Seeking how churches are answering this increasingly urgent question...
In late 2019, I (Kaleb) will begin a nationwide road-trip to ask the question: how are churches (in the United States and Canada) faithfully responding to the challenges of climate change and ecological despair?
What makes this project unique is that it looks beyond generic actions such as changing lightbulbs and petitioning elected officials. The focus, rather, is specifically on how church institutions and traditions are being adapted at the congregational grassroots to give Christians and non-Christians alike a sense of hope and direction in response to climate change.
Right now, I am in the process of gathering leads and creating a travel itinerary. By April 2020, I will make my findings widely available in two forms:
- first, a practical resource for pastors and church leaders seeking project ideas that help them to sustain faithful ministry in an increasingly warming world (e.g., a downloadable 16-page .pdf file).
- second, a philosophical resource on what it looks like when a congregation moves past despair or complacency on climate change and instead adopts an orientation of hope (e.g., a publicly available 10,000 word longform essay).
- third, an anonymized database that will aid future researchers and creatives who are seeking to better understand and respond to the dynamics of congregations responding to climate change and ecological despair.
