Climate Hope Cards
The 2023 Climate Hope Cards campaign was part of a yearlong effort of congregations in the United Church of Christ to save thousands of lives, address societal inequities, and get our nation on track to meet its climate goals. Over the course of several months, congregations collected 8,000 petition postcards urging the strongest possible protections from the Environmental Protection Agency.
For 2024, the UCC has launched a new campaign called Vote for Climate Hope. Similar to 2023, it will begin with an art contest for children and youth. The winning art will then go on voter pledge cards that congregations will collect in the summer and fall. Learn more about this exciting new campaign!
Want to see all the art contest finalists for 2023? Check out this video!
This Is Who We Are: Environmental Justice in Action
The care of God’s creation is a central calling of Christians and has found unique expression in the life of the United Church of Christ. Leaders from the UCC were integral to the launch of the environmental justice movement in the 1980s with its pioneering focus on environmental racism. Through General Synod resolutions, we have repeatedly stepped forward to lead the way as people of faith on critical matters such fossil fuel divestment, mountaintop removal, and the Green New Deal. Today, congregations throughout the country have answered our first calling as Christians in tending to God’s creation by becoming Creation Justice Churches. Through webinars, newsletters, reports, and more, we stay connected and informed. Learn more about our denomination’s Environmental Justice Ministries!
Why We Are Called to Climate Action
One could argue that all of us have a self-interest in doing everything we can to fight climate change. As Christians, however, we are called beyond our individual lives to love our neighbor and to care for all of God’s creation. To be in right relationship with our neighbors and God’s creation is ultimately at the heart of being in right relationship with God. To put it more succinctly, when we talk about what it means to be in right relationship we are talking about justice. As disciples of Jesus, we are called to put justice into action.
Today, justice takes many different and interconnected forms. We see this especially in the climate crisis. The burdens of pollution do not fall on everyone equally. Climate-related disasters do not affect everyone the same. Race, poverty, and other societal inequities all play a role in who currently suffers the most and who faces the greatest impending dangers. Often those who have contributed the least to climate change are those who are impacted the most.