How to Host a Faith Congregation Teach-In
- Karianne Canfield
- Feb 9
- 4 min read
This is a model for how Faith communities can organize a teach-in during Worldwide Climate and Justice Education Week or at any other time. The purpose of the Teach-In is to educate community members about the climate crisis, its ethical and justice dimensions and how they and their faith community can be engaged in advancing just solutions.
This model is meant to be adapted to the particular community and its members. A three-hour interactive event is proposed. It is possible to shorten the event or to carry it out over more than one day. The Teach-In is proposed as an in-person event but could be modified for a virtual format.
We encourage faith communities to hold several related events to help their members explore their personal connections with nature and justice in the context of the climate emergency. Such events can be especially powerful if they take place outdoors.
The timing of Worldwide Climate and Justice Education Week coincides with major holy days of many of the world’s largest religions, known as the sacred season. We encourage faith communities to connect climate justice with the celebration and observation of these holy days.
Plan your Teach-In (see below). This outline was developed by Bard College team in partnership with the Center for Earth Ethics
Register your participation on our interactive map.
Use our Brand Guide to help promote your event to your community
Plan your Teach-In
Assemble an organizing committee that includes community members, clergy and staff. Be sure that the committee is diverse in all ways (including demographically - especially youth) and represents the variety of perspectives and expertise in the community.
Sample Teach-In
Hour 1: Introduction
Welcome from Faith community leader
Personal reflection –15 min
It might be nice to begin with an experiential component that connects people to nature in the place that they are located. This can include listening to birds (or laying eyes on a bug or a squirrel or some other form of nonhuman life), touching grass or dirt on the ground, taking some deep breaths outside, looking up at the clouds or moon or stars. It can also include some awareness of the changing history of how people relate to nature/place for basic needs, back to traditional Indigenous and pre-industrial, into the awareness of where power, water, food come from today. Drawing directly from nature and re-grounding in place is powerful. One gift of faith is to take the conversation to another level through connections/experiences that change mindset.
Some reflection on climate impacts people have experienced directly or indirectly (including experiences of friends or relatives or news stories that have affected them) can be a good way to make the discussion more tangible. In New York City, for example, over 20 people died in a snow storm in 2021, including drowning in basement apartments. Climate change is happening right now and looking at the specifics can drive home the justice components. Also telling stories of how one comes to awareness of this problem is proven to be the best way to communicate about it.
Introductory video from Solve Climate 2030 (provided upon registration)
Speakers (5 min each):
What is going on with the climate? – local scientist or climate activist
What does justice have to do with climate? – faith community member or activist
Earth ethics in the tradition of our faith – faith community member or leader
General discussion and Q/A –
Hour 2: Concurrent breakout sessions
could be panel discussions or facilitated discussions with speakers and resource people
Option 1: Climate change and its consequences
What is happening with the climate? How are you seeing manifestations of the changing climate in your life and in the life of your community? What are the consequences of climate change for those in your community and other communities (including in other nations) who have less wealth and fewer options than you do? How has injustice led to climate change? How do the consequences of climate change increase injustice?
Option 2: Spiritual and ethical aspects of the climate crisis
Consider basic concepts like karma, Tikkun Olam, compassion, inter-relatedness, resurrection, as appropriate to your faith tradition
Sacred texts and teachings, hymns, poems and other writings: pick one from your tradition, read it together, pause in silence to take it in, and use it to reflect on climate change.
Ritual and ceremony: pick one from your tradition and either reflect on how it might help your faith community to process climate or actually do some version of it with climate in mind (this can be communion, call to prayer, ritual handwashing, meditation, blessing of food, passing of the peace)
Option 3: What can our faith community do collectively?
How does climate change fit with the social justice mission of your faith community? Brainstorm about the reach and assets of your faith community, including buildings, land, programs, gatherings. How can they help move towards solutions and how quickly can you make the changes to do so?
Option 4: What can we do as individuals? Share your story. How did you become aware of the climate issue? What are you doing personally and collectively to reduce your climate impact? How have you been successful and less than successful in engaging others in the climate issue? What do you commit to doing as part of the solution?
Hour 3: Group discussion – Solutions and Actions
Brief reports (5 min each) from breakout groups
Discussion – what should we be doing as a community and as individuals? Next steps?
Resources for Faith Communities regarding Climate Change and Climate Justice
To read about how each of the major world religions are addressing this crisis, select a tradition from the sidebar at https://fore.yale.edu/World-Religions
For example,
United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Faith for Earth program
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