Petitions and Resolutions: Equip and Resource Local Church Trustees for Carbon-Neutral Planning
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24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind and the cattle of every kind and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make humans[a] in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the wild animals of the earth[b] and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
27 So God created humans[c] in his image,
in the image of God he created them;[d]
male and female he created them. -
4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
Another Account of the Creation
In the day that the Lord[a] God made the earth and the heavens, 5 when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no vegetation of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground, 6 but a stream would rise from the earth and water the whole face of the ground— 7 then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground[b] and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
I really hope that everyone did the reading for this week, because when I said last week that I might be reading the rest of these petitions in their entirety, I’d forgotten just how thorough some of my colleagues in ministry are when urging the church to work for justice and dignity for all Creation. Because of that thoroughness, I am only going to read the last section, the one with all the “therefore, be it resolved” lines, since those are the parts that actually contain the action. One important piece of context before I start reading, is that one of the committees that supports the ministry of the Upper New York Annual Conference is the Creation Justice Team. This is a group of people who reflect on the theological imperative of caring for all of Creation, and who try to find ways to support local churches and individuals in carrying out this mission.
Another important piece of context is that local church property is cared for by the Board of Trustees of each local church. The Trustees are encouraged to conduct and annual review of the environmental impact of the church’s property, and are required to include in their annual report the factors that are currently holding the church’s property back from being carbon neutral and what we are going to do about it. Legally, this work of reducing the harm that the church does—because the church does do harm—is the responsibility of the Trustees. However, theologically and practically, this work belongs to all of us. What is stopping us? How will we stop causing harm? Why does it matter that we do so? All that and more, after we hear from today’s petition.
Therefore be it resolved that the Upper New York Annual Conference directs the Creation Care Justice Team to identify, research, and annually update a list of conference-recognized resources, including companies, agencies, utilities, nonprofit organizations, and governmental programs operating within or serving the bounds of the Annual Conference, that are able to assist local churches in conducting carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions assessments on church buildings, grounds, and facilities
Be it further resolved that the Creation Care Justice Team also be directed to identify, research, and annually update a similar list of resources able to assist local churches in planning or and implementing emissions-reducing capital improvements and operational changes, including but not limited to energy efficiency upgrades, electrification, renewable energy installations, and other measures that support movement toward carbon neutrality and net zero greenhouse gas emissions
Be it further resolved that these identified resources be published and made accessible to local churches across the conference in a manner appropriate to conference communications platforms, with the clear understanding that such resources are offered as guidance and support and do not constitute exclusive or mandatory vendors
Be it further resolved that the Creation Care Justice Team be charged with developing a standardized, substantive evaluation tool that local church boards of trustees may use annually to document their church’s current carbon footprint and/or greenhouse gas emissions, identify barriers to achieving carbon neutrality or net zero emissions, and articulate steps already taken and planned toward addressing those barriers
Be it further resolved that the Creation Care Justice Team be directed to collaborate with appropriate conference leadership, staff, and committees, including those responsible for charge conference reporting and data collection, to integrate his evaluation tool into the existing annual report of the Board of Trustees submitted to charge conference, replacing or meaningfully supplementing the current yes/no reporting format
Be it further resolved that the purpose of these actions is to strengthen local churches’ capacity to fulfill the responsibilities assigned to Boards of Trustees by the Book of Discipline, to enhance transparency and accountability in carbon neutrality planning, and to support faithful and contextual implementation of The United Methodist Church’s creation care commitments within the Upper New York Annual Conference
Be it further resolved that the Creation Care Justice Team be directed to report to the plenary session of the 2027 Upper New York Annual Conference on is work undertaken in response of this resolution, including the development of widened resources and evaluation tools, and to bring forward any further recommendations for conference action that may be warranted to support local churches in moving toward carbon neutrality and net zero greenhouse gas emissions.
Each of the scriptures we heard this morning gives us an account of God’s creation of the earth. Two different accounts, each with its own author, timeline, meaning, intent, and purpose. In reading scripture, it’s important to remember that the Bible was not written by one person, nor was it written at one time, nor does it speak with one singular voice. It is a collection of stories, poems, letters, and reflections written by those trying to understand who God is, why the world is the way it is, and what God wants from us. It doesn’t always agree with itself. It does invite us into conversation—with it, with God, with one another, and with Creation. The first Creation account gives us one understanding of how and why the earth was created, and humans along with it. Many biblical scholars believe that Genesis 1 was actually written after Genesis 2, and that it comes out of the Jewish priestly tradition. It sets up a pretty structured understanding of the process of creation, assigning different creations to each of seven days. It gives us a natural hierarchy, too, positioning humans above the rest of Creation and God above humans. In fact, it gives humans “dominion” over the other creatures of the earth. This understanding of dominion has led many Christians to argue that it is our God-given right, our divine obligation, to tame and develop the rest of Creation. Preachers such as John MacArthur have even referred to the earth as a “disposable planet,” that God intended for humans to use as we see fit.
Genesis 2, the older creation account, paints a different picture. Rather than giving us the neat and orderly story of creation as God bringing order out of chaos, this account of creation has God staring at an earth that is barren—because “there was no one to till the ground.” Rather than setting up a hierarchy, positioning different parts of Creation above or below others, this version sees humans not as rulers, but as co-laborers with God. In needing someone to till the ground, God creates humans as helpers, as those who have the ability and the responsibility to care for that which is co-created with God. Each of these accounts acknowledges the inherent connection between humanity and the rest of Creation, but they disagree as to what that relationship looks like. Is it dominion and domination? Is it stewardship and care? Are we called to exploit the earth for our own wants and needs? Or, are we called to be co-creators and co-carers with the God who creates us to help? Hopefully the way I phrased those two options makes it clear which way I tend to lean. The call to till the soil, rather than to dominate, is the call to do no harm, to do good, and love God through caring for God’s Creation. It is the call to embrace this mutual responsibility to do everything in our power to ensure that that which God has breathed life into, with which we share breath, is able to flourish.
This obligation, though, is not simply a “because the Bible tells me so” thing—in part because the Bible tells us oh, so many different things. This obligation is a lived imperative, a matter of survival, and a moral challenge to the things that humans have created on our own. There are a few Bike Trippers here, who will hopefully remember a word that we talked about a few weeks ago: Panentheism. Panentheism, from the Greek roots that add up to “all in God -ism,” is the idea that all of Creation exists within God, and that God resides within all of Creation. It would have us see God in the people sitting in the pews around us, as well as in the grass, the trees, the rocks, the water, and “everything that creeps on the ground of every kind.” And it would have us see God this way not simply so we can think “oh, yeah, that’s cool,” but so that we might better understand that God is present in our midst, and that God connects us to one another. It’s this divine connection that is manifest in what one of my seminary professors refers to “con-spiring,” the fact that humans and plants breathe together—and that we both breathe better when the air is cleaner. It’s this divine connection that is manifest in our need for water (and clean water at that!), our dependence on the earth for food, and the reciprocity of our bodies feeding the earth when to the earth we return.
It’s important to remember, too, what happens when we don’t maintain and honor this connection. Rising global temperatures, soil erosion, desertification, climate refugees, depleted food sources. When we forget, or choose to ignore, the inherent connections between humans and the rest of Creation, our abuse and neglect wreaks devastation world-wide. The pain felt in one area of Creation is not confined to that one place, species, or biome—it shakes the whole web, impacting Creation both seen and unseen. By war and by industry, by consumption that outpaces restoration. It is this repeated crucifixion of the God incarnate throughout Creation that threatens the very fabric that God has woven together. While these impacts are currently most deeply felt among the global poor, the whole of Creation will soon feel them, unless a whole lot changes. As it is, we have already experienced longer periods of drought, more intense storms, and shifting weather patterns even here in Rochester. And through it all, the whole of Creation is groaning, crying out to be made whole. And still, these cries are drowned out by calls for more and more of the same.
It can feel hopeless. I am part of a generation that feels hopeless for a lot of reasons, one of which is the general inaction surrounding the climate crisis. But that hopelessness cannot leave us in a state of inaction. There is work to do, no matter how hopeless things can often seem. The call of the God who makes us to till the earth is still there, calling us into kinship and collaboration with all of Creation. We can do a lot as individuals, especially as far as reducing our consumption, recycling more, and composting as much as we can. Driving and flying less are also important. Eating less, or no, meat is better, too. But, the point of this petition is that individual action alone is not enough to heal Creation. This is not a solo task, but a collective endeavor—not just for those who are interested in being more green, but for all those who are a part of God’s Creation. This work requires institutional transformation. It requires our industries, our businesses, our schools, our governments, our farms, our hospitals, and yes, most certainly our churches to stop business as usual, to stop doing harm, to stop ignoring the divine and luminous web that binds us together. It requires us to ask why there are five active church buildings on one small stretch of Church Street here that include spaces that require significant energy to build and maintain. It requires us to ask where we fall short—and to answer: what are we going to do about it?
This is our call, as humans who were made to till the soil. Not to dominate the earth, not to exploit or use what we want to our heart’s content. But to take responsibility, and live into the relationships we have with the whole of Creation. This is our call, as a church, to embrace that work. Work that is beginning with an energy audit that the Trustees are having done. But work that is far from finished. May we live into this call to stewardship, the call that we were created to live out, for the good of all Creation. Amen.