Building Faith in Science: An Interfaith Climate Action Project
In August 2023, UCHRI joined the Wildland-Urban Interface Climate Action Network (WUICAN), a UC-funded three-campus initiative that focuses on community-led climate initiatives.
To invite new forms of meaning-making and knowledge-sharing into the network, UCHRI reached out to local faith leaders with an unexpected proposal: Are you interested in learning from each other, connecting with scientists, and advancing climate action in your communities?
Six leaders from Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and Sikh communities said yes and, along with members from UCHRI and UC Irvine’s School of Humanities, formed WUICAN’s Interfaith Climate Action Working Group.
Religions have helped fuel climate denial, as UCHRI post-doctoral scholar Matthew Hartman has explored in his research. Faith communities, however, can also provide intellectual tools and spark new social energy for climate action. For many congregations, virtues such as stewardship, care, and justice aren’t just good ideas; they are ways of life.
Seeking a welcoming format for diverse participants, the Working Group organized an Elemental Climate Conversations series, which ran from Spring 2024 through Spring 2025. Each event took place in a different house of worship and featured one of the four elements: water, air, fire, and earth.
A water communion, breathing exercises, candle-lighting, and a fig tree planting ceremony: Each gathering began with an immersive experience featuring one of the four elements. After these mood-setting liturgies, scientists and community leaders shared their work on conservation and climate justice. Events also featured live music and dance.
Building on the connections and concepts developed in the series, the Interfaith Climate Action Working Group will host a climate festival on October 11, 2025 at Harbor Christian Church. Community partners from across WUICAN and Southern California will share their climate practices through hands-on workshops and performances. A fig tree planted in June at the Pacifica Institute will make its way to the campus of Harbor Christian Church, where it will find new hands to water it.
–Julia Reinhard Lupton, Interim Director, UCHRI
Water: An Interfaith Exchange
May 2024 at St. Mark Presbyterian Church, Newport Beach
Water Communion
Sadie Cullumber, Pastor, Harbor Christian Church, Newport Beach
Presenters
Keila Villegas, Water Justice Director, Orange County Environmental Justice
Steve Allison, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UC Irvine
Rabbi Marcia Tilchin, Jewish Collaborative of Orange County
Duygu Ustun, Pacifica Institute
Air: An Interfaith Exchange
November 2024 at the Jain Center of Southern California, Buena Park
UC Irvine Faculty Co-Host and Moderator
Brianne Donaldson, Director, Program in Religious Studies, and Shri Parshvanath Presidential Chair in Jain Studies, UC Irvine
Yoga Meditation / Breathing Exercise
Christopher Key Chapple, Doshi Professor of Indic and Comparative Theology, and Director, Master of Arts in Yoga Studies, Loyola Marymount University
Presenters
Aylin Camacho, Environmental Justice Coordinator, GREEN-MPNA
Andrea De Vizcaya-Ruiz, Professor of Environmental & Occupational Health, UC Irvine
Lamont Hartman, Pastor, Reconcile Church
Janak Kaur, United Sikh Mission
Pragya Jain, Jain Center of Southern California
Fire: An Interfaith Exchange
February 2025 at Temple Beth El of Southern Orange County, Aliso Viejo
Interfaith Candle Lighting Service
Rabbi-Cantor Marcia Tilchin, Jewish Collaborative of Orange County
Presenters
Madison Killebrew, Fire Prevention & Management Program Manager, Irvine Ranch Conservancy
Karagan Smith, PhD Student, Cleland Lab at UC San Diego
Earth: An Interfaith Exchange
June 2025 at the Pacifica Institute, Lake Forest
Interfaith Fig Tree Planting
Atilla Kahveci, Pacifica Institute
Pastor Sadie Cullumber, Harbor Christian Church
Presenters
Steve Allison, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UC Irvine
Reverend Farmer Stephen Yorba, Community Partners 4 Innovation and Lopez Urban Farm
Maya Cheav, Land & Health Director, Orange County Environmental Justice
Profiles of some of our interfaith partners and presenters
Lamont Hartman, Reconcile Church
Janak Kaur, United Sikh Mission
Marcia Tilchin, Jewish Collaborative of Orange County
Steve Allison, UC Irvine
Karagan Smith, UC San Diego’s Cleland Lab
Madison Killebrew, Irvine Ranch Conservancy (forthcoming)
Sadie Cullumber, Harbor Christian Church (forthcoming)
These profiles were written by undergraduate interns as part of a WUICAN Climate Communications Internship program run by UCHRI, 2024-25.
