• Who We Are
    • Who We Are
    • Mission
    • History
    • General Synod
    • Leadership and Ministry
    • Staff
    • United Church of Christ Board
  • What We Believe
    • What We Believe
    • Worship Ways
    • Daily Devotional
  • What We Do
    • What We Do
    • Office of the General Minister & President
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • Wider Church Ministries
  • News
  • Church Finder
  • Donate Now
  • Search
UCC Logo United Church of Christ
  • Church Finder
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Store
  • Frontline Faith Portal
  • Donate Now
  • Search
  • Who We Are
    • Column
      • About
        • Mission
        • Constitution and Bylaws
        • History
          • UCC Archives
        • UCC Brand Guidelines
        • General Synod
          • Synod 33 Worship Videos
          • Past General Synods
        • Abuse Prevention
    • Column
      • Structure
        • Conferences
        • Affiliated Ministries
          • The Pension Boards
          • Cornerstone Fund
          • Insurance Board
          • The Council for Health and Human Services Ministries
          • Church Building & Loan Fund
          • Convergence
    • Column
      • Team
        • Elected Officers
        • Staff
        • United Church of Christ Board
          • Board Minutes
        • Office of General Counsel
        • UCCOSSN
    • Column
      • Career Opportunities
      • Annual Reports
  • What We Believe
    • Column
      • Worship
        • Statement of Faith of the United Church of Christ – La Declaración de Fe de la Iglesia Unida de Cristo
        • Worship Ways
        • Daily Devotional
        • Sermon Seeds
  • How We Serve
    • Column
      • Office of the General Minister & President
        • Welcome to Human Resources
          • Employee Relations Resources
        • Center for Analytics, Research & Development and Data (CARDD)
          • General CARDD FAQs
          • About The Center for Analytics, Research & Development, and Data (CARDD)
          • Authorized Minister Opt Out
          • Access UCC
          • Archived Reports
          • Assessment Resources
          • Information Policies and Requests
          • Faith Communities Today (FACT) Survey
          • MissionInsite
          • Statistics and Reports
          • Vital Signs and Statistics Blog
          • Data Hub FAQs
          • Data Hub
          • Yearbook and Directory
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Justice
          • Faithful Action Ministries
            • Environmental Justice Ministries
            • Economic Justice
            • Racial Justice
          • Office of Public Policy & Advocacy in Washington D.C.
            • Justice and Peace Action Network
            • Our Faith Our Vote
            • Justice Training Resources
            • Action Center
          • Health and Wholeness Advocacy
            • Disabilities and Mental Health Justice
            • Encuentros Latinx
            • UCC HIV & AIDS Network-UCAN
            • LGBTQ Ministries
            • Our Whole Lives
            • Overdose and Drug Use Ministries
            • Scouting
            • Wellness Ministries
          • The Pilgrim Press & Stillspeaking Publications
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Local Church
          • The Faith Education, Innovation and Formation (Faith INFO)Team
            • Weekly Seeds
            • Youth & Young Adults
          • Worship Resources
            • Worship Ways
            • Sermon Seeds
            • Synod 33 Worship Videos
            • Music and Liturgical Arts
          • Stewardship & Generosity Resources
          • Ministerial Excellence, Support & Authorization (MESA)
            • History, Polity, and Theology
            • Search and Call
            • Ministerial Profiles
            • Ministry Opportunities
            • Manual on Ministry
    • Column
      • Wider Church Ministries
        • Global Ministries
        • Global H.O.P.E.
          • Volunteer Ministries
          • Refugee and Migration Ministries
          • Disaster Ministries
          • Recovering Hope
        • Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations
  • Resources
  • News
    • Column
      • News
        • United Church of Christ News
    • Column
      • Columns
        • Witness for Justice
        • Into the Mystic
        • Getting to the Root of It
        • The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog
        • UCC Roots
        • Encounters at the Well
        • Reflexiones
    • Column
      • Upcoming Events
        • Webinars
      • Subscriptions at the United Church of Christ
      • Changes & Deaths
  • Giving
    • Column
      • Donate Now
      • Ways to Give
        • Giving Tuesday
        • General Synod 2021 Thursday in Black Offering
        • General Synod 2021 Racial Justice Offering
        • Disaster Ministries: How to Give
        • Our Church’s Wider Mission
          • Our Church’s Wider Mission Basic Support
          • Strengthen the Church
          • One Great Hour of Sharing
          • Neighbors in Need
          • Christmas Fund
          • 5 for 5
    • Column
      • Ways We Give
        • Scholarships & Grants

  • Home
  • News
  • Column
  • The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog
  • A Church Takes Climate Action (in Spite of the Pandemic)

A Church Takes Climate Action (in Spite of the Pandemic)

by Allyson Sawtell | published on Feb 1, 2022

Washington Park UCC in Denver, Colorado, has a long history of engagement with social and environmental justice work. So it seemed only natural for the church to continue in this tradition, by voting to take on the UCC’s Council for Climate Justice’s Kairos Call to Action which was issued at the start of 2020 and urged churches to engage in an all out ten-year mobilization to address climate and inequality.

We formed a “Kairos Call to Action Working Group,” and got to work writing an Eco-Constitution that outlined our beliefs, commitments, and areas for action. This Eco-Constitution was affirmed by vote of the congregation in June 2020.

We created the Eco-Constitution because we believe it is important to frame our actions, to understand why we do what we do, and to claim our beliefs. We affirm that we operate out of the frame that strives to move from human-centered theology and practice, and towards responsible membership in Earth Community. 

We planned and implemented several activities centered in three areas:

  • Awareness – We led a book study of Brooks Berndt’s “Cathedral on Fire”, and hosted a viewing and conversation on the documentary film “The Story of Plastic,” all via Zoom.
  • Reflection/Ritual – We implemented “Kairos Moments” in our Zoom services of worship, where we spent a few moments imparting information about projects and programs that are doing good work in caring for Creation. Other Kairos Moments included general reflections on such things as the importance of community in helping us lament Creation’s devastation and to face hard truths. We also included informational blurbs in our monthly church newsletter.
  • Action/Connection – Church members participated in various climate actions in downtown Denver. Our church has installed solar panels on our roof.  We helped create and have participated actively in a Climate Justice team for the Rocky Mountain Conference in collaboration with our Conference’s camp and conference center, LaForet.

Future plans include:

  • Plans for a community garden/native plantings project, which would also donate fresh produce to our food pantry.
  • Transforming our Kairos Moments into Kairos Rituals, to be offered twice a month in our Sunday service. They will have a “Yes/And” format, for example: Yes, we lament species going extinct, And,we celebrate with hope, as groups work tirelessly to bring species back from extinction.
  • We are planning a “Kairos Wall” in our church building, which would include artwork, information, resources, and celebration of what our church folk and others are doing. We are not meeting in person yet, but hope to have it started by the time we meet together again.

The Rev. Allyson Sawtell is a member of Washington Park UCC in Denver, Colorado, and serves as the convener of their Kairos Working Group.

Categories: The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog

Sign Up For Our Newsletter








Privacy Policy






Related News

The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog

Faith Communities Unite for Trees

As part of the process of becoming a Creation Justice Church, Coral Gables Congregational,...

Read More
The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog

Arts and Activism Lecture Series

On World Communion Sunday in October of 2022, Coral Gables Congregational, United Church of...

Read More
The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog

When the Land Owns Us

Edgar Villanueva, a non-profit leader and member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, wrote...

Read More
  • Column
    • Local Church and Conference Resource Directory
    • Mission
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • General Synod Resolutions
  • Column
    • Contact
    • News
    • Store

Content on ucc.org is copyrighted by the National Setting of the United Church of Christ and may be only shared according to the guidelines outlined here.

1300 E. 9th Street, Suite 1100
Cleveland, Ohio 44114

  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Subscribe on YouTube

Donate Now


UCC Crest
© United Church of Christ 2023. Privacy Policy.
Crafted by Cornershop Creative