In 1983, The National Council of Churches (NCC) Eco-Justice Working Group is founded to help national bodies of Protestant and Orthodox Christian communions collaborate on care for creation.  This group began to promote Eco-Justice in various associated denominations including the United Methodist Church through Church & Society.  In 2013, this group became Creation Justice Ministries with a representative from Global Ministries on the Board of Directors.  By the 1990s, the efforts of Eco-Justice began to take root contributing to environmental awareness among clergy including Reverend Sally Bingham who helped to  found Episcopal Power and Light (EPL) which would later become Interfaith Power and Light in 2000.  Interfaith Power and Light became the major proponent of Green Teams and Green Church initiatives.  In 2006, EcoAmerica was formed to move society toward climate solutions by engaging and supporting trusted national institutions to inspire and empower their members to visibly act and advocate for ambitious, just, climate mitigation, resilience, and restoration.  EcoAmerica, in 2019, produced "Moving Forward: A Guide to Climate Action for Your Congregation and Community" which provides a comprehensive program for Green Teams.  Working with EcoAmerica, Church & Society in 2025 developed a UMC module for the church advocacy based program Blessed Tomorrow Climate Ambassadors.

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In 2008, General Conference in Fort Worth established a denominational Creation Care/Climate Change Task Force, approved a “Resolution on Global Warming,” and adopted a new subsection of the Social Principles titled “Global Climate Stewardship.”  On Nov 4, 2009, Council of Bishops released “God's Renewed Creation: Call for Hope and Action” which called the church to "deepen our spiritual consciousness as just stewards of creation".  Various conferences across the denomination responded.  The Virginia Conference officially designated the Caretakers of God’s Creation as a permanent ministry.  Training events began to be held in a number of conferences encouraged by the Virginia Conference.  In 2016, Global Missions launched their first "EarthKeepers" training which help individuals to develop a clear missional plan for their context in relationship to creation care.

 

With the outbreak of Covid19, the focus shifted from in person creation care training to a more coordinated effort across the entire denomination using Zoom.

The UMC Creation Justice Movement was formed to: 1) Connect existing and emerging UM creation efforts at all levels of the church for mutual support and inspiration, 2) Uplift the leadership and voices of frontline communities, 3) Collaborate with denominational, ecumenical, interfaith, environmental justice, community, and civic organizations and movements to achieve shared aims of socio-ecological justice, and 4) Mobilize the power of a “network of networks” within and outside the UMC for collective witness, action, public policy advocacy, and transformation.  This effort was given a boost in 2021 when the various agencies and board of the UMC made a pledge to work toward Net-Zero emissions by 2050.  This was followed by another statement from the Council of Bishops concerning "Climate Crisis Response". 

 

Encouraged by this renewed commitment, the Creation Justice Movement proposed several key pieces of legislation to the 2020/2024 General Conference which were overwhelmingly passed.

    ¶ 254. Other Ministry Group Coordinators ( Adopt 663 to 60)  “the charge conference may elect annually a coordinator or ministry group chairperson for any or all of these areas: …. earth advocacy/green teams”
   ¶603.4  Sustainable Practices for Annual Conference Sessions (Adopt 606 to 91) The annual conference sessions shall, when possible, have sustainable practices for energy, waste, and consumption.
   ¶ 629.2. Establish a Conference Caretakers of God's Creation Coordinator in Each Annual Conference ( Adopt 667 to 54)  The conference board of church and society or equivalent structure shall also name a conference Caretakers of God's Creation Coordinator who will be responsible for helping the conference develop programs to help it become more ecologically sustainable and to address environmental injustices
   ¶ 2533.7  Annual Carbon Footprint and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Audit for Local Church (For: 606; Against 91)  The board of trustees is urged to conduct or cause to be conducted an annual carbon footprint and/or greenhouse gas emissions audit
   ¶ 2550.11  Reporting Church's Progress on Facilities Becoming Carbon Neutral and/or Having Net Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions  (Adopt 606 to 91)  An evaluation of all church buildings, grounds, and facilities in relation to their impact on the church’s ability to be carbon neutral and/or have net zero greenhouse gas emissions; and, when applicable, a plan and time line for the renovation and development of church buildings, grounds, and facilities to bring the church closer to being at least carbon neutral and/or having at least net zero greenhouse gas emissions.

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This website is to help the churches of the Rio Texas Annual Conference respond to the call to discipleship to Care for God's Creation.