September News
The primary focus of this month’s newsletter is the importance of advocacy for systemic change as we work together to protect God’s good creation. Our premise is that action at all levels of our lives is essential in this critical work. We should and must care for creation in our daily living. Creation-friendly choices about food, clothing, housing, energy, transportation, and so forth are important. Likewise, the actions we take in our local congregations and our conferences can have a large impact. Reducing the carbon footprint of our buildings, sustainable care for church grounds, and planting soil-building vegetable and pollinator gardens are just a few examples.
But also essential is advocacy at all levels of government to shape policies that are in harmony with a flourishing Earth. Governments create laws that can harm or protect creation’s biosystems and vulnerable communities. Government policy determines where we get our energy—and whether or not it is clean and sustainable or polluting and unsustainable. Legislation can require vehicles to be more fuel-efficient, reducing climate disrupting greenhouse gas emissions. Laws can reduce particulate pollution from power plants that have a disproportionate impact on communities of color. The list goes on and on.
As people of faith who are also responsible citizens of a democracy, we have an important say in whether good or bad bills become law. The recent passage of the historic Inflation Reduction Act climate and health bill was the result of millions of hours of advocacy by people from all across the nation. Our advocacy matters!
In this issue of the UMCJM Newsletter, you will find links to resources that can serve as tools for your own advocacy efforts. In addition, several fellow United Methodists have written articles from their own experiences of advocacy. John Hill with the Board of Church and Society provides an update on federal climate policy. Darryl Stephens gives an overview of the history of Methodism’s engagement in creation justice work in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Ilka Vegas with United Women in Faith highlights the vital importance of doing advocacy with an environmental justice lens. Christina Krost with the Illinois Interfaith Power & Light affiliate, Faith in Place, describes the great work being done in her state. Andrew Hartley, who serves on the UMCJM Federal Climate Policy Working Group, reminds us that effective advocacy includes electing officials committed to creation justice. And I tell the story of a successful campaign in Nashville, Tennessee, to enact clean energy standards for that city.
We hope you find these stories helpful as you decide how you might engage in advocacy for God’s good creation in your location. We pray God’s blessings on your efforts!
—Rev. Paul Slentz
Facilitator of the UMCJM Federal Climate Policy Working Group