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Eco-Justice Connection

Eco-Justice Connection

An initiative of the North Carolina Council of Churches

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Creation Care

90 Years Rooted in Faith: Journey through Time

April 1, 2025 By Susannah Tuttle, Eco-Justice Connection Director

As we celebrate 90 years of faithful work for justice and equity this year, we’re sharing stories of 90 Years Rooted in Faith that reflect the heart of the North Carolina Council […]

90 Years Rooted in Faith: Journey through Time

April 1, 2025 by Susannah Tuttle, Eco-Justice Connection Director

As we celebrate 90 years of faithful work for justice and equity this year, we’re sharing stories of 90 Years Rooted in Faith that reflect the heart of the North Carolina Council of Churches. Each month, you’ll hear from staff and long-time friends of the Council as they highlight the transformative impacts we’ve had on our community and our vision for the future. Stay tuned for these inspiring reflections throughout the year!

I’ve been part of the North Carolina Council of Churches staff since 2011, where I design programming and advocacy efforts centered around our ‘Call to Care for God’s Creation.’ This work is guided by the principle that addressing the causes and consequences of global climate change is a moral imperative. The Council’s Eco-Justice Connection framework is ‘rooted in faith,’ seeking to connect people of faith and conscience with both the natural ecological world and the human-constructed, financially driven economic system—two realms that currently seem disconnected from the responsibilities God calls us to uphold.

As humans among millions of species, our lives are part of an interdependent web, intricately woven with existence and the experience of the Divine. My faith rests in the belief that all of God’s creation is a dynamic, spiraling force of communication that extends throughout the Universe and beyond. I hold that time is both a profound illusion and, and simultaneously, one of the deepest truths.

Could the people living at the time of Jesus’ birth have ever imagined that Earth and all its species—including humanity—would evolve into the world we know today? The Magi, the wise men who followed celestial signs, may have had some insight into what the future held, even centuries ahead. As scholars deeply versed in astronomy and perhaps early mysticism, they were trained to interpret the stars, believing that celestial events could foreshadow earthly transformations—such as the rise of great figures or the dawn of new eras.

Thoughts and questions like these inspired me to enter seminary in the 20th century and still occupy my mind today, 25 years into the 21st century, marking the first quarter of the third millennium since Anno Domini—”in the year of the Lord.” The socio-political struggles during Jesus’ lifetime resonate with the challenges we face today, highlighting the profound question of where each of us are standing in the wilderness at this moment as we face tyranny and the collapse of democracy across the United States. This question takes on many layers in the context of the global climate emergency, which affects all peoples and transcends any single religion or group.

As the North Carolina Council of Churches reflects on the past 90 years, we are also called to creatively envision what the world will look like 90 years from now, in 2115. While it’s difficult to imagine that far ahead, there are babies being born today who may still be alive then—if we faithfully answer the call to protect the people and places we love. 

This is our mandate—spanning from the past to the present and into the future: to love God and ourselves enough to heal what has been harmed, and to follow the teachings of Jesus, as well as those of the great Magi who came before, who walk among us now, and those yet to be born.

To be a part of the North Carolina Council of Churches is a tremendous blessing. The work we do to educate, inspire, and mobilize our congregational network—and all those they reach—is the vital work of our time. May we honor it and continue to nurture and grow it so that it may endure, in the name of peace, love, and justice for all.


Join us in continuing this legacy of justice and courage.
Click here to donate directly to Susannah Tuttle’s fundraising page!
Your gift supports the Council’s equity and compassion work across North Carolina.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Advocacy, Belief, Climate, Climate Change, Creation Care, environment, equity, faith, history, hope, journey, justice, mysticism

Youth Leaders Initiative: Kickoff Planning Session

August 8, 2023 By Rachel Baker, Communications Director

Join us for this planning session designed for high school students and youth leaders from Triangle faith communities who share a passion for environmental stewardship and are ready to turn […]

Youth Leaders Initiative: Kickoff Planning Session

August 8, 2023 by Rachel Baker, Communications Director

Join us for this planning session designed for high school students and youth leaders from Triangle faith communities who share a passion for environmental stewardship and are ready to turn their ideas into actionable plans. During this interactive session, we will collaboratively brainstorm practical steps to take toward a more sustainable future.

The session will also serve as a platform to connect with fellow like-minded individuals and established leaders in the field. Through networking and idea-sharing, we aim to establish a robust foundation for a greener world driven by the enthusiasm and dedication of the youth.

Your presence and ideas are invaluable contributions as we kickstart this exciting journey towards a more sustainable and vibrant planet. Join us and be a catalyst for change! To learn more or to let us know you’re planning to come, please get in touch with Liz Becker at ICCTliasons@gmail.com or 919-599-3404.

Tagged With: Creation Care, youth

Youth Leaders Initiative: Interest Meeting

June 14, 2023 By Rachel Baker, Communications Director

Attention high school youth and youth leaders! Join us for a special listening session, where we will gather to discuss your interest in becoming involved in Creation Care. During this […]

Youth Leaders Initiative: Interest Meeting

June 14, 2023 by Rachel Baker, Communications Director

Attention high school youth and youth leaders! Join us for a special listening session, where we will gather to discuss your interest in becoming involved in Creation Care. During this interactive session, we invite all interested high school students and youth leaders to share their thoughts, ideas, and aspirations for environmental stewardship. We believe that the youth of today hold the key to shaping a sustainable future, and their perspectives are crucial in building a greener world. Together, we can explore practical ways to take action and engage in meaningful initiatives that prioritize the well-being of our planet.

For more information or to confirm attendance, contact Liz at ICCTliasons@gmail.com or call 919-599-3404.

Tagged With: Creation Care, youth

Support Solar in NC!

April 16, 2014 By chris

Tell the NC Utilities Commission (NCUC) you support net metering and solar power! Like rollover minutes on a cell phone bill, net metering gives renewable energy customers full credit on their utility bills for the excess clean power they deliver to the grid. This simple credit system is one of the most important state policies for empowering Americans to generate their own power from the sun.

Support Solar in NC!

April 16, 2014 by chris

Solar Trio Pics

Congregations across North Carolina are installing solar systems and NC Interfaith Power & Light is committed to helping forge this precedent-setting path forward.

Seeing solar panels on a house of worship becomes an iconic marker to the broader community, a demonstration of the congregation’s love of the Creator and creation, and it shows a commitment to change our relationship to energy. It becomes a moral statement, a rejection of our use of fossil fuels and the implications of damages that such use brings to all in our shared earth community, expressing a clear commitment that the broader human community cannot ignore.

It’s righteous, it’s working, and now it’s at risk.

Utilities nationwide are casting a long shadow over communities of faith that are going solar with net metering. For over a century, these monopoly interests have made money from building big, expensive power plants and transmission – and having their customers harness free sunshine and other homegrown resources is a threat to that business model.

Power companies should not be standing in the way of Creation Care practices to protect their old way of doing business.

Share your voice and send a message to NC’s Utilities Commission online.

 

NetmeteringLike rollover minutes on a cell phone bill, net metering gives renewable energy customers full credit on their utility bills for the excess clean power they deliver to the grid. This simple credit system is one of the most important state policies for empowering communities of faith to generate their own power from the sun.

Net metering content Source: http://www.oursolarrights.org/ 

 Click here for more information and resources about solar financing options for congregations.

 

Filed Under: Blog, Uncategorized Tagged With: Creation Care, duke energy, energy, net metering, solar

2014 National Preach-In on Climate Change

December 11, 2013 By chris

Download your free kit for the 2014 National Preach-In on Climate Change over Valentine’s weekend. From the comfort of your own congregation, you can join in spirit with thousands of religious leaders from […]

2014 National Preach-In on Climate Change

December 11, 2013 by chris

PreachIn_Heart

Download your free kit for the 2014 National Preach-In on Climate Change over Valentine’s weekend. From the comfort of your own congregation, you can join in spirit with thousands of religious leaders from across the country in preaching and teaching about climate change and love of Creation.

Each Preach-In Kit includes activity ideas, printable postcards to senators, bulletin inserts, a global warming fact sheet, and other helpful resources. You can also order a print version of this kit, which comes with 50 postcards, 50 bulletin inserts, and the exclusive Chasing Ice access code to view online during the Preach-In.

 Help spread the word! 

www.preachin.org

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: action, Advocacy, Climate Change, Creation Care, faith, Preach In

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Eco-Justice Connection
27 Horne St.
Raleigh, NC 27607
(919) 828-6501
info@ncchurches.org

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