April Eco-Justice Worship Themes

The focus for the workshop will be Earth Day worship resources from 2 sources: Creation Justice Ministries and the National Association of Conservation Districts. For Earth Sunday April 21^st,  Creation Justice Ministries chose the theme “Plastic Jesus: Real Faith in a Synthetic World.” Since the 1950s. NACD has urged faith communities to observe “Soil and Water Stewardship Week” from the last Sunday of April through the first Sunday of May. Their theme this year is “May the Forest Be With You, Always.” So, in 2024 you can appropriately lift up creation care concerns Sunday April 21^st, Sunday April 28^th or Sunday May 5^th!

Rev. Dr. Janet Adair Hansen, retired in 2018 after 36 years as a local pastor, the last 18 serving Christ Community Church in Cortland NY. From 2019-2021 she served as Interim Pastor for a UCC church next to Acadia National Park in Maine. She was a General Assembly Commissioner in 1990 in Salt Lake when the PCUSA adopted our major environmental justice policy statement and an original Restoring Creation Enabler trained at Ghost Ranch in 1996. From 1997-2003 she served on the Steering Committee for the predecessor to PEC – Presbyterians for Restoring Creation. She was Conference Coordinator for the national Eco-Justice Conference on “Living Waters” at St. Simon’s Island Feb. 2000. In Susquehanna Valley Presbytery in New York she helped the late Rev. Dr. William Gibson write the 2001 PCUSA statement on biodiversity loss and threatened mass extinction. She served the Synod of the Northeast on the Public Policy Advocacy Network for 13 years, the last 7 as Moderator. Since retiring, Janet has volunteered and worked at Yellowstone National Park, 2 California Redwoods State Parks, a Gulf Coast Texas State Park, and 6 New York State Parks.

M.Div. Duke Divinity School, D.Min. San Francisco Theological Seminary (Dissertation “Wilderness Spirituality”).  Janet presented a workshop at the 2021 PEC Conference titled “Celebrating Worship & Creation Care”.  The recording of the workshop can be found by CLICKING HERE.