Curated by Victoria Guest for the SNEUCC Environmental Ministry Team

Spirituality in Nature Group Leaders’ Training
Saturday, June 11, 1 – 4 PM
Forming a Spirituality in Nature Group (SING) is a great way to connect with community, open up to spiritual deepening, and reawaken our wonder and renewed commitment to actively loving the Earth. The SING Leaders’ Training will offer a detailed, structured and accessible look at how you can launch your own Spirituality In Nature Group. Cost $45. Register 

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Polluting Peaks and How to Avoid Them
Monday, June 13, 12:00-1:00 PM
On really hot days when everyone cranks the AC, regional electricity demand activates expensive and dirty power plants that pollute our air and hike up the electricity rates. You can make a difference through Green Energy Consumer Alliance’s “Shave the Peak” program. On hot days, they text or email Shave the Peak participants to conserve energy during certain hours. Learn more at the webinar by registering at bit.ly/3xp8S9a, or just sign up for Shave the Peak notices and share with others.

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Action Pact 2022: Ready, Resilient, Reinvented is a three-month initiative to spotlight the topic of climate change through the programs of Boston's world-class arts, history, sports, and entertainment organizations. The coordinated effort⁠ is composed of longer-term and singular programs and initiatives, including; exhibitions, installations, panel discussions, film screenings, lectures, children's programs, workshops, festivals, and more. Check out their many upcoming programs and events.  

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Climate Change as Spiritual Practice: Transforming Anxiety into Empowerment
Tuesday, June 14, 3:00-5:00 PM
An event such as Climate Change, alongside the overshooting of the carrying capacity of the Earth and the loss of biodiversity, has the potential to kill countless millions worldwide. It also has the potential to be a spiritual initiator for the evolution of humanity. Join Joanna Macy, author of Active Hope, and Jonathan Gustin, founder of Purpose Guides Institute as we meet our understandable anxiety and fear, and transition to empowerment. You’ll receive a recording of the event, so that you can view it if you can’t attend. Register at bit.ly/3GdipmF.

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Saturday, June 18, Washington, D.C. Mass Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls that will be held June 18. This will not be just a day of action, but a declaration of an ongoing, committed moral movement. Led by Bishop William Barber and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, the Poor People’s Campaign march will focus on voting rights and economic justice, as part of their intersectional understanding that climate justice depends on racial justice and a healthy democracy. Watch this three- minute video to get inspired bit.ly/3vI0nUP and REGISTER.

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Wake Up for Climate Justice Tuesday, June 21, 4:00-6:00 PM
Join Mass Power Forward, MA Interfaith Power and Light, and others for a mass action in person at the State House or on line! Come support the priorities of the Environmental Justice Table’s priorities, Homes for All Mass and the MA Renews Alliance, and our work from last session to get Massachusetts to 100% renewable energy. Learn more and register at bit.ly/38R9tHC.

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Spiritual Direction for a Climate-Changed World
A gathering for spiritual directors and spiritual companions
Thursday, June 23 
1:00 – 4:30 PM. • Online ($25, scholarships available)
The BTS Center offers this gathering as an imaginative space for those engaged in the work of spiritual accompaniment who are feeling the weight of the climate crisis – to come together to share and to learn in community. We hope that this gathering – with three thoughtful presenters sharing talks as well as time for small group sharing – will lead to conversation and connection which will nourish you and inform your work in spiritual accompaniment. This gathering is intended for those who have some training and experience with spiritual accompaniment. We also welcome students who are currently enrolled in a spiritual direction training program. For more information and to register, visit here. If you have questions, please email ash@thebtscenter.org.

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What Can I Do for Mother Earth? Love, Heal, Act (A Day of Mindfulness)
Saturday, June 25, 8:30 AM-2:30 PM, in person, Chua Viet Nam, 68 Bradeen St., Boston. An Earth-oriented day of mindfulness led by John Bell, Earth Holder and ordained dharma teacher in the Plum Village tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. We will practice with awareness of our interbeing with Mother Earth and explore ways to support her. More information and registration at bit.ly/3Q7pOsu.

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World Premier of the new oratorio: Our Common Home – resounding ecojustice
Saturday, June 25, 8:00 PM, Old Cambridge Baptist Church, 1151 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, MA.
Inspired by Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ encyclical on climate justice, composer and flutist Linda Chase collaborated with world-renowned theologian and author Harvey Cox to compose this genre-blending 90-minute work for chorus, soloists, and chamber orchestra. Tickets available at the door from 7:00 pm. Suggested donation - sliding scale from $20-$75 (cash or check). Limited parking available in the church lot. Five-minute walk from the Harvard Square station.

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Through Dec. 28: More or Less in Common: Environment and Justice in the Human Landscape, at the Leventhal Map and Education Center, Boston Public Library. The exhibit uses maps, photos, and text to show that how the climate crisis affects you is determined not only by where you are but by who you are.  The Weymouth compressor station is featured as a local example of environmental racism, and OCBC’s Minister for Earth Justice, Rev. Betsy Sowers, is featured in the exhibit. Check out Boston Globe coverage at Mapping environmental injustice.

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The Senate is negotiating toward a bipartisan climate bill, and Senators in key states need to be contacted and asked to support it. In Mass., please thank Senators Markey and Warren for their support. If you have friends or family in Virginia, Arizona, Alaska, or Maine, reach out to ask them to contact their Senators. Interfaith Power and Light has provided a sample email, Tell Your Senators Climate Can’t Wait! 

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Join Interfaith Power and Light’s 2022 Faith Climate Justice Voter Campaign
Reach out to people of faith and conscience, to make sure they are registered and ready to vote, and to mobilize them to vote their values of caring for our common home and loving our neighbors. The guide discusses many of the defining moral issues of our time that are on the ballot: faltering democratic institutions, too much wealth in the hands of a few, damage to the climate, cruel immigration policies that tear families apart, mass incarceration that devastates communities of color, and threats to global public health and security. Whether you use it at the kitchen table, in a house of worship, at a community forum, or at an event with political candidates, we hope it helps you and your community navigate the urgent moral questions facing our nation. 

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Creation Justice Ministries has launched a new Ocean webpage and a new 30x30 webpage, along with a bulletin insert on how 30x30 connects to our faith and ocean conservation.  At the links, find resources with tools to equip, mobilize and educate yourself and your congregation about God’s majestic marine creation.

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Communities Responding to Extreme Weather (CREW)
Rev. Vernon Walker, was interviewed by WBUR and the Boston Globe about a recent CREW-sponsored event distributing free air conditioners at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Boston. Check out the interviews for his comments on the connections on the disparate impacts of extreme heat on communities of color and low wealth. If your congregation isn’t already a member of CREW, have a look at the opportunities of belonging.

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On June 2-3, the two-day Stockholm+50 environmental conference, marked the 50th anniversary of the first world conference on the environment. But while the '72 Stockholm Declaration connected moral and spiritual growth with living in greater harmony with nature, the spiritual relationship between humans and the environment has been largely absent from these discussions in the ensuing 50 years. Because of that absence, nearly 200 leaders from 40 different countries and representing more than a dozen world religions signed an interfaith statement ahead of Stockholm+50 that reasserts the pivotal role people of faith play in protecting the planet and pursuing climate solutions. An official side event at Stockholm+50, "Faith in Earth - A deep conversation on religious perspectives on the way forward for a healthy planet," took place earlier today. Watch the live recording. (Thanks to Earthbeat)

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Celebrate the Summer of Certification with Interfaith Power and Light!  If your congregation has taken steps to reduce your energy use and carbon emissions, apply to be a Certified Cool Congregation. Emissions reductions of 10% or more qualify. Apply to be certified today!

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“Virginia’s Calling” 
Available anytime • $14.95
Screen a film for your congregation with a DVD from Interfaith Power & Light! IPL’s summer film, “Virginia’s Calling,” tells the story of a homemaker galvanized into action when her home floods. “A warm, intimate portrait of a strong and determined woman of faith, VIRGINIA’S CALLING offers a sensitive look into the human effects of climate change on an evangelical family that never thought climate change would affect them. Virginia’s new purpose has far-reaching effects.” Just the right length for small group discussion, this 30-minute documentary comes with a screening kit and discussion questions. For more information, visit here. To view trailers, purchase DVD’s, and host screenings of other movies, visit IPL’s Climate Movie Kits.

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Christians and Climate Change with Bill McKibben
Available anytime • Online ($10)
In this new online course offered by ChurchNext, Bill McKibben shows us that we still have time to take climate action -- but not as much time as we once had, and not as completely as we once might have been able to manage. Bill's main messages: we need to act now, and we need to act in groups. Fortunately, faith communities are good at group activities and maintaining hope against the odds.  For more information and to register, click here.