A new kind of chaplain is helping people deal with 'climate grief'

September 6, 20245:51 AM ET

By Kimberly Winston for NPR

TALENT, Ore. — When Diane Ware’s home state of Oregon proposed a natural gas pipeline that threatened local waterways, she sprang into action – leading workshops on lobbying state lawmakers, mentoring student activists and organizing lectures at her church.

But when plans for the pipeline were canceled, Ware, 78, found little pleasure in the victory. The retired elementary school teacher couldn’t shake the feeling that it may be too late to save a planet in deep peril – a prospect tinged with grief, anger and depression. Ware realized she had a case of "climate grief” – and needed help.

Ware is one of a growing number of people using the services of an eco-chaplain, a new kind of spiritual advisor rising among clergy trained in handling grief and other difficult emotions.

Each month, at the Talent Public Library, Ware attends Sustaining Climate Activists, a gathering of mostly retired adults led by an eco-chaplain. She went to her first meeting shortly after a wildfire swept through Lahaina, Hawaii, in 2023. She was upset by a report that claimed news organizations had failed to link the wildfire to climate change.

“I just thought how on Earth are we ever going to get this problem solved if we can’t even talk about it and get good information from the newspapers that we think are the guardians of truth?” she said. “And then I just thought, ‘Wow, I am fried.’”

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