Jim Antal - Climate Church, Climate World: How People of Faith Must Work for Change

Praise for
Climate Church, Climate World

This is the book for which we have been waiting concerning the climate crisis. It is clear: the time for ambiguity is long since past. It is bold: deeply-rooted boldness is required to counter the forceful ideology of the fossil fuel lobby. It is institutionally realistic: this is no generic moral appeal, but a bid to the church to take up its primal mission. It is practical: it anticipates active ways for pastors and churches to get to it. This is a welcome must read.

Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary

Jim Antals leadership and religious witness is legendary, and so is the power and beauty of his voice. This book will give you the courage, conviction, and practical tools you will need to be part of this movement!

May Boeve, executive director and cofounder, 350.org

Antal argues that climate injustice is a force that amplifies every other social injustice, and that without a whole and restored earth we wont achieve a whole and restorative society. In urging the church to more deeply consider its obligation in calling society to action, this book will help Christians, both congregationally and individually, act in response to climate change and maintain an outlook of Christ-centered hope while doing so.

Jim Wallis, president and founder, Sojourners

Jim Antal is among the most knowledgeable and passionate advocates of creation care, and he captures the complete story in Climate Church, Climate World.

James Hansen, director, Climate Science, Awareness, and
Solutions Program, Columbia University Earth Institute

Jim Antals Climate Church, Climate World arrives at the perfect, most-needed moment. Tears came as I read ittears of relief and joy that the church had found its voice in this time of crisis. Jims brave, resounding summons to his fellow Christians comes as marching orders for us all.

Joanna Macy, author, Coming Back to Life

People of faith have been charged to answer the call of environmental stewardship in the twenty-first century. Too often a theological fringe element has silenced the compassionate and caring faithful serving in faith communities across this nation. Jim Antals book is a profound answer to fringe and ethically suspect theological movements attempting to silence faith voices committed to creation care. This book is part manual, part theological reflection, and all prophetic witness.

Otis Moss, senior pastor/servant, Trinity
United Church of Christ

Jim Antals passion for eco-justice and his bold faith adhere in his emerging theological claim that faith communities have a new vocation: care for the Earth. This book breaks new ground in claiming that a faith not fully committed to the preservation of the planet loses its raison dtre.

The Rev. Dr. John C. Dorhauer, general minister and president, United Church of Christ

We must be honest enough to admit that religions originally acknowledged climate change with hesitation, even reluctance. Today, they embrace their responsibility in raising awareness about creation care. In this urgent vocation, Jim Antal has demonstrated unique leadership: proclaiming the gospel of the sacredness of Gods creation, promulgating the dire effects of global warming on the most vulnerable, as well as practicing what he preaches in church and society. This book is the fruit of mature discernment and extensive ministry.

John Chryssavgis, theological advisor to
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

Jim Antal is not preaching to the choir. He is preaching to all of us for all of us, summoning us and the church to an urgent new callingto heal a creation broken by the ravages of global warming and climate disruption. His inspiring book and the stories he tells lift us up and prepare us for the great moral challenge of our time.

James Gustave Speth, founder, National Resources Defense Council; former dean, Yale School of Forestry
and Environmental Studies

Antal braids science, testimony, and action plans into a strong tether between a planet sliding into climate disaster and a hope of creation restored. This book shows how we together can pull back from the brink. People of faith need to read this booknow!

Sharon E. Watkins, former general minister and president, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

In his life and work Jim Antal has been a tireless Christian witness to the moral challenge of climate change. In this comprehensive book Jim brings together his compelling personal experience and his broad knowledge to assist other leaders in carrying on this great work. With his powerful prophetic voice he has done a great service to the cause of promoting climate awareness and climate justice.

Mary Evelyn Tucker, Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology

A growing number of calls plead for the church to address the long emergency of the climate crisis. Few, however, say how to do so as people of faith who courageously take on the mantle of moral leadership. Jim Antal does both in his sure-footed and bracing way. Climate Church, Climate World is a gift.

Larry Rasmussen, Reinhold Niebuhr Professor Emeritus of
Social Ethics, Union Theological Seminary

Jim Antal is a faithful and courageous advocate in the struggle to save the earth. I am thankful for his leadership. His new book is a must read for all who desire ideas and inspiration.

Jim Winkler, president and general secretary,
National Council of Churches

Jim Antal has written an inspired and inspiring call to armsinspired by his fervent belief in God and inspiring to all those of faith who respond to his call. The book charts the damage humankind is causing to its planetary home and points to the many ways in which humankind can change its waysindeed mustbefore the damage becomes irreversible. A most timely and important book!

Bevis Longstreth, former commissioner,
Securities and Exchange Commission

For far too many mainstream churches, climate change is still considered a topic too hot for Sunday mornings. And yet, as the Reverend Dr. Jim Antal writes in this learned, heartfelt, and prophetic epistle to American churches and people of faith everywhere, the climate crisis and the suffering it brings are the overriding physical and moral facts of the world that we as Christians are called to love and serve. Where, then, if not in our churches, must we engage this greatest of human crises? With candor, emotional honesty, and moral clarity, Antal offers a profound new vision for what it means to be a church, and a follower of Jesus, in the twenty-first century.

Wen Stephenson, author, What Were Fighting for Now Is Each Other: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Climate Justice

Antal pulls no punches, trenchantly calling people of faith to live beyond our denial and into our interdependence. Theologically grounding our call to action, he provides pragmatic ways for us to proceed as we seek to address the calamity at hand. He stretches us to live free from the limits of our fears. Climate Church, Climate World is an essential resource.

Alice Hunt, president, Chicago Theological Seminary

Jim Antal embodies the moral imagination that we so desperately need in order to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis. His book invites us to imagine a church that puts its principles into action in the twenty-first century and offers a wealth of resources for people of faith who are ready to answer that call.

Tim DeChristopher, founder, Climate Disobedience Center

For years weve been waiting for a book that has the power to awaken communities of faith to their high calling: to lead the way in preserving the web of life and averting climate chaos. Weve been waiting for a book that gives us straight talk about the climate crisis, faces the terrifying facts without flinching, and provides its readers with the moral grounding, motivation, and tools for faithful and effective action. Weve been waiting for a book that, in challenging us to take action on climate, skillfully articulates our moral and ethical responsibility and offers a humble, brilliant, and provocative reflection on the nature of hope.