A report on Oregon Faith Communities & Climate Resilience has just been released. I had a chance to work on a study this last summer for Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon’s Creation Justice and Oregon Interfaith Power & Light, along with my friend and colleague Sarah Loose from Oregon Synod ELCA, director of disaster and climate resilience. We had a grant from the Oregon Health Authority. A summer internship cohort of four joined us in the project. We reached out to faith communities in Oregon regarding their efforts at Earth care, social justice action, and disaster preparedness. The intern cohort created a map of the participating faith communities and artwork to beautify the report. This report is intended to offer an initial snapshot of what is already happening, provide inspiration in a few case studies, and help develop contacts between faith communities working on these topics.
Many faith communities in Oregon are learning to understand the connections between care for the Earth, social justice, and the necessity of preparing for and responding to disasters in new ways due to climate change. They are learning to see the importance of building communities that are more resilient, from ecological resilience to social networks, from reducing fossil fuel use and mitigating climate change to utilizing adaptive strategies and building relationships that can help when disasters strike. Faith communities can be important contributors to climate and community resilience. That said, it takes a reorientation of the ways many of these faith communities have previously operated, so different groups are at different stages in the process.
Cherice Bock 