When the bishops of the Episcopal dioceses in Massachusetts recently declared a climate emergency, their declaration read in part:

“We honor the call of our church’s presiding bishop, the Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, to care for God’s beloved world. We recognize that accelerating global warming and mass extinctions are destroying God’s creation, threatening to make our planet uninhabitable. We likewise recognize that the climate crisis affects low-income communities and communities of color first and hardest…”

They continue, “We strongly urge congregations across Massachusetts to pray, learn, act, and advocate as we build a bold and faith-filled response to the greatest moral challenge of our time.”

This summer’s floods, extreme temperatures, wildfires, and intense storms underscore the reality of this climate emergency. We will be highlighting in future Social Justice Saturday posts specific ways we as individuals and as congregations can respond to this emergency as we pray, learn, act, and advocate.