A relationship with God’s creation and a ministry of caring for and healing the earth is integral to being a United Methodist.

We believe that all of creation is God’s and that we are responsible for how we use and abuse it. Our natural world is to be valued and conserved because God has called humanity to be its caretakers (Genesis 1:26-31). Explore the ways we, as United Methodists, care for and love all of creation and are committed to keeping our planet green, clean, and sustainable for all.

To Restore Hope for our neighbors experiencing hunger, homelessness, and poverty, we have to actively be involved in Creation Care. In the words of EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan, “The impacts of climate change that we are feeling today, from extreme heat to flooding to severe storms, are expected to get worse, and people least able to prepare and cope are disproportionately exposed.” The most severe harms from climate change fall unfairly upon underserved communities that are least able to prepare for and recover from impacts like heat waves, poor air quality, and flooding. The climate crisis exacerbates issues like the refugee crisis, hunger, disease, poverty, biodiversity loss, deforestation, air pollution, and scarcity of resources.

Our responsibility to repair the damage we’ve done is biblical. As bearers of God’s image, all people have the responsibility of caring for God’s creation. The Book of Discipline calls United Methodists to be caretakers of God’s Creation: (¶ 160 Preamble) All creation is the Lord’s, and we are responsible for the ways in which we use and abuse it. Water, air, soil, minerals, energy resources, plants, animal life, and space are to be valued and conserved because they are God’s creations and not solely because they are useful to human beings.