About fifty people gathered July 19-21 from the United Methodist North Central Jurisdiction Creation Justice Movement and NCJ Advocacy group at Euclid Avenue United Methodist Church in Oak Park to learn about the efforts of the movement as a whole and to create a vision for the future of creation justice in the NCJ and individual conferences.

Representatives around the jurisdiction have been gathering virtually for the past year. This event was intended to be the culmination of their efforts.

NCJ was organized by Alice Fleming Townley, from Michigan, Christina Krost from Illinois Great Rivers, and Breana Illéné from Wisconsin. They hoped that the gathering would build communication channels among advocates in each conference. Fleming Townley said that advocacy for the needs of people, our planet, and our community is a joint effort. She said that justice is always a collaborative effort.

Prof. Timothy Eberhart of Garrett-Evangelical Seminary describes the school's green efforts.

Audra Hudson Stone and Jacob Stone, the organizers for the jurisdiction's Creation Justice Movement, explained how grant money allowed them to facilitate communication and collaboration within the group.

Cathy Velasquez Eberhart, an organizer for the NCJ Creation Justice Movement, was thrilled with the gathering. “Zoom calls are great, but the opportunity to come together in one room and network and make contacts makes all the difference in the world,” she said.

One of the major goals of the event was to build trust among leaders, Velasquez Eberhart said. And Hudson Stone said that the best part of the event was the social conversations that allowed leaders to really get to know each other.

Each conference learned from hearing about others’ projects. The Advocacy Group also shared stories and tools to help conference groups become more effective. Each produced a separate set of goals for the future. Both the Advocacy Group and the conferences expressed that repeating the gathering in the future was important—with, they hope, more conferences’ participation.

Staff from some of The United Methodist Church’s general boards also attended. Darina Regio, the new director of environmental justice for the UM General Board of Church and Society, noted that environmental efforts are underway in every part of the denomination, but unfortunately tend to work in silos.

“This was a wonderful chance to meet other people and to collaborate instead of always trying to reinvent the wheel,” she said

Jenn Huff, the NCJ mission engagement liaison from the General Board of Global Ministries and Higher Education Ministry also participated.

At least eighteen people from the Northern Illinois Conference participated in the event. That number was divided evenly between creation care and advocacy.

Rev. Fabiola Grandon-Mayer, the conference director of connectional ministries, said, “This is a wonderful opportunity for collaboration. We can share what is working and learn from each other and plan new things. We are all called to be advocates.” 

The gathering was funded by grants from the North Central Jurisdiction Mission Council, various annual conferences, and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.