• 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
  • 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
    • 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 2020
            • 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 & 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
      • 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
  • The Parable of the Sower and the Planting of a Yard Sign

The Parable of the Sower and the Planting of a Yard Sign

by Berndt, Brooks | published on Jul 14, 2017

YardSign600.jpgWhen preachers reflect from the pulpit on the familiar parable of the sower, many undoubtedly expound upon the metaphorical meaning of where the sower’s seeds fall: the path, the rocky ground, the thorns, and the good soil. What sometimes gets missed is that this is also a scripture about prophetic hope in the face of stubborn intransigence. The initial situation is bleak. The heart of the people has “grown dull.” They can neither see nor hear what is before them. Still, Jesus counsels a persistent faith. He knows that the “mysteries of the kingdom” are germinating and a bountiful harvest will come.

In our current context, it is easy to become fixated on the rocky and thorny parts of our world—a world in desperate peril due to climate change and yet a world in which too few seem to hear and care. Churches, however, have a literal opportunity to do some planting. Right on their front lawns, churches can plant yard signs that declare, “We [heart] Planet Earth. We support the Paris Accord.” The sign serves as a moral witness against the Trump administration’s decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Accord, the historic agreement of 196 nations to reduce greenhouse gases and address the harms caused by damage to our climate.

Anyone can download the graphic for the sign and send it to a print shop or office supply store to create a yard sign for a minimal cost. To help spread the word even further, a template for a press release is also available, so that local media outlets can be informed of your church’s stand. You can also share what you have planted by sending an email with a photo of the sign in front of your church.

The Rev. Dr. Brooks Berndt is the Minister for Environmental Justice for the United Church of Christ. He can be found on Twitter as The_Green_Rev.

Categories: Column The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog

Sign Up For Our Newsletter








Privacy Policy






Related News

Witness for Justice
Witness for Justice

Channeling Rage

Jessica QuinnOnline Communications Specialist, Washington D.C. Office On June 11, staff...

Read More
The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog

Grant Recipients for Climate Justice Fellowships

To further support prophetic climate ministries, the UCC Council for Climate Justice raised...

Read More
The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog

Getting to Know Andrew Wells-Bean

Andrew Wells-Bean is the United Church of Christ's Environmental Justice Fellow. Andy...

Read More
  • Column
    • Local Church and Conference Resource Directory
    • Mission
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • General Synod 33 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.
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Subscribe on YouTube

Donate Now


UCC Crest
© United Church of Christ 2022. Privacy Policy.
Crafted by Cornershop Creative