Certificate in Climate Justice and Faith
“This Certificate program is an eye opener in order to understand climate justice from a faith perspective. It is a timely course for our generation.” – Simon Gollo, Certificate in Climate Justice and Faith ’22
Applications Closed for 2024-25
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Description
This certificate offers a cohort-based, online, project-oriented curriculum which empowers participants to cultivate moral, spiritual, and practical power for leadership in the work of climate justice in communities of faith and in collaboration with others. Topics covered include theology, ethics, and spirituality related to climate justice; climate change knowledge; and social change practices that connect ecological well-being with racial, economic, and gender justice. Participants meet in small cohorts twice a month via Zoom to discuss readings, encourage one another, and build community. During the second semester students implement Sacred Action Projects that further climate justice in their community.
Anyone who is interested in learning about and acting on faith-based initiatives to engage in climate justice work within their context — and who wants to explore spiritual grounding for that work — will benefit from this accessible opportunity. This non-degree program is 100% online via Zoom and interactive digital learning platforms. We especially encourage applicants from populations most affected by climate change and from member churches of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). A limited amount of tuition support is available.
This is a two-semester program beginning in September and ending in May with a break for Christmas in December.
Learning Guides
Phoebe's Bio
Phoebe Morad (she/her) serves as Coordinator of the Certificate in Climate Justice and Faith, and as Executive Director of Lutherans Restoring Creation (LRC).LRC is a grassroots movement of clergy, lay people, campus ministers, outdoor camp staff, students, and seminary professors that connects, empowers, and equips people of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) to care for creation.
For the past 2 decades, Phoebe has been inviting various communities to action through the mediums of hands-on science, direct service, and faith-fueled outreach via global and local non-profits including Earthwatch Institute, Habitat for Humanity, and with her home church; House of Prayer in Massachusetts.
Rev. Dr. Chad Rimmer, Lutheran Theological Seminary of the South
Chad's Bio
The Rev. Dr. Chad Rimmer joined Lenoir-Rhyne as rector and dean of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (LTSS) in April 2023. In this role, Rimmer serves as the lead academic and church administrator for LTSS and works to further develop the seminary to an exemplary status within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.
Rimmer is rostered in the ELCA NC Synod, which is the land and peoples that formed him. In the U.S., he has been an adjunct lecturer at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, the United Lutheran Seminary and served congregations in York, Pennsylvania and Copenhagen, Denmark. His vocation as a teaching theologian led him on a global, ecumenical path of theological education in Scotland, France and Senegal with people of diverse contexts, cultures and bio-regions across the Lutheran communion. Most recently, Rimmer served as program executive for theology and practice at the Lutheran World Federation Department of Theology, Mission and Justice in Geneva, Switzerland. This role included teaching across the seven regions of the Global Network for Theological Education and Formation.
Questions?
For more information about this certificate, please contact:
Phoebe Morad
Coordinator of Certificate in Climate Justice and Faith
Student Stories
Expectations of Participants
- Two-four hours of independent work per week for each 15-week semester.
- Participate in two one-hour Zoom meetings with their cohort every month
- Participate and collaborate with local initiatives, congregations, and/or organizations (especially during the second semester) to ensure context-based practice of the concepts discussed in the first semester.
- Willingness to take on the work of climate justice as a spiritual practice within their spheres of influence.
Participants will be better prepared to:
- Lead congregations and other groups in developing or deepening climate justice work in their context.
- Practice climate justice work as a spiritual practice, and lead others in doing so.
- Recognize and address intersections of climate change with racial, economic, and gender-based inequity, and intersections of ecological well-being with racial, economic, and gender justice.
- Articulate biblical, ethical, theological, and spiritual grounding for climate justice.
- Articulate and employ a practical theo-ethical framework for building a more ecologically sustainable and socially equitable society.
- Access key resources of the scientific community related to climate change.
- Collaborate with interfaith and community partners on climate justice.
- Practice hope in the face of the climate crisis.
Tuition
- $600 for the entire program (optional resources from outside organizations may request contributions).
- Scholarships of up to $550 are available based on need.
