A Season of Sacred Activism: 2023 Spring for Change, Active for Earthcare

2023 Virtual Worship Resources
for Earth Day & Spring for Change

As part of Spring for Change: A Season of Sacred Activism this year, Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth is producing a robust and beautiful virtual worship service for viewing online on Earth Day, or using in full or in part by participating congregations this Spring.

Thank you to all who joined us for our Zoom Broadcast on Thursday, April 20th!

Our faith calls us into relationship with the sacred elements of Earth and to put power in the hands of the many and not the few. This Earth Day, Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth was delighted to offer in meditation, song, and stories to honor nature’s elements and become Active for Earthcare – a call to engage in the face of the climate crisis. Read our 2023 Earth Day Order of Service and contributor biographies here!

Still interested to watch or re-watch? Register below for personal or congregation use!

If you would like to enjoy the service again or share the worship service with your entire congregation, we are happy to offer in two formats:

  • Complete service: a video of the entire service, including all worship elements, will be available online to congregations to stream via the platform of their choice. 
  • Distinct worship elements: videos of elemental piece of the service will be available for congregations to choose from and integrate into their own liturgies. 

Timing

This service is being developed with “Earth Month” in mind, but can be used on whatever Sunday works best for your congregation’s worship calendar. Once your congregation is registered, the videos will be sent to you by our Program Director!

Cost

We are asking that congregations make a donation to UUMFE for this worship service resource, much like they would pay a guest worship leader and/or musician.

We recommend using the UU Ministers Association’s Scale of Professional Fees as a guide ($315 – small congregations; $350 – mid-sized congregations; $385 – large congregations; $500 – very generous congregations). If such a donation is beyond the abilities of your congregation, please pay what you can. We encourage larger congregations with bigger budgets to donate more.

Your donations are critical to the work of UU Ministry for Earth to sustain and nurture UU Young Adults for Climate Justice, UU BIPOC Caucus on Climate Justice, Strengthening Local Climate Commitments, and all the justice-seeking initiatives of UU Ministry for Earth.

We also ask that your congregation dedicate a Sunday offering to UU Ministry For Earth on the day you use these materials, if possible. We will provide the invitation to the offering, as well as instructions about how to give, in the worship video(s).

If you commit to making a contribution to UUMFE in either or both of these ways, you will receive follow-up communication from us about how to complete your donations. Your generous contributions allow UUMFE to continue our shared ministry to create a better world rooted in environmental and climate justice.  We appreciate your participation, and your generous support. 

We look forward to worshiping with you!

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Other Worship Readings & Resources

Selected Readings by Stephen Shick

The Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth wishes to extend deep gratitude to the Reverend Stephen Shick for his willingness to share the following pieces of writing as worship resources to support Spring for Change: a Season of Sacred Activism.

This resource contains seven new unpublished works, as well as twelve selected readings from Stephen Shick’s two Skinner House publications: Be the Change: Poems, Prayers and Meditations for Peacemakers and Justice Seekers and Consider the Lilies.

Download PDF

Other Resources:


Taking a “Share the Plate” Donation

Many Unitarian Universalist congregations have a practice of sharing their Sunday offering with community organizations and groups: some congregations give away their entire offering one Sunday each month; others “split the plate” every Sunday and give half of the offering to a deserving cause.

How to Share the Plate
Return to Spring for Change Home Page

Many Unitarian Universalist congregations celebrate Earth Day with an entire month of reflection, action, and new commitments to environmental and climate justice. “Climate Justice Month” can be celebrated for the month of April, or from the month between World Water Day (March 22) and Earth Day (April 22).

During COVID-19, we provided live and recorded Earth Day worship services. You can find a sampling here. 

The 2014-2017 Commit2Respond campaign, of which UU Ministry for Earth was a founding partner, provided materials each year for Climate Justice Month 2015-2017 and UU Ministry for Earth has continued releasing support resources for Climate Justice Month 2018. These resources may be helpful inspiration to UUs and other people of faith and conscience in ongoing Earth Day and Climate Justice Month observances.

Graphic of the earth with a multi-generational family and the words "Justice for Each Generation - Climate Justice Month 2018"

 Climate Justice Month 2018

The theme of Climate Justice Month 2018 is “Justice for #EachGeneration”, exploring how climate change is a threat to intergenerational equity and expressing solidarity with the 21 youth plaintiffs of the Juliana vs U.S. constitutional climate lawsuit. UU Ministry for Earth and UU Young Adults for Climate Justice are co-sponsors of an effort to deliver 1,000 Justice for #EachGeneration worship services collectively, in partnership with the United Church of Christ Council for Climate Justice and numerous other organizations.

A toolkit is provided to assist congregations in organizing worship services and events:

DOWNLOAD 2018 TOOLKIT

Climate Justice Month logo with colorful buildings and trees

Climate Justice Month 2017

Climate Justice Month 2017 drew inspiration from Joanna Macy’s Spiral of the Work That Reconnects, a spiritual practice that can help individuals or communities to find deeper levels of authenticity and actualization. “The activist’s inner journey appears to me like a spiral, interconnecting four successive stages or movements that feed into each other.” —Joanna Macy

Each week of the month featured a different theme:

  • Week 1: Opening to Gratitude
  • Week 2: Honoring Our Pain for the World
  • Weeks 3 & 4: Seeing With New Eyes
  • Weeks 5 & 6: Going Forth

A toolkit provided inspiration, readings, tools, and other resources related to each theme, as well as opportunities for action and deepening engagement.

DOWNLOAD 2017 TOOLKIT


Climate Justice Month 2016

Climate Justice Month 2016 centered on water justice, honoring International climate commitments, reclaiming democracy, and personal reflection through poetry.

The month featured personal messages and calls to action from UU environmental justice leaders, including Paula Cole Jones, Aly Tharp, Irene Keim, Lavona Grow, and Rev. Karen Brammer, as well as poetry from Christopher D. Sims, Rev. Maria Cristina Vlassidis, Paula Cole Jones, and others.

The messages and poetry shared throughout the month were compiled in a Climate Justice Month 2016 packet.

DOWNLOAD 2016 PACKET


Climate Justice Month 2015

The inaugural Climate Justice Month in 2015 featured daily messages that each offered a reflection, a spiritual practice, and a resource to take it further, plus a framing message at the beginning of each themed week—all geared toward getting spiritually grounded and making bold, lasting commitments to climate justice.

These messages were written and/or solicited by UU environmental justice leaders Rev. Sofia Betancourt, Rev. Peggy Clarke, Tim DeChristopher, Kat Liu, and Rev. Jennifer Nordstrom.

The weekly themes were:

  • Week 1: Water: Rejoicing and Celebrating in Our Natural World
  • Week 2: Fire: Reckoning with and Grieving the Loss We are Confronting
  • Week 3: Air: Reconnecting with Front-Line Communities and Earth in All Her Glory
  • Week 4: Earth: Committing to a New Way

A 2015 Climate Justice Month packet was created to provide all of the daily messages so that anyone can embark on a Climate Justice Month any time of year.

DOWNLOAD 2015 PACKET

In addition, the five leaders above compiled worship resources that tied into each weekly theme: