The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, located on the fringes of northern Alaska, is so remote that very few nonindigenous people will ever step foot on the land. This pristine land is home to the Gwich...
Changing your mind is never easy. If you have believed that something is true for a long time, it can be challenging to be convinced that it’s not true. I was in Paris in 2015 for the meeting of the...
We lived in one of our houses in Princeton, NJ for ten years. We had nice neighbors, but their niceness was tested. Our whole family was away from home on a Saturday morning and when we returned, we...
The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) was created in 2006 at a conference which it sponsored at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey to enable the US religious...
In the Biblical story known as the Parable of the Talents, an interesting, if not surprising, question is raised about investments. The Biblical story is not afraid to consider whether or not we make...
Jesus did not teach that the brokenness that sometimes exists in the relationships between nations and between individuals should be solved by the use of violence. Luke 6:29 says "If anyone slaps you...
During Anders' time at Bates College in Maine (he just graduated), he often went to Lewiston, Maine’s downtown skatepark, where he met with several young people. He learned a lot about their lives and...
Proverbs states in 14:31 that “Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but those who are kind to the needy honor Him”. The human health of poor people suffers from the effects of the climate...
“The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it”, says the NRSV in Psalm 24:1. God has called human beings to take care of that precious gift. We need to work hard to protect the earth from threats to...
I was at the United Nations conference on climate change (called “COP” for Conference of Parties) in Dubai of the United Arab Emirates in December. I watched a David versus Goliath battle. The fossil...
The consensus in Fiji is that the life changes they are forced to endure are the result of the climate crisis. “We know it affects our lives”, said Mosese, the receptionist at the hotel where I was...
Most of us take for granted that we will enter a dark room and can flick on the lights, that our homes will be warm in winter, that we will look out the window of a car and watch the world go by. We...
Among the passages of scripture that Christians are inspired by is the parable of the Widow and the Judge found in Luke 18:1-8. The passage informs the Christian call to social justice and the...
The Bible can help us understand contemporary events in new ways. The story of the Syrophoenician woman who argues with Jesus about healing her daughter helpfully sheds light on a very important event...
A friend of mine visited a low-income congregation in New Jersey several years ago. The pastor told him the congregation had huge energy bills every month equal to the pastor’s salary. The building...
In Jeremiah 32, we read that Jerusalem is being attacked by the Chaldeans and Jeremiah is imprisoned by King Zedekiah of Judah. Jeremiah’s cousin comes to him to ask him to buy a piece of land...
On Nov. 10 at the UN Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland (which Rich Killmer attended), six major automakers including Ford, Mercedes-Benz, General Motors and Volvo, as well as 30 national governments...
Those of us who are Christians committed to ending the climate crisis receive solace from Isaiah 40:31. “Yet, the strength of those who wait with hope in the Lord will be renewed. They will soar on...
Our call to be good stewards of God’s earth and to care for one another is under threat in many places, but none more notable than Alaska. For the first time, oil drilling will be allowed in the...
President Joe Biden ordered a pause on new oil and gas leases on public lands in an executive order issued Jan. 27 to address the climate crisis. He also committed his administration to an ambitious...
The Bible has many references to the word “hope”. There is one verse in particular that buoys those of us who are called to end the climate crisis. Isaiah 40:31 says, “But those who hope in the Lord...
Once it is gone, it is gone. If a child breaks a toy or if you inadvertently burn a letter to you from your grandmother, it is gone. It doesn’t come back. The world has a very special asset, located...
Many of us have found it instructive that John Calvin, the theological father for reformed Christians, in the 1559 version of his Institutes of the Christian Religion wrote this about those in civil...
The Trump administration, on August 17, 2020, finalized its plan to open up part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska to oil and gas development, a move that overturns six decades...
It is a primary belief of reformed Christians that God is at work in the world healing that which is broken and calling all Christians to participate in God’s redemption of the world. In addition...
There is a relatively new threat to the health of Americans and Canadians. The flourishing future for all people, which our religious tradition envisions, is threatened by PFAS chemicals, which...
In 1992, the nations of the world met in Rio de Janeiro and agreed that they had a responsibility to respond to the reality of climate change. They created the UN Framework Convention on Climate...
In 1992, the nations of the world met in Rio de Janeiro and agreed that they had a responsibility to respond to the reality of climate change. They created the UN Framework Convention on Climate...
There is an old expression, “Home is where the heart is”. Our home is not just our family or our community, our nation or the family of nations. Our home is also God’s creation. As a faith leader, I...
The state of Maine Legislature and its governor, Janet Mills, signed a new law on June 13, 2019 that protects its citizens from two groups of ubiquitous chemicals that threaten human health...
In honor of today's Global Climate Strike, we offer this post from long-time climate organizer, Rev. Rich Killmer of the CRC's Climate Witness Project. I am 76 years old. I often think about the kind...
“Earth’s climate is now changing faster than at any point in the history of modern civilization, primarily as a result of human activities,” 13 U.S. federal agencies declared in the Fourth National...
The morality of any society can be judged by how it cares for people and how it cares for God’s gift of creation. The Clean Water Rule, put forward by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2015...
The U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld President Donald Trump’s travel ban in a 5-4 vote. It restricts entry of citizens from seven countries to varying degrees: Iran, North Korea, Syria, Libya, Yemen...
Freedom of religion is important to Canadians and Americans and is guaranteed by the Constitutions of both countries. No one can be prohibited from worshipping as they wish. The Canadian Charter of...
