Sacred Air: Climate and Energy

Eco-Justice Series

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How are we called to respond to the climate crisis?

Sacred Air: Climate and Energy, the second program in JustFaith Ministries’ Ecojustice Series, explores the impact of the climate crisis and equips people of faith to respond.

Program Overview

Sacred Air: Climate and Energy, the second program in JustFaith Ministries’ Eco-Justice Series, explores the impact of the climate crisis on God’s creation and God’s people.

In order to discern ways to restore the health of our planet and those who live on it, small groups learn about causes and effects of the climate crisis. Topics include greenhouse gases, air pollution, fossil fuels, renewable energy, the Paris Agreement, and environmental racism. Through prayer and spiritual practices, participants notice the breath of God that flows through them, granting them the life and energy to address this difficult topic with passion and resilience. Participants can expect to leave Sacred Air: Climate and Energy better equipped to address the climate crisis, both by mobilizing their communities and by making personal choices that honor God’s creation.

Each program in the eco-justice series includes eight two-hour sessions, plus an immersion experience and an optional get-to-know-you session. All programs include prayer, dialogue, active listening, weekly spiritual practices, and relationship-building. You can stop after one eight-session program, or you can offer all three programs. You do not need to take the eco-justice programs in order.

Program Goals

Goals for Sacred Air: Climate and Energy include:

Understand the basic principles of the climate crisis: what is it and what is causing it? How does the climate crisis affect us now, and what impact will it have on our future?

Learn about the climate crisis’s disproportionate effects on poor communities and communities of color, as well as discern how we might seek justice together through solidarity, advocacy, and organizing.

Develop a plan for addressing the climate crisis through advocacy, grassroots and parish-based organizing, and daily decision-making.

Sessions

Sacred Air: Climate and Energy consists of eight 2-hour sessions, an immersion experience, and an optional get-to-know-you session.

Recommended group size is 8-14.

Program Framework & Session Topics

  • Session 1: Sacred Air, Sacred Breath

  • Session 2: Climate Change: Is It Even Real?

  • Session 3: Fossil Fuels and Renewable Energy

  • Session 4: Greenhouse Gases and Carbon Footprint

  • Session 5: Lament and Hope (Guest Speaker)

  • Session 6: Environmental Justice

  • Immersion experience in or with the local community

  • Session 7: Climate Communication

  • Session 8: Climate Action

Sessions include:

Prayer and reflection
Discussion of reading
Videos & group activities
Spiritual practices
Integration of faith

Want to know more?

An overview, sample session, and program booklet are available for free download.

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Program Promotion

Need help inviting people to your small group?

This program promotion kit contains sample social media posts, bulletin announcements, email invitations, and more.

Cost

We believe strongly in making our programs inclusive and available to everyone

Cost should never be a barrier to participation, and we are committed to working with individuals and organizations to ensure meaningful access through flexible pricing options. Why do we use a sliding fee scale?

There are Two Registration Options:

Option 1: Individual Participant Registration

Participants register and pay individually using a sliding-scale fee of $45, $60, or $75 per person, based on ability to pay. If $45 is still inaccessible, participants can choose the Pay-What-You-Can option to choose a price that is right for them.

  • There is no charge for up to two facilitators.
  • A minimum of 8 participants is strongly recommended.

Option 2: Organization-Sponsored Registration

A church or organization may choose to cover registration for all participants using a sliding fee scale of $45, $60, or $75 per person, based on ability to pay.

  • The organization will be billed a flat rate of the amount chosen below, which covers up to 8 participants.
  • For groups larger than 8, the organization will be invoiced an additional $45, $60, or $75 per participant when the group begins, price depending on the chosen amount below.
  • If the lowest fee is inaccessible to your organization or ministry, choose the Pay-What-You-Can Rate to learn about shared-cost or reduced-fee options.

What the Registration Fee Includes

  • Comprehensive materials for each session (instant download upon purchase)
  • Facilitation scripts, guidance, and training resources
  • Retreat and immersion planning assistance
  • Adaptations for virtual groups
  • Direct access to program staff for ongoing support
  • Books are an additional cost and may be purchased separately through the bookstore.

To ensure our programs remain accessible while remaining sustainable, we utilize a sliding fee scale of $45 to $75 for our registrations. We invite you to choose the registration tier that best reflects you or your faith community's current financial reality. Paying on the higher end allows us to keep the program affordable for all.

We also offer a Pay-What-You-Can Rate. If the lowest rate does not seem accessible to you or your church at this time, don’t let this be a barrier to participation. Contact our staff here to learn about shared-cost or reduced fee options.

 

Register

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What our program participants are saying

As inhabitants of our beautiful planet, we have lost that important and sacred connection to the earth as it houses and sustains us. I love how these sessions help to reawaken that connection and bring a greater awareness to the issues around the land we rely on for food, the air that we breathe, and the water that sustains all life. Not only do they create a greater awareness of the effects of climate change, they also encourage spiritual growth and challenge our complacency. By bringing to light the deeply connected justice issues around climate change such as migration, poverty, food insecurity and health concerns of those living on the margins, participants are challenged to explore their own responses and advocate for more sustainable ways of living both locally and globally. This is a great series and I would encourage everyone to participate!

JoAnn Braegelman   ·  St. Cloud, MN

I was a little skeptical of this program on my first day of the class; I was the only person of color and less than 50 years old and wondering if the course's material would even be relevant to my experience. I'm glad I stayed because I learned so much and was able to share so much of my experience and my community and the environmental justice work that I do from an urban perspective that opened the minds of all of my classmates. It was an awesome experience that I'd recommend to everyone.

Melissa Barber