September 2021

Courageous Conversations for Youth: Climate

By T. Lynn

Courageous Conversations for Youth are designed to equip a youth leader with a model to create brave spaces where youth can share their thoughts and feelings on pressing topics. The point is not to arrive at consensus, simply for a youth leader to create a space where everyone can be heard.

This resource asks participants to explore the difference between climate change and climate justice, as well as the humanitarian effects of changing weather patterns. This guide to create space and respectful discussions is built upon the series published by Discipleship Ministries, "Courageous Conversations" by Scott Hughes. Click here to view the adult counterpart to this resource.

(For more information about goals, setting, design, and use of scripture, see the Sample Outlines Introduction.)

The setup for these two sessions related to climate is the same. Follow the “Creating Brave Space” directions for both Session 1 and Session 2. These sessions could be part of a retreat or intensive weekend or spread out and addressed with a gap of time in between.

CREATING BRAVE SPACE:

Set up the room with round tables, each having no more than six chairs per table. This plan can be easily modified with pillows on a floor. Make sure that each “space” is numbered. Print the INVITATION FOR BRAVE SPACE on cards that can be placed in front of each student.

As participants enter the room, have them choose a number from a basket. Invite them to sit at the table marked with the number that matches the number they have drawn.

Needed:

Basket with numbers
Paper cloth for each table (or large pieces of paper) and markers
Tables for small-group discussions
Table numbers for each table
Candle that can be used to represent God’s presence in the room
An object to serve as a talking stick for each group (we HIGHLY recommend a two-minute game timer)
Printout or screen displaying Guidelines for the Conversation
Printout of prayers (see the Courageous Conversations Prayer Guide)
Printout of “Tips for Being a Good Listener” for each table
Tape or adhesive to post large pieces of paper
Assigned moderators/facilitators for each table

Estimated Timeline:

The following sessions are based on a ninety-minute timeframe. Adjust as needed.

Opening Prayer (3 minutes)
Opening Circle (10 minutes)
World Cafe (60 minutes)
Break (5 minutes)
Large-Group Reflection (10 minutes)
Closing Prayer (2 minutes)

* For other ideas and ways to engage your students in theological reflection, we recommend Teaching Outside the Box: Five Approaches to Opening the Bible with Youth by Andrew Zirschky

Session 1: Climate Change and Climate Justice

Before You Begin

Gather your adult volunteers who will help facilitate conversations. You will need at least one adult per seating area. These should be trusted adults within your ministry. Go through all guidelines and ground rules for courageous conversations.

Note: It is best to be selective with your adults. This conversation is for the youth, not for the adults. The adults should be quiet facilitators, NOT active participants. Facilitators should look to ask questions and point out areas of agreement and disagreement. They should not give answers.

Opening

Begin with silence and/or the lighting of a candle to represent God’s presence. This time of silence is important to center participants and mark the space and time as unique. Invite everyone to recite the “Invitation to Brave Space” together. Give an overview of how the conversation will happen to ease any anxieties. Point out and read the conversation guidelines. Reinforce that this space is a brave space for people to freely express their opinions and perspectives. Emphasize that youth and adults are to listen for the assumptions underlying their own and other people’s perspectives.

Questions

Invite youth to get into groups of three and answer the following questions. Allow each participant no more than two minutes to answer the questions.

“What comes to mind for you about the topic of climate change?”
“How do you define ‘climate justice’?”
“How are climate justice and climate change related?”

Remind the participants that this is a time of naming and listening, not discussion – that will come later.

World Cafe

This exercise is suited for topics that might not be as contentious as other hot-button issues. If this is not the case for your church regarding the issue of climate justice, you should look at the other sample lessons to pick a format that is more conducive to dialogue.

Moderators (adults) and participants (youth) should be seated at their assigned tables. Markers and paper tablecloths or large sheets of paper should be at each table. Soft music might also be playing in the background.

On the tables and/or on a projected screen have the following statements presented:

I believe the difference between climate change and climate justice to be…
Share a life experience or story that has influenced your views on climate justice.
A reservation or question about my view is…
A strength in the views of those I differ with is…
Two assumptions I have made, if they proved incorrect, that would require me to reassess my position are...

Allow a few moments for participants to introduce themselves to the group. Then allow participants to answer one or more of the questions above. Use the talking stick to make sure that everyone has the correct amount of time.

Give a five-minute warning. After the time is up, invite everyone except for the moderator or table host to change tables. Have people move to different tables. Once everyone is seated, have the moderator summarize the prior discussion. Then repeat the dialogue process. Switch tables again if time allows.

Following the last table discussion, have the groups change tables one last time. This time, allow each participant to name what has been most meaningful for him or her during the experience. Write out the statements or questions on the paper tablecloths or large pieces of paper. Post each group’s paper; then allow participants, in silence, to walk around and read each of the group’s statements.

Large-Group Reflection Time

This time is for the larger group to process and reflect on the perspectives heard from other participants.

Note: This is the part of the exercise that will require the most from the moderator. The moderators should not voice any of their own opinions or comments but encourage the freedom of various other perspectives. The moderator’s role is also to clarify assumptions and issues for the group. Additionally, the moderator will need to model calm when anxiety grows as the result of comments.

Give a time limit for how long each person may speak. One way to emphasize attentive listening is to have participants state only what others have stated. This is intended to keep people from stating their own perspectives (and often other agendas). A simple place for the moderator to begin is to point out recurring ideas and comments from each group’s paper. Expanding on this, if conversation is slow in the larger group, highlight seemingly complementary or conflicting observations from each group and ask to expand or reconcile those items.

Before ending, allow any participant who would like to answer in one sentence, “One thing that I will take with me from this conversation is…”

Closing Prayer

End with silence and/or the extinguishing of a candle to represent the close of the activity. Have a copy of the prayer for everyone to follow along or participate in the prayer. (For examples, see the Courageous Conversations Prayer Guide.)

Session 2: Justice and Action: What’s Right for our Context?

Before You Begin

Opening

Questions

Invite youth to get into groups of three and answer the following questions. Allow each participant no more than two minutes to answer the questions:

“What effects does climate change have on people?”
“Does achieving climate justice always involve an impact on people?”
“What stories can you think of that have something to do with climate justice?”

Remind the participants that this is a time of naming and listening, not discussion—that will come later.

World Cafe

On the tables and/or on a projected screen have the following statements presented:

I believe the majority of our community believes _________________ about climate justice…
What stories in scripture do you believe address the issue of climate change? About climate justice?
Sharing my point of view on climate justice make me feel…
Climate justice in our community would look like…

Large-Group Reflection Time

This time is for the larger group to process and reflect on the perspectives heard from other participants.

Give a time limit for how long each person may speak. One way to emphasize attentive listening is to have participants state only what others have stated. This is intended to keep people from stating their own perspectives (and often other agendas). A simple place for the moderator to begin is to point out recurring ideas and comments from each group’s paper. Expanding on this, if conversation is slow in the larger group, is to highlight seemingly complementary or conflicting observations from each group and ask to expand or reconcile those items.

Before ending, allow any participant who would like to answer in one sentence, “One thing that I will take with me from this conversation is…”

Closing Prayer

Teachable Points about Climate Change

The following is a minimal representation of teachable points. Be aware there are many others that could be included. The aim of these outlines is more about listening and uncovering assumptions than hosting a debate or passing on information. As noted in the Introduction to the Sample Courageous Conversation Outlines, the point is not providing more information or arriving at a consensus.

As the leader, you can determine the appropriate time to provide these points.

Scripture passages of note (a minor sampling):

Genesis 1. The first creation story is more about who God is than how God created the universe.
Creation was made good (Genesis 1:31) and, like humanity, awaits full redemption (Romans 8:20-23, Revelation 21:5). Jesus affirms the goodness of creation (Matthew 15:11).
Psalms 104 and 148 are reminders of how God’s glory is witnessed through creation
Sabbath rest for the land and the Jubilee Year (Leviticus 25) also reveal God’s care for creation.
Difficult passages such as 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 and 2 Peter 3:10-13 should also be discussed, as they are often part of narratives that look for signs of “end times.” However, passages like those in Revelation 4-5 picture worship with all of creation singing praise to God. Revelation 21:1 speaks of a new heaven and new earth with the understanding of new in the sense of renewed, not brand new.
Stewardship (Genesis 1:28, Genesis 2:15) is about managing the earth as those created in the likeness of God. Thus, stewardship is not about controlling or dominating, but corresponding to the way in which God rules us with discipline, nurture, and care. Likewise, Christian ethics would have us ask, “All dynamics considered, what is the most loving thing we can do in this situation?” “What will promote human flourishing (abundance)?”
Part of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) is self-control. In a society of excess, we are called to model moderation and even self-denial. How would modeling that behavior be an act of climate justice or climate care?
As many have pointed out (including http://www.globalissues.org/article/233/climate-change-and-global-warming-introduction), those who will be most affected by climate change will be the poor (already vulnerable). Jesus stated that faithful kingdom living involves caring for the “least of these” (Matthew 25:31-46). Are there links between humanitarian causes and climate justice?

Moral and Ethical Points

While most scientists agree that climate change is happening, there seems to be some disagreement regarding the actual cause (natural weather cycles, human activity, or both). What opinions are present in your group? How might people’s understanding of the causes behind climate change affect their opinions on climate care and climate justice?
Another ethical consideration regarding climate change and creation care is the distinction between the common good of others over against the individual freedoms of people and nation-states. So, for example, how will the economy be affected (jobs, income, etc.) by scaling back industry to lower the level of pollutants?
See Part V, Social Principles, of the Book of Discipline. Particularly ¶160 I. The Natural World. What language here supports or challenges individual or group notions of climate change and climate justice?
Missing the perspective of others, especially those with different life experiences is a justice issue. What voices are missing from our conversation on climate who are part of our larger community? How might we work to hear additional voices and experiences? How might your group go the extra mile to make everyone feel invited into conversations like this?
Is our community affected by climate change or climate justice (or injustice) on a daily basis? (Leader, look for stories from your local area. National or global stories could include the Flint water crisis, rising sea levels affecting coastal cities, droughts affecting farmers, and increasing wildfires, etc.) If we are affected by climate change, how can we be supportive of those most affected by the injustices in our community? If we are not, how might it feel to have daily life affected by climate change?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

The following resources are not an endorsement of any particular viewpoint. Rather, these are some of many potential resources that could be of benefit for those looking for more information or to help broaden perspectives.

Climate Justice with and for Children and Youth in Churches Get Informed, Get Inspired, Take Action, World Council of Churches, https://jliflc.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/WCC-ClimateJustice-Toolkit.pdf.
Fridays for Future, https://fridaysforfuture.org.
The Green Bible – New Revised Standard Version
“A Political Theology of Climate Change by Michael Northcott (William B. Eerdmans, 2013)
Sojourners, https://sojo.net.
Why We Disagree about Climate Change: Understanding Controversy, Inaction, and Opportunity by Mike Hulme (Cambridge, 2009)
“Youth for Climate Action,” UNICEF, https://www.unicef.org/environment-and-climate-change/youth-action.

Invitation to Brave Space
By Beth Strano

Together we will create brave space
Because there is no such thing as a “safe space"
We exist in the real world
We all carry scars, and we have all caused wounds.
In this space
We seek to turn down the volume of the outside world,
We amplify voices that fight to be heard elsewhere,
We call each other to more truth and love
We have the right to start somewhere and continue to grow.
We have the responsibility to examine what we think we know.
We will not be perfect.
This space will not be perfect.
It will not always be what we wish it to be
But
It will be our brave space together,
and
We will work on it side by side

CONVERSATION GUIDELINES FOR YOUTH

Commit to learning, not debating.
Be respectful in tone and words.
When you speak, only use “I” statements.
Listen respectfully, without interrupting.

Courageous Conversations for Youth: Climate

CREATING BRAVE SPACE:

Needed:

Recommended:

Estimated Timeline:

Session 1: Climate Change and Climate Justice

Before You Begin

Opening

Questions

World Cafe

Large-Group Reflection Time

Closing Prayer

Session 2: Justice and Action: What’s Right for our Context?

Before You Begin

Opening

Questions

World Cafe

Large-Group Reflection Time

Closing Prayer

Teachable Points about Climate Change

Scripture passages of note (a minor sampling):

Moral and Ethical Points

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

CONVERSATION GUIDELINES FOR YOUTH

OTHER QUESTIONS TO SPARK CONVERSATION