As part of developing our 2024 Earth Day Resource: “Plastic Jesus, Real Faith in a Synthetic World,” we commissioned six artists to gather in retreat and to collaboratively create songs for use in worship that reflect on caring for God’s creation in the face of the plastic pollution crisis. Sarah Macias was their host at Sister Grove Farm.
Plastic first started being created on a global scale in the 1950s. Since then, annual plastic production has exploded to an estimated 460 million tons as of 2019. While plastic has many beneficial uses, single-use plastics have become a real environmental threat.
The National Youth Cabinet met Feb. 2-4, 2024, to discern the theme for National Youth Sunday. The cabinet selected Jeremiah 29:11 as their focus scripture, with the theme “Your life; God’s direction.”
On Sunday, Nov. 5, Church of the Brethren congregations around the country will celebrate the leadership of their junior high youth in worship. The National Junior High Sunday theme is “Worried and Distracted,” from the story of Jesus’ visit with Martha and Mary.
The National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC) has shared the following Juneteenth responsive reading by Leslie Copeland-Tune, COO of the NCC. It was first used at an NCC chapel service held at the United Methodist Building in Washington, D.C., on June 10, 2019:
National Youth Sunday is in early May and provides congregations the chance to experience and celebrate the faith and creativity of their youth within the context of worship. In other words, it’s a chance for youth to “take over” worship from the adults, offering their own perspectives and leadership in many forms.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) will convene a global online prayer service on March 26 at 9 a.m. (Eastern time, or 2 p.m. Central European Time) as part of “A Week of Prayer in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic.” The week of prayer begins Monday, March 22, to commemorate a year since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the spread of COVID-19 a pandemic.
