BP Oil Disaster

As we all watched oil gush into the Gulf of Mexico from the BP Oil Disaster, we asked ourselves what we can do to address this crisis. As people of faith, we can call upon spiritual resources from within our spiritual traditions, such as prayers and hymns, to reflect on this crisis with our faith community. As individuals, we also have the responsibility to examine anew the sources of the energy that we use in our daily lives. Consider the ways you can decrease your own energy use and save gas. And check out the resources below for ways that you and your faith community can respond to the BP Oil Disaster.

Worship & Reflection

The National Council of Church joined with hundreds of congregations across the country on October 3 to remember the Gulf oil catastrophe, pray for our brothers and sisters in the Gulf Coast, and reflect on our personal connection to the what is the largest oil spill in US history.

Seeking God's Grace for the Gulf: A Day of Worship Reflection and Healing is organized by the National Council of Churches of Christ's Eco-Justice Programs. Some of their resources are listed below, but check out their website for the full list of parayers, hymns, and other resources that you can adapt to meet your congregation's needs. We hope that you will take the time to join in what will be the beginning of a long and challenging healing process for God’s Creation and communities in the Gulf.

Resources for Congregations

• Prayers for the Gulf, a resource from the National Council of Churches.

• Prayers for October 3: Prayers prepared for Seeking God's Grace for the Gulf, on October 3, 2010.

• A litany for the Gulf of Mexico in a time of crisis: A litany that can be used on October 3, 2010.
  

• Gulf Coast Resources for Prayer and Action, from the General Board of Church and Society, United Methodist Church.

• A Prayer in the Aftermath of the Gulf Oil Spill, from Swords into Plowshares, reflections from the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program.
• Gulf Oil Spill: Prayers and resources from Environmental Ministries of the United Church of Christ.
• Oil Spill Update: One Month Later, from the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.
• Bearing Responsibility by Mary Minett, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Environmental Education and Advocacy.
• A Service Honoring Our Fragile Earth by the St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church Parish in Atlanta. Watch a video of The Rev. Patricia Templeton's sermon here.
• For the Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vigil in Thanksgiving and Lamentation for Our Planet Home from a special service on June 17, 2010, at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Charlotte, NC. 

Articles

• A Time for Moral Reckoning by Rev. Jim Wallis.
• From Eden to the Gulf: Abundance, Greed and Disaster by Rabbi Arthur Waskow.
• Beyond Petroleum by Imam Zaid Shakir.
• Letter to All World Religious and Spiritual Leaders by Arvol Looking Horse, Nineteenth Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe.
• A Lesson from the Gulf Oil Spill: We Are All Connected by Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.
• How the Oil Spill Is Hurting America's Soul by Rev. Carol Howard Merritt.
• Oil Spill Challenge by Glenn Rutherford on AmericanCatholic.org.
• Texas Faith: What Should Washington Do about Oil Drilling? in the Dallas Morning News Religion Blog.
• Silence, God, and the Gulf Coast Oil Spill by Rev. Fletcher Harper.
• Statistics on the Oil Spill found in the June 11, 2010 Issue of The Climate Project Newsletter
• Climate Change in the American Mind a report complied by George Mason University's Center for Climate Change Communication