Earth Day is April 22. Interfaith Power & Light encourages observance of a Faith Climate Action Week April 19-28, presenting excellent opportunities for people of faith to lift up what we should be doing all year: taking good care of God’s gift of creation.
Use this Brethren BINGO card to set goals for your congregation, or celebrate things that you already are doing for creation care. If you complete a line (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal) or—better yet—if you fill all the squares, take a picture of your card and send it with your congregation’s name to messenger@brethren.org.
Brethren Bingo card (PDF). If you have vision issues, you can have the PDF read out loud to you; search to find out the easiest way to do this using your existing browsers and programs.
| B | I | N | G | O |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Install a programmable thermostat and make sure lights are turned off when not needed. | Hold a church movie night using a film such as the award-winning Kiss the Ground | Create a pollinator garden, a bed of native plants, or a rainwater garden, and/or install a rain barrel | Install solar panels or subscribe to community solar or another source of renewable electricity | Offer municipal recycling bins and/or purchase TerraCycle boxes for hard-to-recycle items |
| Plant or offer a community garden space | Adopt a section of road or highway in your area to do regular clean-up | Have a craft time to create reusable shopping bags or gift wrap or other items out of recyclables | Offer a Christian education class or study group around care for creation themes | Measure your food waste after each church meal and try to reduce it to zero |
| Install a compost bin or subscribe your church to a composting service | Become a “Cool Congregation” through Interfaith Power & Light | FREE space | Shift to energy efficient heating and cooling equipment and/or install heat pump technology | Write to your government representatives sharing why creation care is important to your faith |
| Plan a worship service celebrating God’s creation and our care for it | Plant a tree (or two!) on your church property or at another location | Do a church trivia night with questions on climate and creation care | Reuse extra bulletins as scratch paper or as coloring sheets for kids | Hold a creative church carry-in meal with healthy and locally sourced food |
| Support the ministry of your local church camp and join nature activities there | Work to reduce single-use plastics in your church building | Encourage people to bring reusable coffee cups or water bottles for fellowship time | Have a “Walk or Bike to Church” Sunday and/or install a bicycle rack at church | Do children’s activities such as planting native seeds or a sorting recycling game |
Helpful organizations and resources
Church of the Brethren Creation Care Network
Creation Justice Ministries
Interfaith Power & Light
New Community Project
Science for the Church
Churches Together in England Season of Creation
Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology
Climate Reality Project
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
Minnesota Stormwater Manual Environmental Education Toolkit for Congregations