November 2025 Movement Café:
Global Connections for Climate Justice
November 19, 2025
10am PT / 11am MT / 12pm CT / 1pm ET
Sponsored by the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement, the informal, virtual space of the Café facilitates conversation, connection, and community focused on creation care and justice issues.
Global Connections
for Climate Justice
The world-wide reach of our faith is a key opportunity to address the global-to-local challenges of climate change. At the November Movement Cafe we will hear stories that demonstrate the power of global conversations in the local church and annual conferences. Presenters will address both COP30, which will be in progress during the Cafe, and the World Council of Churches (WCC) Decade of Climate Action. Guests include Rev. Dr. Becca Edwards with the Global Board of Church and Society and Texas Impact, who will be attending COP in Brazil, Ann Jacob, Audra Stone and Jacob Stone, who will speak to the WCC both locally and globally. We will also hear from a team of United Methodist Caretaker, Creation Coordinators, who will serve as official COP30 virtual observers, through the efforts of Texas Impact, with Rev. Mel Caraway, and through the Global Board of Church and Society, including Rev. Laura Baumgartner, Rev. Jonathan Brake, Rev. Joan Pell, and Nate Weiland.
Speakers
Rev. Dr. Becca Edwards
The Rev. Dr. Becca Edwards is the United Methodist Climate and Energy Fellow working with the General Board of Church and Society. She is responsible for federal legislative and policy advocacy in support of climate and energy policy. She also serves as an observer to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations as part of the GBCS delegation. Before seminary, Becca served for ten years as a visiting professor of Physics and Environmental Studies at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, where she taught climate science, energy, and earth science courses. Becca earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and Ph.D. in Wind Science and Engineering from Texas Tech University and completed an M.Div. from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 2023. Read more about Becca.
Audra and Jacob Stone
Pastor Audra Hudson Stone and Jacob Stone are the co-convenors of the Environmental Justice Taskforce of the Michigan Conference UMC and the North Central Jurisdiction Network of the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement. In November 2023, they served as young adult representatives of the UMC to the 2023 World Council of Churches Eco-School, focused on faith-based responses to climate change and environmental degradation.
Audra studied public ministry and ecological regeneration at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and currently serves as the campus minister for the Central Michigan University Wesley Foundation. She also serves as the Michigan Conference Secretary of Global Ministries. Jacob has a background in environmental science and biology and has worked in outdoor education and UMC camping ministries. Jacob also serves as the co-chair of the Michigan Conference Board of Justice and as the conference’s Caretaker for God’s Creation.
Ann Jacob
Ann Jacob is a United Methodist Pastor, serving in Edmonds, Washington, for four years, whose ministries included refugee welcome and resettlement. She interned at The United Methodist Global Board of Church and Society, and is currently a member of the World Council of Churches Central Committee, and is currently a J.D. Candidate at the University of Washington School of Law. As a young adult, Ann’s is a leading global and United Methodist voice for climate justice, global peace, and care of neighbor.
COP30 Observer TEam
As of 2024, every annual conference in the denomination has or will name a Conference Caretaker Coordinator, also called Creation Justice Coordinators. This important role is already boosting the work and visibility of creation care and justice in the denomination, and gaining the support of agencies such as the Global Board of Church and Society (GBCS). This year, four of these Conference Coordinators will be serving as virtual Observers to COP30. They are:
Rev. Mel Caraway, through Texas Impact, Horizon Texas Conference
Rev. Laura Baumgartner, through GBCS, Pacific Northwest Conference
Rev. Jonathan Brake, through GBCS, Western North Carolina Conference
Nate Weiland, through GBCS, Indiana Conference
Rev. Joan Pell, through GBCS, California-Nevada Conference.
Follow Rev. Joan’s updates here.