Environmental Ministry
United Church of Christ ministers coined the phrase "environmental racism" in the 1980s, and creation-care has long been a part of the UCC mission. In 2021, the UCC became the first mainline Protestant denomination to publicly affirm and proclaim that nature has rights.
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Following the UCC's strong commitment to creation-care and environmental justice, the Environmental Ministry at Harmony Creek endeavors to do the following:
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Educate our congregation on important environmental issues and practices
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Guide our congregation to protect, appreciate, and celebrate the great gift that is creation
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Show respect for the environment and all living things
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Bear witness to the interconnectedness of all life
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Act in defense of environmental justice
See the below links for more information on the United Church of Christ’s position on the environment.
© Kari Carter
To find out how you can become involved with the HCC Environmental Ministry team, contact us at
hcc.environmental.ministry@gmail.com
From the UCC's Resolution on the Rights of Nature:
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WHEREAS all rights, human and the more than human lives, depend on the flourishing and vital natural cycles of life, and healthy Earth living systems. We are all interconnected to all living beings, and when we diminish or fail to recognize the rights of the natural world, we diminish our own life. Humanity and nature are interconnected, The Rights of Nature recognizes a reciprocal and responsible human relationship with Nature....
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Thirty-Third General Synod of the United Church of Christ boldly proclaims in the public square that:
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Humans need a dramatic shift from the point of view that the Earth and all her resources are available for our sole benefit.
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Nature is not ours for enslavement but was created as a mutually sustaining ecosystem, which is not to be destroyed or abused. People of faith are stewards of the land in our care. We proclaim publicly, “The Earth is the Lord’s, and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it” (PS. 24:1).
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The Earth is an original gift to sustain all life.
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We are indebted to the leadership and witness of Indigenous Peoples and the labor of generations of those who have actively been engaged in the conservancy and stewardship of the Earth as central to their being.
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© Kari Carter
© Kari Carter