United Methodists who hear God’s call to care for the world God created gained practical skills in interrelated areas while attending the Creation Care Summit on May 2 at First United Methodist Church of Arlington Heights.

Climate justice intersects with all other justice concerns, said Grace Pugh Hubbard, the Climate Care Coordinator for the New England Annual Conference and the event keynote speaker. The poor and people of color are disproportionately affected, such as by natural disasters, wars over extractive industries such as fossil fuels, and toxic waste disposal.

“As we speak, unregulated artificial intelligence data centers are pouring methane directly into low-income neighborhoods and draining water supplies not only for safe drinking but for firefighting in rural communities,” she said.

“With proper regulation and a change in process we could follow the direction of Finland and fuel these data centers with solar energy and use waste-heat recovery to create new energy. But this requires regulation to quickly catch up with this booming industry before more damage is done.”

She reminded listeners that the establishment of Earth Day in 1970 preceded legislation that made considerable change. Some 20 million Americans—about 20 percent of the population of the time—demonstrated and gathered to raise awareness of the threats to the environment.

“Environmental awareness increased in the US and three months later the Environmental Protection Agency was established,” she said. “Earth Day also led to the passage of the Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts.”

The 2024 United Methodist General Conference also took action to strengthen the church’s commitment to responsible stewardship of God’s creation. Pugh Hubbard pointed out that the conference passed or modified five paragraphs in the Book of Discipline, having to do with green teams, sustainable annual conference sessions, the establishment of a position called conference coordinator of caretakers of God’s creation, annual conference carbon footprint or greenhouse emissions audits, and reporting to charge conferences about carbon-neutral progress and timeline.

Five new resolutions were added to the Book of Resolutions, addressing church land use, commitment to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, recognition of United Methodist support for the Global Green New Deal initiatives and legislative efforts, avoidance of plastic, and the formation of green teams.

The Social Principles were also revised, and the first of four sections is now “The Community of All Creation.”

Pugh Hubbard cited a concept from Erica Chenoweth, a political scientist, proposing that if 3.5 percent of a population engages in a nonviolent protest, change is likely to occur. Since about 20 percent of the US population demonstrated for Earth Day, Pugh Hubbard suggested that gaining 3.5  percent support is achievable.

“Scripture calls us again and again to care for the widow and the orphan, for those who are marginalized by the constructs of our society,” she said. “In this climate-changed world, we have more and will have more climate refugees than ever in our current history.”

Participants learned how to take steps toward changing their church’s use of energy and natural resources through four workshops. “Engaging Your Community: Faith in Place” described how faith and spirituality align with creation care and how to engage congregants in environmental advocacy. “Building Green Teams” explained how to initiate, organize, and resource church Green Teams, which advise churches on environmentally sound choices, among other concerns. “Planting Native,” led by a Wild Ones chapter, demonstrated how to choose native plants for church and home gardens and how they benefit a balanced ecosystem. Verde Energy Efficiency Experts showed how they helped churches, within budget, make energy efficiency upgrades that reduced costs and energy use through upgrades to lighting, refrigeration, HVAC, windows, and more.

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