Compassion, Peace & Justice Training Day goes online

Event by PC(USA) Washington Office was originally scheduled for historic D.C. Presbyterian church

by Rich Copley | Presbyterian News Service

Environmental Activist Emma Lockridge, shown speaking to Presbyterian Mission Responsibility Through Investment in June, will be a panelist for CPJ 2020. (Photo by Rich Copley)

LEXINGTON, Kentucky —  While Compassion, Peace & Justice Training Day is on a long list of events lost to the COVID-19 virus, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness (OPW) is still offering a social justice event on April 24.

A Virtual CPJ Training Day event will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. on April 24, a Friday, featuring several of the panelists who were originally scheduled to appear in person at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C.

“While the pandemic has canceled the in-person conference, we hope that people will participate in the webinar to hear how environmental injustice and environmental racism affects the most vulnerable in our society,” said Catherine Gordon, OPW Associate for International Issues. “The theme for the weekend was ‘Imagine God’s Earth and People Restored’ and we think the panel of speakers will give attendees a good sense of what that means and how we can work towards that hopeful vision.”

CPJ Training Day was originally planned, as it is every year, to be a full day of seminars and meetings presented by staff of the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Compassion, Peace & Justice ministries and partner organizations. It served as a Presbyterian prelude to Ecumenical Advocacy Days, which were set to run Friday night, April 24, through Monday the 27th in Northern Virginia and Washington.

But, like virtually everything else on event calendars in April, both events had to be canceled in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

But CPJ Day organizers still wanted to offer participants and others a chance to engage in a social justice training and information event that day. The event will be moderated by the Rev. Edwin Gonzales-Castillo of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and Sue Rheem of the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations. The panelists are:

• Emma Lockridge — Climate and Environmental Justice Organizer at Michigan United
• Fern Cloud — Member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota Tribe and environmental activist
• Estrella Santiago Perez — Environmental Affairs Manager for a groundbreaking urban land trust project in Puerto Rico

The Rev. Chris Iosso leads a workshop at CPJ Day 2019. The April 24, 2020 event will be online, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Rich Copley)

“Our speakers are organizers and members of marginalized communities who have worked tirelessly to educate and advocate on environmental justice issues,” Gordon said. “They all have rich stories of activism and knowledge of the issues we are facing both locally and globally and will inspire and equip those attending.”

Registration for the event is free at Zoom. For folks who cannot watch live, it will be shared later on the  Office of Public Witness’ Facebook page and other platforms.

The Office of Public Witness is one of the Compassion, Peace & Justice ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency.