The Rev. Dr. Leah Schade
Looking for ideas to preach for Earth Sunday? Here is a list of suggestions for various
entry-points and perspectives to approach your sermon. From connecting faith and science, to
preaching outdoors, to preaching about climate change, to countering “green
depression,” here are models that can help inspire you on Earth Sunday and any
Sunday throughout the year. The list
concludes with the eco-sermon that has gotten the most hits since 2012 when the
blog began.
FAITH, SCIENCE AND
CREATION
Help your congregation
understand the value and necessity of connecting faith, science, and the
natural world. The wonders of God’s
cosmos can provide illuminating sermon illustrations while also helping listeners
understand that the rest of God’s Creation is just as worthy of care and
salvation as humans are. The figure of
holy Wisdom inspiring our human wisdom to observe and care for Creation, is a
natural way to connect Scripture and science.
From Cosmos to Atoms: Religion and Science Meet
Epiphany Sermon: Star
Light, Star Bright
Coral Reefs and the
Kingdom of God
The Wisdom of
Creation: Animals
TAKE YOUR
CONGREGATION OUTSIDE!
These sermons are
examples of preaching within the cathedral of Creation. Our Earth-kin become our fellow worshipers,
and we explore what it means to have God “pitch a tent” in our midst and to
suffer as a result of ecological devastation.
But the word of God’s redemption always brings us back to Earth.
Sermon to Creation
(The St. Francis Sermon)
And God Pitched a
Tent - Sermon for a Church Camping Retreat
PREACHING ABOUT
THE CLIMATE CRISIS
How do we preach about
the climate crisis in ways that deal forthrightly with the realities of our
changing planet while also proclaiming God’s work in the midst of this “Good
Friday” of our planet? Here are some
examples:
“I Am Ruah” – A Sermon
on Climate Disruption
There Will Be
Signs: Climate Crisis Sermon, Advent 1
Waking Up to Confront the Storm
Noah on Mt. Ararat: The Floods of Climate Change
Moses Confronts Pharaoh (The Plagues of Egypt)
(Connecting the plagues of Egypt as a consequence of Pharoah’s
hard-heartedness and economic domination to the plagues of climate change and
the hard-heartedness and economic domination of corporate fossil-fuel
Pharaohs.)
COUNTERING “GREEN
DEPRESSION”
Those who work closely
on environmental issues know how serious our problems are on this planet. We can easily become overwhelmed by
despair. But our faith leads us to
return to Scripture to remember how our spiritual ancestors also faced enormous
devastation of their homes and communities, and yet were sustained by God.
Green Shoots from
Dead Stumps
“I Am Ruah” – A Sermon
on Climate Disruption
“Earth Speaks: What’s Next?”
Earth Day
Sermon: “Falling off the Bike”
#1 ECOPREACHER
SERMON
This sermon has gotten
nearly 1500 hits since it was first posted in July of 2013.
Ezekiel Sees the
River
A sermon that names the reality of the “exile” we’re
experiencing on our planet and speaks a word of justice and hope not just for
God’s people, but for the waters of Earth. “God’s river can bring new life.”
To learn more about how you can incorporate environmental themes, justice issues, and sermon illustrations into your sermons, check out my book, Creation-Crisis Preaching: Ecology, Theology and the Pulpit (Chalice Press, 2015). And visit my website: http://www.creationcrisispreaching.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comment. If approved after review, it will be posted on the site.