Eartha Newsong (R) and Nancy Thursby of Orinda Community Church (OCC) joined churches around the world in supporting climate change. To highlight the importance of taking immediate actions to save the planet, OCC and churches throughout the Bay Area rang bells 11 times at noon on March 11.
Members of Orinda Community Church and Rev. Elizabeth Robinson, pastor, gathered outside the church on March 11 to celebrate the Sacred People, Sacred Earth: Sounding the Alarm for Creation, which called attention to climate change. Those gathered read the Interfaith Power & Light (www.interfaithpowerandlight.org), Climate Blessing and Prayer and Eartha Newsong rang the church bell 11 times (signifying the 11th hour warning of climate change) at noon.
Congregations around the world rang bells, blew shofars, and sounded gongs to rally for a compassionate, just response to COVID-19 and climate change. The worldwide event was sponsored by http://www.greenfaith.org.
The Sacred People, Sacred Earth event is one of the many programs in which Orinda Community Church has participated in to support climate change awareness. The church recently received the designation of “Creation Justice
Church” by the United Church of Christ, calling it to care for creation and seek justice for the oppressed. The church engages in critical thinking about the socioeconomic dimensions of environmental justice, such as race, class and global inequality.
All are welcome to visit the church campus to enjoy its outdoor labyrinth as well as its Creation Justice Stations of the cross created by the children of Orinda Community Church.
