Pastors

Get involved! As a pastor you can be a leader in creation care. On this page, you will find resources and examples for what you can do in your role in parish life. Our worship section also holds items that may be useful, including lectionary commentaries.

Season of Creation: Focusing Worship on God as Creator

Season of Creation: Focusing Worship on God as Creator

We offer creation focused commentaries for every week and lectionary cycle, but what about taking a step back and spend ...
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Our 2023 Earth Day Virtual Worship!

Our 2023 Earth Day Virtual Worship!

Thank you for sharing our 2023 creation-focused worship service! Thank you to Rev. Dr. R. Guy Erwin who shared a ...
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Rev. Dr. Carmelo Santos Preaches - 2022 Earth Day Virtual Worship

Rev. Dr. Carmelo Santos Preaches – 2022 Earth Day Virtual Worship

 Earth Day Online Worship - 2022 We were honored to have the Rev. Dr. Carmelo Santos share the message of ...
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Tool Kit on Climate Change Connections

Tool Kit on Climate Change Connections

Take yourself, your class, or your congregation on a journey that explores the intersections between climate change and hunger with ...
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old white man in blue jeans and a long sleeved white shirt and baseball cap, swinging a scythe at flowering buckwheat

EcoActivist Testament: Faith Explorations for Fellow Travelers

Written for younger generations of ecoactivists, Paul Santmire's latest book, EcoActivist Testament: Faith Explorations for Fellow Travelers provides solace in ...
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Northern IL Synod's Season of Creation Resources

Northern IL Synod’s Season of Creation Resources

The Creation Care Committee of the Northern Illinois Synod happily provides valuable resources to make celebrating Season of Creation within ...
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Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

As institutions and individuals we have a hard time understanding and being in control of how our money is used ...
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17 Ways to be an EcoPreacher

17 Ways to be an EcoPreacher

by Rev. Dr. Leah Schade Here are 17 ideas excerpted from my book Creation-Crisis Preaching: Ecology, Theology and the Pulpit (Chalice Press, ...
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A New Climate for Theology: God, the World, and Global Warming

A New Climate for Theology: God, the World, and Global Warming

A New Climate for Theology: God, the World, and Global Warming by Sallie McFague (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2008). A New Climate ...
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Eco Bible: An Ecological Commentary on Genesis and Exodus (2020)

Eco Bible: An Ecological Commentary on Genesis and Exodus (2020)

What does the Bible say about ecology? As people face huge ecological challenges--including growing hurricanes, floods, forest fires, and plastic ...
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Amending the Christian Story: The Natural Sciences as a Window into Grounded Faith and Sustainable Living

Amending the Christian Story: The Natural Sciences as a Window into Grounded Faith and Sustainable Living

After several years of research and writing and teaching, with worldview-altering insights into Nature's natural sciences and life's experience, "Amending ...
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Why We Need an Eco-Reformation

Why We Need an Eco-Reformation

There are voices across the ELCA calling for a reformation of the church to encompass care for all of God’s ...
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Healthy Pastor, Healthy Congregation, Healthier Planet

Healthy Pastor, Healthy Congregation, Healthier Planet

by Leah D. Schade Clergy have such high instances of stress, weight problems, hypertension, depression and heart problems that poor ...
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Let All Creation Praise: Worshiping God with Creation

Let All Creation Praise: Worshiping God with Creation

Click here for resources to care for creation worship throughout the year Download freely and adapt for your worshiping context ...
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GreenFaith Fellowship Program

GreenFaith Fellowship Program

The GreenFaith Fellowship Program is a wonderful, challenging 18-month program that prepares lay and ordained leaders from diverse religious traditions for ...
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Creation-Crisis Preaching: Ecology, Theology and the Pulpit

Creation-Crisis Preaching: Ecology, Theology and the Pulpit

author: Leah D. Schade Informed by years of experience as an environmental activist and minister, Leah Schade equips preachers to interpret ...
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Eight Ways Pastors can Give Care for Creation Leadership

Eight Ways Pastors can Give Care for Creation Leadership

The Role of ELCA Pastors in Care of the Earth Stewardship of the Earth: The people of God are called ...
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Lutheran Study Guide to Pope Francis' Letter on Climate Change

Lutheran Study Guide to Pope Francis’ Letter on Climate Change

This is a four week study intended for church adult education, college, or seminary classrooms. The study takes up the theme ...
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Water and Ecotheology: Articles by Benjamin Stewart

Water and Ecotheology: Articles by Benjamin Stewart

Stewart, Benjamin M. “Stream, Flood and Spring: Water Renewing the Earth and the Church.” Living Lutheran, April 2016. (available online) Stewart, Benjamin ...
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Worship as Reflection of our Care for Creation

Worship as Reflection of our Care for Creation

Green the Congregation through Worship  Reflections and Ideas by David Rhoads Worship is the central recurring event in the life ...
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Worshiping with Creation

Worshiping with Creation

We have traditionally done worship focusing on our human relationship with God and our human relationships with each other. Now ...
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Reflections on Swedish Bishops' Letter on Climate Change

Reflections on Swedish Bishops’ Letter on Climate Change

On May 19, 2015, LSTC Professors Kadi Billman, Barbara Rossing, and Vítor Westhelle, reflected on A Bishops' Letter about Climate ...
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Forecast: The Consequences of Global Climate Change, from the Amazon to the Arctic, From Darfur to Napa Valley

Forecast: The Consequences of Global Climate Change, from the Amazon to the Arctic, From Darfur to Napa Valley

Forecast: The Consequences of Global Climate Change, from the Amazon to the Arctic, From Darfur to Napa Valley by Stephen Faris (New York: Henry Holt, 2009) ...
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An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergence of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It

An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergence of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It

An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergence of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It by Al Gore Emmaus, PA: ...
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Climate Change Begins at Home: Life on the Two-Way Street of Global Warming

Climate Change Begins at Home: Life on the Two-Way Street of Global Warming

Climate Change Begins at Home: Life on the Two-Way Street of Global Warming by David Reay (New York: MacMillan, 2005). Packed ...
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10-Minute Energy Saving Secrets: 250 Easy Ways to Save Big Bucks Year Round

10-Minute Energy Saving Secrets: 250 Easy Ways to Save Big Bucks Year Round

10-Minute Energy Saving Secrets: 250 Easy Ways to Save Big Bucks Year Round, by Jerri Farris (Gloucester: Fair Winds, 2005) ...
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Green Living: The E Magazine Handbook for Living Lightly on the Earth

Green Living: The E Magazine Handbook for Living Lightly on the Earth

Green Living: The E Magazine Handbook for Living Lightly on the Earth (New York: Penguin, 2005) Knowledge of environmental issues and ...
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If there’s global warming, why is it so cold? (video)

If there's global warming, why is it so cold? (video) ...
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National Preach-In on Climate Change: Sermon for Epiphany 5A

National Preach-In on Climate Change: Sermon for Epiphany 5A

Sermon for Epiphany 5A, the Rev. Lisa E. Dahill, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Worship and Christian Spirituality, Trinity Lutheran Seminary IPL Climate ...
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