By Rev Richenda Fairhurst
Another one for the history books! Yet another legislative petition written by an active member of the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement (UMCJM) passed late Wednesday afternoon at General Conference.
The petition, Sustainable Practices for Annual Conference Sessions, is succinct and its simplicity is its brilliance. And its subject is something those who work on sustainability can really relate to. The legislation simply says:
Amend ¶603 Annual Conference Organization. Add, 4. The annual conference sessions shall be held in places that are accessible to people with disabilities and that have sustainable practices for energy, waste, and consumption.
The petition passed as part of a group of petitions bundled together in what is called a consent calendar on Wednesday, late afternoon. That bundle together passed with 75% of the votes in favor.
Anyone who has ever tried to address sustainability in the church knows the agony of trying to get folks to stop using plastic utensils and styrofoam cups. U.S. churches have been slow to nowhere when it comes to replacing plastic, toxic, and wasteful items of convenience for every kind of gathering, including devotional studies and especially the fellowship hour.
The point is, these things matter. Rev. Nancy Blade, who serves in the Northern Illinois Conference, isn’t trying to green-shame anyone. She just knows that plastic is in the rain, in our food, in our brains, and at the rate we are dumping plastics there will soon be more plastic than fish into the ocean.
Rev. Blade’s petition speaks to the struggle to ensure good practices of sustainability at gatherings. It asks for annual conference organizers to be more intentional about choosing venues where support for sustainable practices is available, such as a recycling program and dishwashing, as well as to seek venues that can be enjoyed by people of all abilities.
Rev. Blade’s story will be familiar to many. For seven years, Blade has been trying to get her annual conference gatherings to simply recycle. What she has encountered is excuses. Says Blade, “At first the excuse was that the city we were meeting in didn’t require or have recycling. Because I lived close by, I brought in recycling bins and took them home, only to find that the staff at the hotel was using them for regular garbage.”
The next year she tried at an “upscale venue” but they didn’t have recycling either. Year three she brought in reinforcements. She says, “I had our United Women in Faith use their 13 Sustainable Practices document and evaluate the conference.” The news wasn’t good—we failed, of course.”
Rev. Blade realized that even with all the heart to do the right thing and all the reasons why, they were still failing. In large part because those in power were denying any impact and resisting change. Says Blade, “We still had no political power to force the Annual Conference Committee to act on the sustainability evaluation.”
It was that realization that set her determination. She took her concern all the way to the top—to General Conference. Says Blade, “I looked for a way to make sustainability a rule and found that it was already a rule for all General Conference meetings, but not for any annual conference meetings.”
Once she established a path toward remedy, the next step was to bring in allies and friends to support her efforts. Says Blade, “I brought the idea to our UMCJM General Conference working group meeting, and someone else said that they too had an issue with their annual conference about recycling.”
Other members of the UMCJM brought their experiences and skills to the writing. Says Blade, “Writing the petition wasn’t hard, but keeping the rationale short was a struggle. The team’s feedback helped narrow things down for me, and we were able to get it published without re-writes at the Conference.”
The result of all of that effort? Now, The United Methodist Church has new legislation designed to give sustainability-seekers the support they need to get creation-friendly practices implemented during annual conferences.
That is not all that Blade has gained, however. Simply the process itself of writing a petition for General Conference, sitting in on committees, and experiencing the good push of the effort has been affirming. Says Blade, “It’s wonderful to be able to participate in the General Church this way. I have learned so much from being on Zoom calls and presenting legislation in webinars. Helping with legislation and brochures and spiritual contributions has made a difference in how I see the church.”