The gravel road is mostly abandoned now. With only small spots of fallen snow and flurries along the way, one would not believe this was the same road that led masses of people to the world’s highest lift-served ski area at 17,785 feet. After navigating hairpin turns and watching the houses and farmland of the Bolivian altiplano (high plateau) become smaller and smaller (if one dared look over the narrow road’s edge), the Chacaltaya glacier, in all of its nakedness, soon would be revealed. Today’s view of the glacier, however, is much different from that of years past. Now only a few small remnants of ice and snow persist.
If this summer’s Presbyterian Youth Triennium is any indication, more young people are showing an overwhelming interest in critical topics that intersect faith and social justice, such as environmental racism.
When Rick and Kitty Ufford-Chase, co-directors of Stony Point Center—one of three national conference centers of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)—gave their Sept. 15 report to the Finance Committee of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board (PMAB), their enthusiasm was both palpable and contagious.
Presbyterians interested in seeing firsthand what countries are doing about climate change have an opportunity to join the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, Environmental Ministries and World Mission in a two-country tour next year. The ministries are hosting a Travel Study Seminar to Guatemala and Costa Rica January 9 – 20.
For the Lummi Nation, proposed fossil fuel development, transport and export of coal and oil could drastically impact their way of life. The Native American tribe, located in western Washington State has been battling proposed terminals, oil and coal trains, and pipelines arguing that such projects create a tremendous environmental threat to their homeland and the region.
When you go to the local grocery store or purchase a meal at a favorite restaurant how much do you know about how the food is grown, gathered and prepared? What is your church doing to end hunger and poverty in your community or across the globe? These are some of the questions Presbyterians and the public are asked to consider this October during Global Food Week of Action and World Food Day.
The Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), in conjunction with the Rev. Irvin Porter, associate in the Office of Native American Intercultural Congregational Support, issued a statement today in support of the Standing Rock Sioux protest of a crude oil pipeline set to skirt the northern border of the tribe’s reservation lands. A breach, they say, is a threat to the Missouri River, the source of the tribe’s drinking water.
Approximately 25 environmentally-focused Presbyterians took a half a day away from General Assembly business for a bus trip along the Columbia River Gorge on Wednesday. Nestled between the Oregon/Washington State border, this vast waterway is a salmon spawning ground. But pollution and the threat of new corporate development is placing the region in a state of concern.
The 222nd General Assembly will hear a recommendation to continue engagement with fossil fuel companies on climate change when it meets in the coming weeks. The committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment (MRTI) is making the recommendation following lengthy discussions with companies and filing shareholder resolutions, saying progress is being made.
This month, the 222nd General Assembly (2016) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will gather in Portland, Oregon. Commissioners will debate our denomination’s investment in fossil fuels and commitment to creation care, among many other issues. But the theme of environmental justice will hover over the entire assembly, going far beyond the overtures to be addressed in committees.
