Dear Friends in Christ,
Tomorrow, August 1st is a noteworthy day for us who are followers of God. It’s not a religious holiday per se, but it may be as important as any Christian holiday on our calendar. What is it?

It’s called Earth Overshoot Day. Maybe you’ve heard of it, but I hadn’t until I read an article recently by Miram Voran, a columnist for the Valley News, a small newspaper based in Lebanon, NH.

What is Earth Overshoot Day? Voran describes it as the day “when humans have used up the resources that Earth can generate in the year.” What it means is that after tomorrow, , “we’ll be running a “deficit resource budget” for the rest of 2024, depleting our currently existing terrestrial resources even further. (And, speaking of Christian holidays, it’s interesting to note that in 1971, we reached Earth Overshoot Day on December 25th . For then, we were living closer to our means.)

The causes of this dangerous spiral are numerous. Population increase and human consumption are part of the story. But Voran focuses on our thinking and our responses. She writes of one particularly significant psychological factor: disavowal. She calls it the “worst kind of denial” in which we hold two incompatible mental states as a way of coping with an overwhelming problem. We recognize and imagine we’re exempt from the consequences of the problem and then go about business as usual. This form of denial, then, puts us at even greater peril.

So what can we do? Voran urges us to celebrate Earth Overshoot Day by considering or
experiencing something reflective of human brilliance and then talking with someone about the problem and brainstorming what we might do about it.

So what does this have to do with us Christians and church? It touches and reflects the core of why we’re here! For God created us to be stewards of the earth and its life. And, these we we can become in our personal lives and as a church. In fact, the United Church of Christ has an official UCC designation (Think: Open & Affirming) for this purpose. It’s called being a Green Church.

Now, I wonder if you think becoming a Green Church might be worth exploring. We would engage in a process of considering what we might do personally and together – including reaching out to concerned non-church members and organizations in the community. Doing so would afford us with an opportunity to broaden our mission, strengthen our connections with the community, and build new relationships with others. Who knows where such partnering might lead? Best of all, we’d be entering into mutual mission with those interested in saving the earth and thus, from our perspective, saving all God’s creation on earth from our younger loved ones to Christ’s church!

Now, in what more important way could we be both good stewards of God’s creation and this church?
Blessings of Salvation, Pastor Ed