Ryan P. Cumming

Program Director, Theological Ethics, Education, and Community Engagement

ELCA

• What did you see?

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• What did you hear?

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• What other workers might be impacted?

Tracking Heat Safety Standards for Workers

• Visit https://tinyurl.com/377jcjan

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• Post in the chat:
• Does your state have an existing heat standard?
• How many workers are at risk?

By the end of our time together, we will be able to…

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• describe the topics covered in the study guide
• understand how the sections of each session flow together
• identify some ways to use the study guide in your own context

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What works well in teaching?

Stories

Easy-to-digest information

Local relevance

Connections to bible and faith

Overview of “Our Kairos Moment”

• Goal: empowering people to act, even in small, manageable ways
• Values
• Hope
• Action
• Agency and assets
• 4 sessions
• Finding Our Place in Creation
• Climate Change as a Public Health Crisis
• The Future of Farming
• Active Hope and Agents of Change

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Concepts

• 4 expressions of justice

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• 3 types of justice

Sufficiency

Sustainability

Solidarity

Participation

Intersectional

Intergenerational

Intragenerational

Sufficiency

Sustainability

Solidarity

Participation

Intragenerational

Intergenerational

Intersectional

Interdependence

Stewardship vs. dominion

Weather vs. climate

US Dust Bowl

Examples and Videos

Topics

Heat

Worker safety

Outdoor workers

Farming

Climate anxiety

Farmers in Midwest

Just transition

Climate migration

Climate migration in Alaska and Louisiana

Session 1

Connection: Our story

Session 2

Connection: Our neighbor

Session 3

Connection: Our food

Session 4

Connection: Our home

Components of Sessions

• Opening prayer
• Setting the Tone – group covenanting
• Opening Activity – relevant stories, videos
• Bible Study
• Social Message Study
• “Make One Change”
• Closing Prayer

Setting the Tone

• First activity after prayer
• Each includes paragraph from pg. 13
• Purpose:
1. build relationships
2. establish openness

From Session 1

Opening Activity

• Watch videos in small groups
• Ask questions
• Consider graphs and facts through guided questions
• Purpose:

1) make topic relevant to participants

2) build on what they already know

from Session 2

Bible and Social Message Studies

• Bible Study
• Vary in length
• Purpose: transition between opening activity and deeper learning of social message study; establish biblical foundation for key values and concepts
• Social Message Study
• Purpose: understand key terms and concepts of social messages and commitments of the ELCA

Make One Change

• Always include: one activity to do with children, and one blank card
• In multi-session, completed cards can be posted continuously
• Purpose:
1. deepen learning
2. foster hope and agency
3. Build up to larger actions

From Session 4

Setting the Tone – Each Other

Opening – Real World Relevance

Bible Study – Scripture

Message Study – Faith

Make One Change – Life and Action

Connections

Summing up

• Covers wide-ranging topics, including worker safety, sustainable farming, climate anxiety, public health, and just transition, through short readings, videos, and graphics
• Connects topics to participants’ life and faith
• Cultivates hope and empowerment for action

What are some ways that you might use this in your context?

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What questions do you have?