Mennonite Creation Care Network {MCCN}

09/27/2023

Restoration Retreat is fast approaching. This year features Sarah Werner and her recent book "Rooted in Faith: Practices for Living Well on a Fragile Planet." All attendees will receive a signed copy of her book.

This retreat is designed to leave you feeling more connected, inspired, and empowered to work for positive change in your community and the world beyond. This retreat is open to all ages. Interested individuals, families, youth groups, green teams, and small groups are all welcome.

Find more info and register here: https://friedenswald.org/retreats/ -retreat

07/21/2023

MCCN is proud to announce the start of our Generation Z Energy and Spirit Challenge! It is a friendly competition to:
Embrace our calling as earth keepers
Reduce carbon footprints
Nurture environmental leadership
Utilize and bless youth and young adult gifts
What is it?
Climate change, biodiversity loss, plastic pollution, chemical spills…Now, more than ever, all creation is groaning. But we are not powerless and we are not alone. God loves to work with us and through us!
Between July 1, 2023 and April 15, 2024, respond to environmental needs in one of two categories:
Energy
Reduce carbon emissions in your church building, congregation or local community and estimate how much carbon the measures you take will save.

Spirit
Many problems involving people and planet don’t fit the energy category or are not easily measured with a carbon calculator. Follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in response to one of these. Creating a pollinator garden, addressing a food desert, or helping to clean up after a natural disaster are just a few examples.
Who can participate?
Youth groups
Young adult groups
Mentor-mentee pairs
Other intergenerational combinations involving at least two people

Everybody can do something! And people of all ages have something to contribute. If your church doesn’t have a group of Gen Z members, don’t let that stop you. All projects submitted by April 15, 2024, will be listed online and we will featured as many stories as we can.
Please check out our website for more details and share with any young people in your congregation or community who might be interested.

Challenges youth and young adults to respond to an environmental need in one of two categories: energy or Spirit.

06/30/2023

See Interfaith Power and Light's recent webinar on Solar Financing for Congregations. Also learn more about Direct Pay and how to access it at IPL’s next webinar on July 18, 3 pm Eastern, Climate and Energy Resources for Faith Communities: A Briefing with the U.S. Department of Energy.

Interfaith Power and Light (IPL) is an excellent resource for congregations looking to fund solar panels. See IPL’s Congregational Solar page, which includes a Solar...

06/21/2023

Jennifer Schrock will conclude her time with Mennonite Creation Care Network on September 30, 2023. She is grateful for the opportunity to meet so many people of faith who care about the planet and are doing inspiring things to make it better.

message from outgoing leader

04/25/2023

Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College has an opening for an environmental educator. Make 1200 acres of woodlands, wetlands and prairies your home. https://www.goshen.edu/employment/2023/04/21/environmental-educator-2/

04/22/2023

Don't worry alone! Hear from inspiring speakers and talk to peers about climate change.

Celebrate Earth Day by signing up or enabling someone ages 14 to 25 to come. https://convention.mennoniteusa.org/registration/youth-young-adult-climate-summit/

04/14/2023

This webinar on a green reading of the resurrection narratives sounds hopeful and inspiring!

'Good News to the Whole Creation': A Green Reading of the Resurrection Narratives with the Rev. Phil Hooper

04/05/2023

Members of the MCCN network who are also part of the Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery have called us to prayer many times regarding Oak Flat and the copper mine that is proposed on this site. The White House is expected to make a decision in the next 24 to 48 hours. See the Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery page for urgent information.

03/23/2023

A network member shared this article about yard management for wildlife. This will make you feel better about that pile of brush in your yard.

With spring coming up, many of us are already starting to get our yards and gardens ready for the growing season. Among the activities we may take on, there can be the managing of branches, sticks,…

03/10/2023

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute posted a review of the earth-friendly actions Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary has taken over the last two decades. The information isn't new, but it is helpful to see what institutional commitment looks like over time.

The Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary outside Elkhart, Indiana, has implemented a series of energy efficiency and clean energy initiatives on…

03/08/2023

The author is the keynote speaker for the Youth Climate Conference, July 7, 2023 in Kansas City. Read a review at https://www.mennocreationcare.org/in-deep-waters-spiritual-care-for-young-people-in-a-climate-crisis/