Creation Care
St Andrew’s Responds to the Climate Crisis
Our parishioners are concerned about the impacts of climate change on our planet and all of God’s creation. St. Andrew’s has been focused on Climate Action since 2007 when we responded to a 350.org call to action to ring our bell 350 times to raise the climate alarm. It worked! The Ayer Police turned up to find out what we were up to.
In 2010, we launched a 6-week long Go Greener campaign to highlight the connection between church, God, Creation Care, and climate action. Our challenge was to get people to take action through learning, community events, and the change to win prizes. The whole Go Greener event was open to the community.
Since then, we have conducted multiple energy assessments on our buildings with the support of the Diocese of Massachusetts, HEET, and MassSave. We took action to conserve energy by replacing windows and the church roof, increasing insulation, replacing lightbulbs, installing more efficient heating/cooling equipment, and more. We have held book studies focused on climate change as well using the Earth Gospel. We have encouraged carbon/energy fasting during Lent and our Teen/Tween groups organized a climate ribbon event in 2022. We have had parishioners participate in Diocesan taskforces and events focused on Climate Change.
Climate Liturgy Project - 2023
In 2023, St. Andrew’s was selected as one of 6 parishes from across North America to participate in a year-long partnership to develop new resources and practices for worship and mission in response to climate change.
Climate Liturgy Project - 2024
During Lent 2024, we will experience different worship rituals and prayers, and we will create community spaces to talk about organizing climate action. We will open doors to others in our communities who care about climate change.
Prayer for Creation Care
With God’s grace, let peace and justice flow through us all as we PRAY, LEARN, ACT, and ADVOCATE.
When we PRAY we ground ourselves in faith and hope.
When we LEARN, we realize that we are not alone and change is possible.
Together these give us strength to ACT and ADVOCATE so that all God’s creatures can enjoy a peaceful, just, and sustainable life, in harmony with each other and with God’s creation. (https://www.diomass.org/creation-care)