Our conversation will center the divestment efforts of people of faith, and the effort to divest in the United Methodist Church. We will hear from Bill McKibben and also William H. Morris. There will be time for Q&A, and to learn out what we can do as United Methodists to be good stewards and faithful investors.

Couldn’t make it? Here’s what happened.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Conversation on Divestment with Bill McKibben, William H. Morris, Steve Hucklesby, and more! The opportunity was especially rich in thinking about divestment not only as an essential part of addressing the climate crisis, but also as an essential moral action—an act of faith. The recording is posted, please share. Links below.

Please sign on and share our letter launched during our conversation asking The United Methodist Church to divest from fossil fuels. Sign on here. More information here.

Our conversation went to the heart of why divestment is an urgent part of the effort to reduce emissions and keep a stable climate. Bill McKibben spoke to the moral as well as the financial imperative of divestment: to not only the immediate need to stop burning oil, coal, and gas, but also to the necessity of reinvesting in energy from wind and sun. He stated that drawing energy from the sun via solar panels is like Jesus’ miracle of turning water into wine. God has blessed us with clean energy. 

In the continuing dialogue between Bill McKibben and William Morris of GreenFaith, William shared what it was like to grow up in a neighborhood where a refinery once exploded and drilling continues in a “comically evil” place—next to a school and neighborhoods. Steve Hucklesby with The Methodist Church in Britain joined from London and talked about how the churches in England, Scotland, and Wales have already divested—and how they did it.

We heard also from co-hosts, UMC leaders working to address the environmental and climate crisis: Cathy Velasquez Eberhart who heads up the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement, Rev. Sharon Delgado who convenes Fossil Free UMC, and Rev. Richenda Fairhurst who leads Climate Café Multifaith, and JustCreation.org.

The conversation pointed to several resources:

United Methodist Creation Justice Movement: Link to the website. Connect also with the Movement Café, and other teams making a difference. Look for information on General Conference. See the resolutions, including the divestment resolutions, that will be at General Conference. If you haven’t yet, join the our newsletter mailing list.

Fossil Free UMC: Link to the website. Check out also the blog with the moral and other reasons why the UMC needs to divest, why corporate engagement doesn’t work, and what’s at stake. Link especially to the LETTER CALLING FOR THE UMC TO DIVEST. Please sign and share. Here is a form to join the effort and/or subscribe.

Bill McKibben: Link to his website and The Crucial Years newsletter. Bill McKibben also wanted to highlighted his recent post where he identifies some of why oil and gas companies have become so powerful and why they won’t stop. The founder of 350.org, Bill McKibben recently founded Third Act, which includes a Third Act Faith. We heard from Kathleen Dickson, a member of Third Act Faith, who organizes from a small town rural church.

Steve Hucklesby: Hundreds of faith-based institutions have already divested from fossil fuels, including the churches in England, Scotland and Wales, and The Methodist Church in Britain. As a policy and investment leader in The Methodist Church in Britain, Steve Hucklesby worked on the divestment effort. He shared links to Operation Noah, Bright Now, and the Ash Wednesday Declaration. Read also the press release on the decision to divest.

You as a member of The United Methodist Church: Identify delegates attending General Conference from your Annual Conference. Let them know you hope they will support divestment. 

If you haven’t already, please sign up to get updates from Fossil Free UMC, the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement, and JustCreation.org.

Thank you so much to the sponsors of this event: