019)
Keynote Address — Heather McTeer-Toney of Moms Clean Air Force (July 13, 2019)
All recorded presentations from National Creation Care Summit UMC (July 2019)
Training Opportunities
Global Ministries EarthKeeper Training
Spring Online Training Session: March 18-April 2
Link to apply: https://creationcare.umcmission.org/networks/events/75801
Summer Training Session: July 28- Aug 11
Further information at https://creationcare.umcmission.org/networks/events/75803
Facilitator Training: Life Around the Table programs
January Newsletter UMC Creation Justice Movement

United Women in Faith
Just Energy for All Monthly Webinars