Dear Friends,
April arrives with the liberation of spring and the opportunities of Earth Month. Many of us are in the midst of Holy Week or on the eve of Passover. We are reminded that care for the Earth is not separate from our faith, nor limited to a single season of the year. And this month, there is no shortage of ways to bring faith and climate together! We hope the events and resources below will nourish your spirit and inspire your action in the weeks ahead.
With hope and gratitude,
The MassIPL Team
Wednesday, April 2 | 6:00 PM | Hyde Park, Boston | JCAN
What does the Exodus story have to say about fossil fuels and energy empires? Quite a lot, it turns out. Join our friends at the Jewish Climate Action Network for a Climate Justice Passover Seder at The Pryde — Boston’s first LGBTQ+ senior housing community — for an evening of reflection, solidarity, and delicious vegetarian potluck.
Monday, April 6 | 7:00 PM | Boston Museum of Science (in person)
Join the Museum of Science for a captivating conversation with acclaimed forest ecologist and bestselling author Suzanne Simard as she presents her new book, When the Forest Breathes. Simard reveals how the deep cycles of renewal in forests hold the key to protecting threatened ecosystems from climate change and human disruption.
Sunday, April 19 | 1:30 PM | Boston Common
This Earth Sunday, join MassIPL, Third Act MA, Boston Interfaith Climate Allies, and GreenFaith for a sacred procession and celebration in the heart of Boston. Gather at The Embrace on Boston Common at 1:30 PM, then walk together to the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul — where Bill McKibben, founder of Third Act and 350.org, will speak. Music, singing, and a collective proclamation of solidarity with our Earth will follow on the cathedral steps.
Saturday, April 25 | 9:00 AM–Noon | Ipswich, MA | MassIPL
How can we awaken our connection with the natural world through ancient spiritual practices? Join MassIPL and guide Rev. Kent Harrop, founder of North Shore SING (Spirituality in Nature Group), for a contemplative morning hike through 59 acres of old-growth oak, hemlock, and red maple along the Ipswich River. Rev. Harrop will lead us using a format inspired by lectio divina, with pauses for readings, silence, and reflection. The theme: Deepening Oneness with Earth and the Divine. Space is very limited — only 25 spots!
Sunday, May 17 | 10:30 AM & Noon | Barnstable, MA | Co-Sponsored by MassIPL
Did you know Thoreau brought a copy of the Bhagavad Gita to Walden Pond? Gopal D. Patel — UN consultant, Hindu environmental activist, and speaker at the World Economic Forum, Princeton, Cambridge, and Oxford — visits Cape Cod on May 17 for a morning reflection titled “From the Ganges to Walden Pond: How Hindu Wisdom Shaped Emerson and Thoreau” (10:30 AM), followed by a lunch panel — “Hope, Responsibility, and Action: Spiritual and Religious Voices Rising for the Earth” (noon) — where faith leaders including Rev. Dr. Kristen Harper, MassIPL’s Rev. Michael Reed, and FCEN’s Susan Starkey will explore how religious communities can respond to the climate crisis. Registration details coming soon — save the date!
Friday, April 10 | Online | Green Energy Consumers Alliance and Friends
Federal solar tax incentives for nonprofits are set to expire in July — which means right now is a unique and critical window of opportunity. Green Energy Consumers Alliance, Resonant Energy, and Vote Solar are hosting a free webinar on April 10 to walk houses of worship and nonprofits through how to take advantage of these incentives before they’re gone. With electricity prices climbing, this could be a real game-changer for your building budget.
Wednesday, April 15 | 9:00 AM–Noon | Wellesley Village Church
Our friends at Wellesley Village Church — one of Massachusetts’ pioneering faith communities in clean energy — are opening their doors for a forum on geothermal solutions for institutional buildings. Come learn from a working system, hear about financing options and state incentives, and tour the actual geothermal installation. A great event for building committees and energy teams.
Tuesday, April 28 | Noon | Online | MassIPL and The Episcopal Path for Creation Justice
How does a congregation actually get to net zero? MassIPL Executive Committee president Jim Nail shares how St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church in Dover achieved net zero over a 12-year journey, joined by other church leaders who will share their own paths. Practical advice for your building committee.
Action | Needed now
The Massachusetts House just passed a major climate bill with a lot to like! However, it guts Mass Save, the program that has delivered $40 billion in savings to Massachusetts residents over 15 years and helps families and communities transition to clean energy. The Senate still has to weigh in. Contact your state senator now and tell them to keep Mass Save strong and protect full building decarbonization.
Learn more here about H.5151 Find your legislator here
Public Hearing: April 9 | 6:00 PM
The town of Somerset is weighing an energy storage project that would replace a fossil fuel “peaker” plant with clean, affordable battery storage — meaning lower energy bills, less pollution, and cleaner air for an environmental justice community. If you live in Somerset (or know people who do), now is the time to speak up in favor of the project. You can also email decision-makers right now.
Email decision-makers here Attend the public hearing
Monday, April 13 | 7:00 PM | Zoom | JCAN-MA
Join JCAN-MA for a conversation with John Walkey, Director of Climate Justice and Waterfront Initiatives at GreenRoots in Chelsea, a frontline environmental justice community. Learn about the fight for a community microgrid in Chelsea and what environmental justice looks like on the ground in Massachusetts. Faith communities have a role to play in this work.
Tuesday, April 14 | 7:30–8:30 PM | Virtual | Mass Power Forward
Mass Power Forward is hosting this virtual gathering to plan next steps in the fight against utility profiteering and large gas pipelines, with a focus on bringing these issues to Earth Day events in your community. Come get the tools and training to make your voice heard.
More info at Mass Power Forward
Ongoing
Clergy and individuals of all faiths are invited to sign the Make Polluters Pay Interfaith Letter from CREW (Communities Responding to Extreme Weather), calling on Massachusetts to make polluters — not ratepayers — bear the costs of climate disasters. MassIPL has signed the petition, and we encourage you to join us!
Clergy/lay leaders sign here General public petition here
O Hidden Life, vibrant in every atom; O Hidden Light, shining in every creature; O Hidden Love, embracing all in Oneness; May all who feel themselves as one with Thee, know they are therefore one with every other.
— Annie Besant
.png)
Take a look at our new digital home, built around Pray, Act, Mobilize.
Nearly 50 congregations surveyed, a new website coming soon, and August office hours — a look at what the MassIPL team accomplished this summer.
