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Children Worship Wonder & Welcome has begun its exciting transformation, after receiving a grant from the Lilly Endowment earlier this year. Check out this update and fill out this survey to find out how you can be involved in this new initiative, and formative storytelling ministry.
To learn more, please see the video below and fill out the survey.
Presentations from Green Chalice churches, Ambassadors, and Justice and Creation Fellows. Each of these gatherings include inspirational wisdom from people and communities around our denomination.
Green Chalice Gathering Oct. 2, 2025– Highlighting 2025 Justice and Creation Summer Fellows from Camp Crystal, First Christian Church in Fullerton, CA and St. Pauls Christian Church in Cary, NC.
Green Chalice Gathering Feb. 20, 2025- Featuring Green Chalice Ambassadors: Apostle Sharyn Cosby with National Convocation and Yoli Barragan with Obra Hispana. and Rob Morris, E.D. of Christmount Christian Assembly shares impacts and responses to Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina.
Green Chalice Gathering April 23, 2024– With Sharing from First Christian Church Princeton, Kentucky, Brentwood Christian Church, Kansas State University Ecumenical Christian Ministry and Camp Caroline in North Carolina
Green Chalice Gathering Jan. 2024- Featuring University Christian Church in Hyattsville, Maryland, Cypress Creek Christian Church, and The Woodlands Christian Church in East Texas.
Green Chalice Gathering June 6, 2023–Featuring wisdom and insights from Mission Hills Christian Church in Los Angeles (Carbon Neutral!), Christmount Christian Assembly, Black Mountain, NC and Highland Park Christian Church, Des Moines, Iowa.
Green Chalice Gathering, Jan. 2023 – Apostle Sharyn Cosby, In the Spirit Christian Church, Oklahoma https://inthespiritcc.org/ Rev. Rebecca Sundquist, First Christian Church, Highland, Indiana & Seeds of Hope Garden and Farm https://www.fcchighland.net/ Cathy Cralle Jones, St. Paul’s Christian Church in Raleigh, NC https://www.stpauls.net/
First Christian Church, Madisonville, KY
In-Person Nov. 8th (9a-5pm) + Online portions / engagement
Join us in November for our new, hybrid, Storyteller training, led by Petie McLean at First Christian Church in Madisonville, Kentucky. Register here!
Education, Conversations and Community Resources As extreme heat events become increasingly frequent and dangerous, faith communities are called to respond with both compassion and action. Community leaders and local experts shared vital information and seeds for ministry during an online Green Chalice gathering on Sept. 3rd. The video can be viewed solo, as a congregation or green team. We heard from Rev. Katie Sexton, Director of the Arizona Faith Network, Dr. Eugene Livar, Arizona’s first Chief Heat Officer, Arene Rushdan, Community Resilience Program Manager at the Arizona Faith Network Rev. Dr. Job Cobos, Pastor at Larkspur Christian Church. You can view the recording here. https://youtu.be/RbkiF0wFJfw
This resource is based on a gathering with Green Chalice collaborators in 2025. The resources below can be used independently or paired with the recording of this conversation here.
EDUCATION Template for Class or discussion
Extreme Heat: Community Needs and Faithful Responses
Education, Conversations and Community Resources
Overview
As extreme heat events become increasingly frequent and dangerous, faith communities are called to respond with both compassion and action. This 30-90 minute resource explores the sources, impacts, and responses to extreme heat for faith communities. It can be used in Sunday School classes, community groups, or Green Team meetings. This can be used with or without the webinar regarding linked below. Video Resource: View the recording here You can find a PDF version of this Class Here.
Featured Speakers from webinar
Facilitator Guidelines
Suggested Schedule
1. Opening Prayer (5 minutes)
2. Check-in (10-15 minutes)
Every person should have an opportunity to speak briefly without interruption. Use full group sharing or the 1-3-All method ( 1- write a response in solitude, 3-share responses with two other people then briefly share summaries with the whole group).
Option 1: Share what is bringing you life these days
Option 2: Grief and Gratitude Practice
3. Bible Exploration (15-20 minutes)
Scripture: Matthew 22:34-40 (Read together or invite different readers for each verse)
When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, an expert in the law, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Reflection: Before exploring the response from Jesus in verse 37 ponder the question. “Which commandment in the law is the greatest?” Even though the religious elite were coming together to challenge Jesus in the previous texts, he did not shy away from helping those gathered to prioritize certain behaviors and practices. Among the vast ways to follow commandments, Jesus combined historic wisdom from the Hebrew texts of Deuteronomy and Leviticus to help people prioritize what is great and first among so many options. How can you and your congregation prioritize from among the many good options regarding following Jesus?
Look at verse 37 and 39 for hints. Today with so many options for how we receive and share information, spend money, choose and gather with friends and how we act we can hear echoes from Jesus saying “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ and ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
4. Watch Extreme Heat Webinar (Optional – 60 minutes)
5. Reflection Questions (20-30 minutes)Consider using the 1-3-All method again
Personal and Congregational Discernment
Faith and Community
Extreme Heat Responses
6. Benediction: Invite each person to share one word that represents what they are carrying forth with them from the gathering.
7. Closing Prayer
News Highlights and Resources from Arizona Faith Network Ministries
News Video Glendale residents can cool down at respite centers,
News Video Glendale Respite Centers
News Video Cooling centers offer refuge and employment during extreme heat
AZ Faith Network 2023 – Program Spotlight – Heat Relief
Guidebooks
Arizona Faith Network- Heat Relief Guidebook
AZ Faith Network- Heat Relief Overview
Extreme Heat Resources-The resources below can be found on the One Home One Future Website Here.
Videos
More Preparedness Resources
We are excited to partner with Blessed Tomorrow and 8 other denominations to offer a live, virtual Christian Climate Training on September 27, 2025 from 11:30 am – 2:30 pm ET / 8:30 – 11:30 am PT. The training will equip you with the knowledge, hands-on experience, and resources to speak and take action on climate change in your home, congregation, community, with policymakers and beyond.
The majority of Americans are concerned about climate change. But, they think only half of those around them feel the same way. As a person of faith, you can help others see they’re not alone in their concern and invite them to take action.
The training is practical, inspiring, and backed by science. Content includes:
When you complete the training, you will be invited to become part of the Blessed Tomorrow Climate Ambassador Community which provides ongoing support, resources, events, and connection to a vast community of Climate Ambassadors from across the US.
This 7-week learning experience is designed by therapists, pastors and chaplains. Together, we will explore emotional and spiritual responses and share stories in the face of current ecological and social challenges.
Responses like grief and sorrow, anxiety and fear, guilt and shame, anger, and despair are normal responses in unprecedented times. This course is designed to offer mutual support, healing, insight, and compassion, not a therapy experience.
Offered 7 Mondays, 12:30-1:45 pm ET Led by Rev. Scott Hardin-Nieri and therapists Connie Burns, Martha Frame and Sydne Stone.
*Registration Fee = $20 *Scholarships available, Email Shardinnieri@gmail.com Past participants expressed profound gratitude for being among people who could talk honestly about grief, suffering, and the ecological and social challenges of our time.
The movement of these 7-weeks together will include the following:
1. Introductions/Orientation
2. Sorrow/Grief
3. Anger
4. Fear/anxiety
5. Shame/Guilt
6. Despair/Hopelessness
7. Integration and wholeness
Bible-based thoughts with a prompt and prayer for contemplation.
View a recording of this Event Here.
Responding to our community needs in times of extreme heat. Join us to learn the dangers of high heat days, the needs of communities during extreme heat days, explore responses and how faith communities are already responding with wisdom, intentionality and compassion.
Our guide will be Rev. Katie Sexton, Executive Director of Arizona Faith Network since 2019. She has a proven track record of building impactful communities that work to transform our world for the common good. She is an innovator and seeks to empower congregations as they respond in the midst of crisis. She helped develop a network in Arizona of 14 relief sites providing 38,000 visits in 2024. We will learn from her lifesaving work in Arizona and from other leaders in the field.
We will hear from experts about the implications of high heat on health and community resilience as well as practical tips for offering support in the midst of extreme heat.
We will be hosting a conversation with these community leaders.
Dr. Eugene Livar Arizona’s first Chief Heat Officer, appointed in 2024, leading the state’s Extreme Heat Preparedness Plan under Governor Hobbs. Over a decade at ADHS—from epidemiologist to Assistant Director of Public Health Preparedness, overseeing six major public health bureaus. Learn more about him here: Dr. Eugene Livar’s bio on the ADHS
Arene Rushdan Community Resilience Program Manager at the Arizona Faith Network (AFN). Previously assistant nursing director and utilization review nurse in Riverside County’s inpatient mental health facility. Holds a master’s degree in nursing education from California State University Dominguez Hills, and grew up in a Seventh-day Adventist/Christian household. Served as the cooling center organizer starting in 2021, with a passion for service. Facebook+8Arizona Faith Network+8Arizona Faith Network+8 Learn more about Arene here: Arene Rushdan’s bio at Arizona Faith Network Arizona Faith Network
Rev. Dr. Job Cobos Pastor at Larkspur Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) who is deeply involved in city-level resilience efforts.
Silver Chalice Ministry is a program dedicated to helping congregations support and celebrate older adults (65+). It encourages churches to lift up the wisdom, gifts, and needs of aging members through intentional programming and care. Explore how your ministry can grow by honoring the older adults in your midst.
Throughout February 2025, NBA’s Older Adult Ministry is presenting the webinar series “Older Adults DO Meditate! A Guide to Contemplation With Older Adults,” featuring Rev. Kimberly Weir and Paul Koch.
Over the four-week series, our featured speakers will share from their experiences leading online and in-person contemplative prayer/meditation groups and lead a meditation and prayer to expand and deepen spiritual connections.
In Week 4, Jan Aerie led attendees through the meditation “Mountains and Valleys.”
Throughout February 2025 NBA’s Older Adult Ministry is presenting the webinar series “Older Adults DO Meditate! A Guide to Contemplation With Older Adults” featuring Rev. Kimberly Weir and Paul Koch.
Over the four-week series, our featured speakers will share from their experiences leading online and in-person contemplative prayer/meditation groups and lead a meditation and prayer to expand and deepen spiritual connections.
In Week 3, Jonathan Adkins, Associate Pastor at Edgewood Avenue Christian Church in Jacksonville, FL, led a discussion on “Finding God in the Noise” and shared the “4 Pebbles Meditation” with attendees.
Throughout February 2025, NBA’s Older Adult Ministry is presenting the webinar series “Older Adults DO Meditate! A Guide to Contemplation With Older Adults” featuring Rev. Kimberly Weir and Paul Koch.
Over the four-week series, our featured speakers will share from their experiences leading online and in-person contemplative prayer/meditation groups and lead a meditation and prayer to expand and deepen spiritual connections.
In Week 2, Rev. Koch led a discussion on what types of meditations attendees found useful and Rev. Weir discussed a meditation on Patience from the resource “Fruits of The Spirit.”
First Christian Church, Manhattan, KS
In-Person Nov. 8th (9a-5pm) + Online portions / engagement
Join us in November for CWWW’s Storyteller training led by Julia Jordan-Gillett at First Christian Church in Manhattan, Kansas. Register here!
Throughout February 2025, NBA’s Older Adult Ministry is presenting the webinar series “Older Adults DO Meditate! A Guide to Contemplation With Older Adults,” featuring Rev. Kimberly Weir and Paul Koch.
Over the four-week series, our featured speakers will share from their experiences leading online and in-person contemplative prayer/meditation groups and lead a meditation and prayer to expand and deepen spiritual connections.
In Week 1, Rev. Koch will reflect on meditation history and practice and discuss a meditation from the resource “Looking for God Over Your Shoulder.”
Join Colleagues for Creation Care and Resilience: Oreon E. Scott Clergy Conference
Mark your calendars for September 16-19, 2025, and consider joining clergy colleagues at the Oreon E. Scott Clergy Conference at beautiful Christmount, North Carolina. This retreat, designed and supported by the Green Chalice team, focuses on “Resilience and Restoration in the Mountains” with clergy and community resilience and creation care in mind.
You’ll spend transformative days with distinguished speakers including Rev. Dr. Heber M. Brown III (keynote speaker and founder of the Black Church Food Security Network), Rev. Carol Devine (Faith and Climate Educator with Blessed Tomorrow), Rev. Dr. Dara Cobb Lewis (Spiritual Director and Pastoral Counselor), Aaron Price, (Music & Worship Arts Director at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church) and Luke Cannon (Mountain Ecologist), alongside ecumenical colleagues and pastoral innovators.
Whether you’re new to creation care or a long-time advocate, you’ll gain new language and tools to inspire your congregation to care for the environment, interwoven with space for rest, relationship, prayer, and excellent food.
Registration is currently open to Disciples and Ecumenical clergy with sliding scale options and scholarships available- Contact Shardinnieri@gmail.com for more information. Register now: https://www.christmount.org/oreon-e-scott
