By Aryaana Khan
In September 2024, Thriving Earth Exchange launched a project in St. Petersburg, Florida focused on hosting an assembly of interfaith climate actors. This sixth assembly of faith-inspired climate actions focused on strengthening and expanding the network of people and organizations of goodwill working towards transitioning Florida to a blue-green economy. The assembly helped motivate people towards ongoing climate action, introduced them to new partnerships, and educated them on new methods of sustainable living. It also informed participants on how to respond to this new day of annual extreme weather events arising from the climate crisis. Aryaana Khan, a Thriving Earth Exchange Community Science Fellow and project manager for this initiative, attended the assembly and shared her reflections below.
Activating Interfaith Climate Action
From left to right: Community Leaders Beverly Ward, the Rev. Dr. Russell L. Meyer, and Community Science Fellow Aryaana Khan
This past March, I had the honor of attending the sixth Florida Interfaith Climate Actions Network (FL-iCAN!) Assembly in St. Petersburg, Florida. As the Community Science Fellow supporting an AGU Thriving Earth Exchange project with the Florida Council of Churches, my role extended beyond contributing scientific knowledge. I was there as a listener, a learner, and a bridge between the languages of climate science and the rituals of care, faith, and healing that this space so intentionally wove together.
The assembly, convened as part of the Council’s long-standing Care of Creation programming, was a deeply collaborative and intergenerational gathering — drawing over 75 faith leaders, civic actors, scientists, and organizers from across Florida.The opening presentation by theologian Matthew Fox addressed the need to recover rituals that help us stay connected to Earth and the living system, setting the tone for the weekend. As climate impacts such as hurricanes, flooding, and extreme heat intensify throughout the state, the urgency for new coalitions and spiritually grounded responses has become ever more urgent.
The sixth assembly marked a powerful reawakening of the FL-iCAN! network after a multi-year pause due to the pandemic, serving both as a celebration and a springboard. More than just a convening, it became a ceremonial and strategic space — one that grounded climate work in spiritual reflection, shared rituals, and collective imagination. Through this project, we aimed to cultivate an ongoing forum where people of faith and goodwill could articulate their environmental values, foster meaningful relationships, and explore practices for sustained climate action.
Saturday, March 22: Grounded in Science and Spirit
Dr. Harold Wanless presenting on global mean sea level rise and its far-reaching impacts on Florida’s coastal communities
I arrived in Tampa just in time to catch Dr. Harold Wanless’ powerful presentation on “The Global and Local Impact of Sea Level Rise: The Overwhelming Role of Human Activities.” His talk illuminated the sobering reality of Florida’s future — where communities are already facing intensifying floods, storms, and systemic inaction. Dr. Wanless didn’t just present data; he delivered a moral imperative, inviting us to understand science as a tool of both knowledge and accountability.
Later, I attended a workshop on “Care of Creation in Christian Liturgy” led by Pastor Gabriel Morgan. He beautifully integrated insights from the latest IPCC report with calls to action grounded in Christian liturgy. It was an invitation to reimagine climate action as sacred practice — something that lives not only in science, policy, and protest — but also in prayer, ritual, and the stories we tell in and out of worship.
Pastor Gabriel Morgan presenting Figure SPM.7 from the IPCC’s AR6 Synthesis Report (2023)
That afternoon, I facilitated a workshop titled “Climate Justice and Eco-Poetry,” one I’ve carefully developed and presented hundreds of times, with each iteration offering something distinct and meaningful. This time, we gathered in an intergenerational circle, inviting participants to explore their personal relationship with climate through a creative lens. While my research and advocacy often focus on scientific data, I’ve found that poetry and storytelling offer a deeply human connection to climate and justice. We wrote poems of grief and hope, humor and truth. These poetic exchanges echoed the assembly’s mission: building resilience through shared ritual and collective imagination.
Participants immersed in poetry and reflection during independent writing time
Sunday, March 23: Rituals of Grief, Healing, and Joy
The final day of the assembly culminated in theologian Matthew Fox’s Cosmic Mass: an immersive, interfaith experience of song, movement, prayer, and ecological reflection attended by nearly 150 people. Through sermon, music, and dance, participants explored their relationship to Earth not as a resource, but as kin— something to protect, to grieve, and to celebrate. It was a collective ritual of belonging: to one another, to spirit, to land and water.
One of the masks worn during the Cosmic Mass, embodying themes of transformation and spiritual connection
Reclaiming Climate as Collective Calling
What made the FL-iCAN! Assembly so moving for me was how seamlessly it wove together science, spirituality, and storytelling. We weren’t just talking about climate action — we were embodying it in community.
I left the assembly with renewed clarity: that effective climate solutions must hold space for both data and dreams, for grief and vision, for policy and poetry. And above all, they must be grounded in relationships — because the most powerful climate actions are those we take together.
To explore all 20 FL-iCAN! workshops and presentations from the weekend, click here.
Event updates and video recordings of keynote presentations will be available at fl-ican.org.
