Sun Day: A Grassroots Day of Action
Rev. Dr. Jim Antal encourages people of faith to start planning for Sun Day now!
by Dr. Jim Antal
This is an invitation—a call—to congregations as well as to any and all people of faith to join us in preparing for Sun Day on September 20-21, 2025, a grassroots weekend of action when millions of people across the United States will celebrate the gift and power of clean energy and the urgent need to stand up to the wealthy and well-connected who are doing everything they can to stand in its way.
As the planet continues to warm, making the transition to renewable energy is essential to guarantee a livable planet for future generations, however the current administration continues to revoke funding and overturn regulations that would facilitate that transition. In order to mobilize grassroots power, Third Act is teaming up with scores of other environmental, climate, and faith groups to create Sun Day, a counterpart to Earth Day that’s near the autumnal equinox.
Third Act Faith is gathering resources to help congregations and individuals proclaim that climate action as spiritual and moral imperative. Because September is a busy time for many congregations, it’s important to set aside the date now so it can be part of the fall planning.
Fifty-five years ago, ten percent of the U.S. population poured into the streets for the first Earth Day. We expect our plans for Sun Day will motivate a comparable number and thus have a similar transformative impact as we advocate to accelerate the clean energy transition at the scale required to meet global climate goals.
People of faith can and must play a key role, demonstrating to media, to elected leaders, and to the general public that the earth is our common home, that it is up to us to end the desecration of the sacred gift of creation, and that humanity is now called to embrace an urgent transition to clean energy.
Imagine this call coming from thousands of pulpits as part of this Sun Day witness. Imagine thousands of congregations deciding to convene worship outside, alongside countless other Sun Day events, celebrating creation’s provision of endless energy made accessible by the miracle of science and the genius efforts of scientists and engineers. Imagine millions of people proclaiming that transitioning to clean energy is a moral and spiritual imperative.
Twenty-five percent of American adults—65,000,000 of us—gather for worship on any given weekend, according to a recent Pew study. Imagine if only half of those congregations participated in Sun Day by focusing their worship on our creator, the blessing of creation, and the opportunity our generation has been given to embrace clean, reliable, non-polluting energy.
Twenty-two percent of American adults—57,000,000 of us—identify as spiritual but not religious according to a 2023 Pew study. Imagine if only half of them hosted or participated in a local Sun Day event and shared with other participants how the event connects with their spirituality.
How to Get Involved
Everyone
As a first step, go to the Sun Day website, scroll down a little, and sign up to receive updates and resources.
Learn more and get ideas about how you can be involved at the Third Act Faith Sun Day link. There you will find resources for both congregations and for individuals, Sun Day event ideas, and links to potential partners.
If you are affiliated with a congregation
Share this article with your congregation’s clergy and lay leaders and invite them to confirm that your worship service on the weekend of September 20-21 will be part of the nationwide Sun Day Celebration and Grassroots Day of Action.
Once you know your congregation will be participating, consult the Sun Day: Host Toolkit, which has suggestions for planning and hosting events. And be sure to let the world know that you are hosting a Sun Day event by registering your event here.
The Third Act Faith Sun Day webpage offers ideas for Sun Day events specifically for congregations. Consider convening a celebratory worship service at a community solar site. How about inviting people from your congregation who have solar panels or heat pumps to offer a one-minute testimony as part of your worship? Christian congregations can learn about the Season of Creation, which begins September 1 and ends on St. Francis’ Day (October 4), and can take advantage of the incredible worship resources available on their website. For additional ideas, have a look at chapter six in my book Climate Church, Climate World, titled “Worship as a Pathway to Freedom.”
And whatever you decide to do, be sure you share what you’re doing on social media. You can use this social media guide for pointers.
What about your denomination or national faith group? Go to the Sun Day website to see if your denomination or national faith group is listed as a “partner.” If it’s not yet listed, consider contacting the appropriate staff at your denomination’s national level, sharing this article with them, and encouraging them to join other denominations and religious groups as an official “partner” with the Sun Day coalition. Since most denominations and national faith groups have an environmental/climate witness, we hope they will join the United Church of Christ as an official “partner” for Sun Day. Denominations or national faith groups can find out more about becoming a partner on the Partner Outreach Flyer.
If you are not affiliated with a congregation
Anyone can offer their wisdom, their talents, their stories, their artistry, and whatever other gifts they may have to enhance the hundreds (or should I suggest, thousands?) of events that will be springing up everywhere. Go to the Sun Day website, where you’ll find a map showing the growing number of events and actions that are being planned. If there’s already one near you, see how you might contribute to what is being planned. If there’s no action near you, talk with some local friends and consider hosting an event.
Once you decide to host an event, consult the Sun Day: Host Toolkit, which has suggestions for planning and hosting your event. Let the world know that you are hosting a Sun Day event by registering your event and sharing your plans on social media, using this social media guide for pointers.
The Third Act Faith Sun Day page also has ideas for non-affiliated people of faith or anyone for whom climate action is a spiritual calling.
Help Celebrate that “We Can Do This!”
Fifty-five years ago, no one imagined that an unknown rag-tag group of organizers could succeed in getting the Federal government to enact laws and legislate rules that would protect land, water, air, flora, fauna, and humans. But when 20,000,000 Americans showed up in the streets and parks and lecture halls in every part of the country, the mandate was clear and change happened.
In the decades since that first Earth Day, the scientists and engineers have done their job. They have given us all the technology we need to power our lives and our economy with clean renewable energy.
Now it’s up to us, to our generation—whatever generation you may be part of—to celebrate the fact that “we can do this,”and to embrace the opportunity to make the transition to clean, God-given renewable energy a reality, not only for those who can afford it, but for the least of these among us. Let’s make Sun Day a day filled with the light of truth and the promise of hope, a day that reveals a just and secure future, not only for us, but for all of God’s creation.
About Jim Antal
Jim Antal serves as Special Advisor on Climate Justice to the General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ. Antal’s 2023 book, Climate Church, Climate World – Revised and Updated, is being read by hundreds of churches. From 2006 to 2018, Antal led the 350 UCC churches in Massachusetts as their Conference Minister and President. He has preached on climate change since 1988 in over 400 settings and has engaged in non-violent civil disobedience on numerous occasions. Jim Antal’s Substack.