Guest blog: Creation Justice Ministries’ Witness for Creation in Arizona
Autumn Byars and Bhikkhu Vasu Bandhu
Guest blog by Autumn Byars, member of University Lutheran Church, Tempe, AZ and former Hunger Advocacy Fellow at LAMA.
Since 2008, the World Council of Churches has celebrated the Season of Creation, during what is otherwise marked as Ordinary Time on the liturgical calendar. During this mini liturgical season, lasting from September 1 to October 4, churches are encouraged to pray for creation and take action on ecological issues.
Last Tuesday, I was invited to join Creation Justice Ministries’ Witness For Creation series in observation of the 2025 Season of Creation! This year, we are faced with many pieces of legislation, policy changes, and budget cuts that threaten to rollback important protections and exploit the earth’s natural resources. In response, CJM has organized a series of press conferences across the country, working closely with local interfaith and ecumenical groups.
CJM is a nationwide, ecumenical group focused on policy advocacy that protects, restores, and shares Gods creation for the benefit of all peoples. The ELCA is a member of CJM, along with a wide range of other denominations. We are currently represented by Christine Moffett, who oversees environmental policy for ELCA Advocacy, and Phoebe Morad from Lutherans Restoring Creation.
At the invitation of the planning team, I joined the Phoenix press conference and worship service held at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix. This event was hosted by Creation Justice Ministries, and put on in partnership with local partners Arizona Faith Network, Arizona Interfaith Power and Light, and Corazón. Between these groups, many different denominations and religious groups were present!
Bhikkhu Vasu Bandhu (interfaith manager at AFN) and I worked together to deliver a call to worship and benediction. It was an honor to open and close the day’s event as we brought the assembly together and sent them forth.
Each of the Witness for Creation events focuses on local issues relating to climate justice and creation care. Here in Arizona, our climate is tightly intertwined with how we must care for our most vulnerable neighbors in need, including migrants, the unhoused, and Indigenous Arizonans. As a result, our speakers focused on the sanctity and importance of wise water stewardship, the vulnerability of sacred sites, and, crucially, the escalating summer temperatures in our state.
Vasu and I opened the service with a call to worship, invoking the sacred beauty of the desert. Afterward, a slate of speakers preached on the ways these issues have affected their congregations and communities, and about the ministries of their congregations/organizations. Several of them run ministries for the unhoused and have seen growing need for services as summers continue to get hotter. This year, though, county support for cooling centers decreased and cities are implementing harsher stipulations about where people can seek shelter, even as the summer heat becomes increasingly dire.
We were reminded of the ways climate change drives immigration and of our sacred duty to welcome the foreigner. Our attention was called to the threat federal policy changes are posing to sacred sites and protected public lands across our state. Tania Lopez, Leadership Management Coordinator from Corazón Arizona offered us a moving meditation on Psalm 36, and the reminder that we collectively have the power to offer each other refuge from the mounting consequences of climate change. Finally, we were offered powerful calls to action, highlighting the work to be done in many spheres, from direct land stewardship, to policy advocacy on the local, state, and federal levels.
After the remarks and some worship music, Vasu and I closed the service, calling forth peace, open hearts, and commitment to the good work in front of us.
The day was a wonderful opportunity to see old colleagues and meet new friends! Most importantly, it enabled a strong coalition of diverse groups to offer our concerns and public witness to the sanctity of creation. As we continue to see the growing effects of climate change, the depletion of natural resources through greed, and the potential losses of important protected sites, it is more important than ever to honor Gods call to faithfully and compassionately steward Creation. It is impossible to care for our unhoused and migrant neighbors without also concerning ourselves with water use, rising temperatures, and land use in Arizona. We owe it to each other, ourselves, and future generations to answer this call.
“The path to a world where all of Gods creation is honored with dignity, treated with care, and protected from harm is a long one; it is a blessing to walk that path together.”
It isn’t possible for any one of us, or indeed any one congregation or denomination, to offset the widespread impacts to our Earth’s climate, which is why it is important to band together. There are many different ways to meet this call, and I hope you will join us in doing so. Perhaps your congregation is interested in creation justice — CJM and AZIPL both offer worship materials, educational guides, and conversation starters. Lutherans Restoring Creations provides guidance for churches looking to manage their properties in proactive ways. Or, if you prefer to leverage your personal advocacy, all of the partner organizations engage in adocacy on the state, local, and federal levels. AZIPL, AFN, and Corazon each offer a different set of priority issues and a new group of people of faith to connect with. Arizona faith network continues to host a wide range of programming, including advocacy, news updates, and opportunities to support heat relief programs. Just this week, ELCA Advocacy issued an action alert to protect funding for clean air and water in the upcoming federal budget.
If you are interested in hearing the powerful remarks given last Tuesday, watch a recording of the livestream here (45 mins). I encourage you to listen to these community leaders from around the state and the many different perspectives and challenges they offered.
The CMJ press release is also available to the public (and for reprinting!). Read it here!
Photos were taken by Pastor Eric Lederman and music was provided by Steve Raml.
The path to a world where all of Gods creation is honored with dignity, treated with care, and protected from harm is a long one; it is a blessing to walk that path together.