As the Mission Responsibility Through Investment Committee (MRTI) gathered here for its first meeting since General Assembly in June, MRTI Vice Chair Kerri Allen opened with a womanist theological reflection on 2 Samuel, exploring the story from the perspective of Rizpah, a concubine of the late Saul.
For the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), climate change is not just a conversation to be had, but a pressing issue to be addressed. As stewards of God’s creation, the church is asking how it can be both responsible and proactive in its attempts to stem the rising tides?
‘In 2015, churches (in the U.S.) spent almost $10 billion on energy and maintenance of our facilities, and only $1 billion on missions,’ according to LIT’s founder Colby May. It’s a somewhat startling statistic, to which he has an answer. ‘What if we could redirect 20-30 percent of that $10 billion back into the $1 billion?’
Despite the Trump administration’s anti-environmental policies, delegates to a recent climate convention in Bonn, Germany, are prepared to continue their fight for environmental protection, says a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) delegate to that convention.
Conserving energy and caring for the environment are not new tasks for Fairmount Presbyterian Church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Since the mid 1990s, the congregation has been committed to finding ways to cut energy costs, while improving the environment in their own community.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent decision to revive the coal industry and closely scrutinize the previous administration’s Clean Power Act is being met with strong opposition among leaders in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). While the president promises the action will create jobs, many say the executive order, signed last week, will set the country back years in environmental progress.
For members of the Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church of West Virginia, solar power is the wave of the future. While the cost of converting to solar energy can be high, the congregation has found some innovative ways to make it happen without breaking the bank.
From the Pope to the Southern Baptist Convention, faith leaders across the globe have issued urgent calls to care for God’s creation, our global neighbors and future generations by conserving energy. Hoosier congregations are answering these calls. Last year First Presbyterian Church joined five other faith communities from Gary to Jeffersonville in applying for state grant funds to install solar panels on their church roofs. These five congregations—a community church, a Baptist church, a Friends Community, a Disciples of Christ church and First Presbyterian—installed more than 58 kW of solar panels, enough to supply one-third to one-half of each church’s electrical power.
Delegations from the World Council of Churches (WCC) attended the 12th World Social Forum (WSF) in Montreal, Canada, which concluded on August 14. More than 30,000 participants from around the world gathered to discuss global issues based on their local experiences, network with others working on similar problems, and create new joint initiatives advancing a progressive path forward.
