All Church Read for 2022
The Faith Formation Board, in collaboration with the Mission & Justice Board, has selected Climate Church, Climate World by Jim Antal, a UCC pastor, as the All Church Read for 2022. (Thanks, Larry Menninga, for the recommendation!)
The book argues “that climate change is the greatest moral challenge humanity has ever faced. Hunger, refugees, poverty, inequality, deadly viruses, war—climate change multiplies all forms of global social injustice. Environmental leader Reverend Jim Antal presents a compelling case that it’s time for the church to meet this moral challenge, just as the church addressed previous moral challenges. Antal calls for the church to embrace a new vocation so that future generations might live in harmony with God’s creation” (Rowman and Littlefield).
Opportunities to Read & Discuss
The Adult Forum will start discussing the book on Wednesday, March 9 at 7 PM. Anyone is welcome to participate.
However, we also realize that not everyone is available at that time. If you are part of another group, you might add the book to your list to read and discuss sometime in 2022. The book is geared toward discussion groups, and makes the facilitator’s job easy by providing a list of questions at the end of each chapter!
Author Visit(s)
The Faith Formation Board is communicating with the author to arrange a visit or two. The first will be a virtual “meet the author” event likely to be held in May, after the Adult Forum has completed their reading of the book.
The second opportunity may be an in-person visit with Jim Antal sometime in the fall. This option needs further exploration and coordination with people and groups, including outside of FCCB. If you would like to be involved in helping make this second visit happen, please contact Nancy Fayram.
Why this book? Why now?
Faith Formation is committed to connecting our work with that of other boards. One of the three emphasis areas for the Mission & Justice Board is “Caring for the Earth.” Climate Church, Climate World is a wonderful opportunity for the two boards to collaborate and provide an opportunity for learning how our faith traditions can support our learning and activism around climate justice.
The issue of climate change and climate justice are important to the larger United Church of Christ, which has adopted two resolutions in recent years on these topics. You can read these resolutions at the links below.
“Who Will Speak For The Trees?” A Resolution On The Rights Of Nature - July 2021
The Earth Is The Lord’s – Not Ours To Wreck: Imperatives For A New Moral Era - July 2017
To stay informed on the UCC’s work on environmental justice, check out The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog. The UCC Council for Climate Justice posted a short read on the blog titled 10 Ways to Mobilize. By reading Climate Church, Climate World, we are doing the first thing on the list - “Enter a period of study and immersion.”
Getting your hands on the book
The book is available in hard copy, digital and audio formats.
- Village Books is ordering 25 copies, which should be available soon for $28.60 each.
- The Kindle version is immediately available from Amazon. Click on the link at Jim Antal’s web site.
- The church library has a copy. Since it is in high demand, you can reserve it by sending an email to ted@fccb.net.
- The Bellingham Public Library has a copy of the book. It's checked out until Feb 23, but a hold can be placed.
Other sources:
If you have questions, would like to help plan author visits, or have other ideas or suggestions, please contact Ted Huffman (ted@fccb.net).
