Interfaith Working Group
The Interfaith Working Group of FCAC works to encourage faith communities in Fairbanks to be faithful stewards of the earth, to care for one another, especially the most vulnerable among us, and to personally and collectively make the changes needed to make our community more sustainable and resilient.
2024 earth day Events
FILM SCREENING - COMMON GROUND
Friday / April 19 / 7-9 PM
UAF Murie Auditorium - 2090 N Koyukuk Dr
A documentary on biodiversity and the regenerative agriculture movement
EARTH DAY FAIR AND MAKERS MARKET
Barnette Magnet School - 725 10th Ave
Activities for all ages, food, music, vending, composting workshops, and more!
INTERFAITH PRAYER CIRCLE FOR PEACE ON EARTH
Sunday / April 21 / 3PM
Raven Landing - 949 McGown St
All are welcome! Refreshments provided
For more information, please email molly@fbxclimateaction.org
As representatives of many different faith communities of Interior Alaska we offer:
Spiritual grounding for FCAC activities
Connecting with, and support for faith communities engaged in creation-care projects
A faith-based perspective on care and concern for the earth and a fair and just transition to a sustainable future for all.
ongoing and past Projects
Grants for faith communities
The Interfaith Working Group has offered grants to faith communities in an effort to create a sustainable future for generations of Alaskans. Past projects have included installation of energy efficient windows, installation of LED lighting, installation of a water catchment system, eco-friendly property renovations, a community garden, a blessing box, and weatherization improvements.
Faith in Action
Check out our video series Faith in Action, created in partnership with Native Movement and Deenaadàį' Productions. This series features four local representatives from different faith traditions: Leslie Ahuvah Fails, Nanieezh Peter, Bishop Mark Lattime, and Pastor Johnathan Kenney. It explores how spiritual dimensions of faith, including Indigenous and non-Indigenous spirituality, motivate care for the Earth and for one another, and how spirituality is called upon to motivate action around climate change, food insecurity, and threats to cultural traditions. If you’re interested in hosting a screening and discussion of the film at your faith community, contact Molly Lemen at molly@fbxclimateaction.org
Prayer circles
We regularly join together with people of many faiths for an evening of interfaith prayer, reflection, and fellowship as we celebrate good stewardship of the earth. Each time, we are moved by the sense of unity in the messages about our responsibility to care for the Earth and all who dwell therein. If you want to get involved in planning the next prayer circle, or would like to attend as a representative of your faith community, email molly@fbxclimateaction.org.
Soup and discussion
We host soup and discussion events as a gathering space for faith leaders and members of different faith groups to come together and discuss ways that we can be better stewards of the earth, care for one another, and to personally and collectively make the changes needed to make our community more sustainable and resilient. We spend time breaking bread together and sharing about the climate action and eco-justice projects our faith communities are currently involved in and what projects we would like to be doing. To learn more, email Molly at molly@fbxclimateaction.org
What we believe:
Stewardship and reverence for creation are central tenets of all faiths. We believe that people of faith will respond more readily to a call to action on climate justice if they see it as a moral and spiritual issue rather than only a scientific, economic, or political one. To that end, we are working with faith leaders in our community to encourage them to commit to the statements endorsed by their national and international organizations regarding the moral imperative for immediate and decisive action.
Our action areas
We celebrate ongoing faith-based climate action through events and media.
We’ve partnered with Native Movement and Deenaadàį' Productions to produce a series of short films highlighting local faith communities engaged in climate and community-care projects. We aim to use this film project as a jumping-off point for faith communities to start working on their own creation-care projects.
We share how faith inspires climate action.
We create materials that amplify the calls in nearly all faith communities to address climate change.
We facilitate prayer circles, which are an opportunity for local faith communities to join together and offer prayers from all manner of faiths in support of care for the earth.
We support new climate action by faith communities.
We provide mini-grants for local faith communities for energy upgrade projects.
We host creation-care events, including movie nights, earth day events, and hosted talks, which create an opportunity for more people to get involved in this work.
Resources available
We have focused our attention on faith communities by showing films in a public gathering and encouraging congregations to show the film to their own groups and discuss how they might make changes to be more sustainable. The Interfaith Working Group has the following resources available to faith groups who wish to gather to consider ways their place of worship can be more sustainable.
Films on hand:
Happening: A Clean Energy Revolution. Directed by James Redford
Renewal A documentary about people of faith building a sustainable future. Statement from Bill McKibben: “The religious-environmental movement is potentially key to dealing with the greatest problem humans have ever faced, and it has never been captured with. More breadth and force than in Renewal. I hope this movie moves many more people off the fence and into action.”
Love Thy Nature Takes viewers on a cinematic journey through the beauty and intimacy of our relationship with the natural world. The film shows that a renewed connection with nature is key both to good health and to solving our environmental and climate crises.
The Human Element We humans are the fifth element, along with earth, air, water, and fire. From the producers of Chasing Ice, this film Features subjects who are often overlooked victims of climate change. The photographer, Jame Balog, argues that humans are part of the whole system of nature and not apart from it.
Bidder 70 Award winning documentary about Tim DeChristopher, who disrupted a controversial BLM Oil and Gas leasing auction by bidding on 22,000 acres of land he had no intention of paying for (or drilling on). “You can steer my commitment to a healthy and just world if you agree with it, but you can’t kill it. This is not going away. At this point of unimaginable threats on the horizon, this is what hope looks like. In these times of a morally bankrupt government that has sold out its principles, this is what patriotism looks like, and it will only grow.” Tim De Christopher
Paris to Pittsburgh A documentary of how cities across America, such as Pittsburgh, have taken up the mantle of adhering to the Paris Climate Accord despite the Trump Administration’s actions to withdraw the U.S. from the agreements made there.
Books on hand:
Rising to the Challenge: The Transition Movement and People of Faith, by Ruah Swennerfelt, 2016.
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, by Robin Wall Kimmerer, 2013.
Sacred Instructions: Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit-Based Change, by Sherri Mitchell, 2018.
The Green Bible. Includes introductory articles on reading the Bible through a Green lens by the Division of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America, 1989.
50 Ways to Help Save the Earth: How You and Your Church Can Make a Difference by Rebecca J. Barnes
Suggested Talks Available Online:
How Climate Change Affects The Poor
Guides for congregations:
Guide to Energy Efficiency Practices for Your Faith Community
Suggested online resources
Relevant Newsletters
The Fifth National Climate Assessment
Evangelical Environmental Network
Recorded Webinars
Climate Outreach - has a large amount of recorded webinars and interviews ranging from current climate action policies science to talking points for climate action advocates.
Fairbanks Resources
Food Waste Recovery Dashboard - If your congregation participates in food recovery and sustainability you may want to list yourself on the dashboard so others can reach out. You can also utilize the dashboard to find others who have resources for food sustainability, composting, and animal feed.
