Conversation Starters
This Great Idea comes from Katharine Hayhoe, in her January 25, 2025, Talking Climate blog.
Hayhoe writes:
‘It’s easy to feel discouraged when we see the impacts of climate change-fueled disasters like the LA wildfires juxtaposed against policy changes and setbacks we know will make the problem worse. In weeks like this, when the weight feels heavy, it’s more important than ever to remember that no one can tackle the climate crisis alone. Now, more than ever, we need each other. And when we work together, we can change the world…
As my book, Saving Us, concludes, “The first step across the abyss we all face together is to recognize we are not alone. Together, we are the answer to climate change; and building that bridge begins with a conversation, today.”
Read the full Talking Climate post here.
The Great Idea is a simple one: have a conversation.
I am proposing this in my little Up North congregation. I intend to invite anyone interested – whether members of the congregation or neighbors or friends – to join an online, monthly group with the intention of simply having conversations about important issues. We will likely start with climate change, as that is something many folx in our congregation can agree upon.
I recognize that this ‘simple’ idea isn’t so simple: Will people attend? Won’t folx fear alienation if they come down on the ‘wrong’ side of some topic? How do we maintain a civil discussion when the world is so divided and divisive?
There are, admittedly, several pitfalls and difficulties to congregational discourse – but you are not alone!
For starters, you might create space for a conversation group with tips and guidelines from our Courageous Spaces Toolkit, particularly the ‘Facilitating Safe(r) Discussions‘ section.
You might also take a deep dive into developing conversational skills with our Graceful Conversations Series.
If leading a conversation about climate change – or any other significant issue – is not in your comfort zone, please invite folx to join one of the three groups discussing Cynthia Moe-Lobeda’s Building a Moral Economy: Pathways for People of Courage (Fortress, 2024). This is the first book in a series focused on the intersectional realities of climate change, politics and economies, racism, LGBTQIA+ rights, immigrant and refugee populations, and more. Find the full series-supporting website here – including upcoming books, discussion guides, and more.
For folx who avoid these conversations because they are too depressing or anxiety-inducing, please encourage them to read the beginning of Building a Moral Economy, in which Moe-Lobeda underscores the importance of seeing and naming reality as it is so that we can effectively engage to change what is not working for humanity or the planet. Avoiding seeing reality does not make it go away or change – and this leads to deeper despair and potentially ‘splits’ between our awareness of the tragedies that surround us and our spiritual need to engage to make the world a better place. Engage!!
End discussions with signs of hope: Moe-Lobeda’s book is full of powerful stories of changing economies that are full of promise for a better future. Katharine Hayhoe has also compiled a list of climate action groups that you might support.
The Ministry Lab, too, will soon have The Hub: a curated list of organizations with which we encourage congregations to partner to do as much as good as you can, every day. Please watch for that in a few weeks.
Finally: bring your group to be in conversation and share stories with Dr. Cynthia Moe-Lobeda and Minneapolis-based Indigenous theologian and storyteller, Dr. Kelly Sherman-Conroy – along with a number of regional, congregation-based ‘birthing hope’ stories – at this year’s Upper Midwest EcoFaith Summit: Earth’s Cries, Earth’s Call: Becoming Midwives of Hope for the Healing of Creation, April 5, 2025 in Duluth, MN.
Through conversation and any partnerships that may develop as a result, we find hope and ‘build that bridge’ so that ‘together, we are the answer to climate change‘!!
