By Rev. Sharon Delgado
I am happy to announce that this year’s Annual Conference Session, held June 10–13, passed a
Recommendation to Convene a Climate Justice Ministries Task Force, which required an amendment to
the Standing Rules. The task force will be an ongoing subcommittee of the Conference Advocacy and
Justice Committee and will be facilitated by a Climate Justice Ministries Coordinator. As the person who
envisioned this task force and drafted the resolution, I have been nominated to the Advocacy and
Justice Committee to initially serve in this role. Several of us who submitted the Recommendation to
Annual Conference are working together to invite people from different conference committees and
communities to serve on the task force, which is to be “made up of people who reflect the diversity of
our annual conference.”
According to the Recommendation, the Climate Justice Ministries Task Force will be charged with
- Reaching out to conference committees and local churches to gauge interest and current
participation in creation care or climate justice ministries and publishing the findings; - Discerning how the annual conference can move forward in a coordinated way on ministries
focused on climate justice and facilitating such efforts; - Establishing an official point of contact for networking across conferences and for connecting
with local churches so that climate justice ministries can be supported in an ongoing way and be
integrated into the life of the annual conference and our local churches; and - Reporting back annually to the annual conference session on progress made.
We are eager to get started on this work, but it will take us time to get organized. We plan to send out
an interest survey to churches and individuals, host informational webinars on Zoom, and offer
resources and suggestions for connection and action. We have barely made a start. But meanwhile, you
can “like” and “follow” our new moderated Cal-Nevada Climate Justice Ministries Facebook Page. You
can find the full text of the annual conference recommendation there. Feel free to post a picture and
story if your church or a small group within your church is doing something related to climate justice or
creation care. I know that many of our churches are involved in such ministries, often led by United
Women in Faith (formerly United Methodist Women). Or contact me at revsher@earth-justice.org.
“As United Methodists engaged in making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world,
we are part of a new creation in Christ. Being reconciled with God, with each other, and with all
creation, we are sent out as agents of reconciliation to the world God loves so much. This includes
working toward the vision of `a new creation’ in this time of ecological degradation, climate change, and
resulting human injustice.”