Ralph Solomon shows the group a geoduck during a tour of the Lummi Shellfish Hatchery.

From April 25–May 2, 2015, the UU College of Social Justice ran our first program focused on “Solidarity with Original Nations and Peoples” based in Bellingham, WA. Our group of 16 people from across the country learned about the history and current impacts of U.S. settler colonialism on this land’s original peoples, and the specific struggle of the Lummi Nation in Northwest Washington to protect Cherry Point, a sacred site threatened by a proposed coal terminal. If the terminal is approved, ships carrying over 48 million metric tons of coal to Asia annually would traverse the fragile Salish Sea and interfere with Lummi treaty fishing rights.

Over the past months, Commit2Respond and Climate Justice Month have been a major focus of the Environmental Justice Collaboratory, with Collaboratory members contributing vital leadership on the Steering Committee and many of the planning teams (learn more about the leadership of Commit2Respond).

What an incredible first Climate Justice Month we had!

Individuals, families, faith groups, congregations, and organizations all joined in for a month of spiritual reflection, activities to deepen our connections with each other and the Earth, and discernment in terms of new commitments we can make to shift to a low carbon future, advance human rights, and grow the climate justice movement.

We at Throop Unitarian Universalist Church in Pasadena, California, voted to become an endorsing organization for Commit2Respond just before the start of Climate Justice Month. 

We are being known as “The Permaculture Church” in Pasadena, and part of our vision for ourselves is being known as the church working on sustainability (and spirit and arts). In 2012 we started a permaculture Learning Garden and our most recent effort is to set up a rainwater catchment system.

This Memorial Day we mourn all those who have given their lives in United States wars. We particularly mourn those lives sacrificed in wars motivated by natural resources. As resources become more scarce, such wars will only worsen. We commit to working for a world where no one dies for oil, or water, or land, where the Earth's sacred resources are cherished and shared. May it be so.

This year, the Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth continued our multi-year focus on different aspects of “Working Towards Sustainable Communities” by addressing the critical role energy production and consumption plays in today’s world and the challenges we face in bringing about a just transition to a low carbon future.

In conjunction with the launch of the Commit2Respond campaign, we compiled the latest information and resources, including worship materials and our first-ever commissioned sermon, in order to suggest a range of faithful responses for congregational, small group and individual action. These materials, like the ones from earlier years, are only a keystroke or two away, ready for use at any time of the year for your educational and programming needs and reference.  Please use them generously and share them widely!

Thank you to everyone who signed up and was a part of the first-ever Climate Justice Month!

I was amazed to see the eight organizations leading Commit2Respond all participating in their own ways, from providing Earth Day resources to raising money for a brand new young adult climate justice training to offering opportunities for protecting water rights. Climate Justice Month brought us together in new ways, and it's just the beginning.

Thank you for an amazing, first-ever Climate Justice Month!

Commit2Respond is now more than three thousand people strong, almost 200 organizations and congregations have signed on, and hundreds of us have now made new commitments for climate justice. 

Today is Earth Day, when people all over the planet celebrate our beautiful, life-giving, and fragile Mother Earth.

This year our eight Unitarian Universalist organizations teamed up and created an unprecedented network of concern and action: Commit2Respond. Climate Justice Month, which has been running since World Water Day (March 22), ends today—and we ask you to join us in committing to action in the face of climate change!

As we reach the end of our Climate Justice Month, we have reflected on Rejoicing, Reckoning, Reconnecting, and Committing. 

These are complex ideas on which we will be continually reflecting in our rapidly changing world. But while our internal reflections continue, we must engage with the outer world to create climate justice. Even if we feel like we still have a lot of work to do on our own selves, we have to push our imperfect selves into action. Even if we make mistakes, our imperfect actions will deepen our reflections as we continue the cycle of praxis.