FossilFreeUMC

By Sharon Delgado

This update is now obsolete. To see the final result of what happened with Fossil Free UMC’s petition at General Conference, see our final press release or A Report on What Happened with Fossil Fuel Divestment at General Conference and What You Can Do Now.

Grace and Peace to you during this historic time in our United Methodist Church. I am not able to be at General Conference, but I am hearing about so many good things happening there already.  I share some of it below.

As for the Fossil Free UMC legislation, I hear that it was hard yesterday in committee, but that today (Saturday) there was good progress made. Our team is hoping to present a minority report when Wespath’s competing petition comes to the floor.  They are getting support and help with strategy from the Love Your Neighbor Coalition.

What the Fossil Free UMC team at General Conference needs now are supportive delegates willing to speak to this issue when it comes before the plenary. If you are a delegate, I know your days at General Conference are long and very full. I’m just letting you know that this vote may be close, and we will need some knowledgeable people to counter Wespath’s prepared statements. We are praying that there will be delegates who rise to the challenge. 

If you are in touch with any delegates, please reach out to them with this message. 

The basic information about our petition is at  MFSA Plumbline on Divestment from Fossil Fuels. For more detailed talking points see: Ten Reasons Why The United Methodist Church Should Divest from Fossil Fuels,  Ten Reasons for Central Conferences to Support Fossil Fuel Divestment, Ten Reasons for Wespath to Support Fossil Fuel Divestment, and Plain Talk: This is what’s at Stake. You might be interested in two recent open letters to Wespath: A Response to Wespath (Part One) and  A Response to Wespath (Part 2), Become as a Child.

There is already much to celebrate. Please join us in praying–Prayer Warriors! Prayers Needed for a Livable Planet Today–as the way opens for a new day in our beloved United Methodist Church.

General Conference Legislative Updates related to Fossil Free UMC and other Creation Justice Petitions as of April 27

Fossil Free UMC

Fossil Fuel Divestment Supported by Fossil Free UMC, UM Creation Justice Movement, LYNC, MFSA, and United Women in Faith: After a difficult and discouraging conversation in the subcommittee on Thursday, “We’ve made significant strides today [Friday], with a much-improved discussion. The proposal for full divestment was narrowly missed by just 3 votes, indicating a promising potential for success in plenary.” Update: “The minority report to insert the words “fossil fuels” has been accepted and will be voted before the committee version. The committee failed to add fossil fuels by only 2 or 3 out of 54 votes. The committee is probably more pro fossil fuels than General Conference as a whole.”

Other Creation Justice Legislation

Check out the varied Creation Justice petitions here.  They have been discussed and acted upon in the different committees to which they are assigned. 

See the following summaries of what has happened with each of these petitions in their respective committees as of 27 April @ 2 pm:

Church Land Use—This resolution was voted on in subcommittee CS1 with passionate support from an African delegate

Encourage Just Partnerships – passed out of committee  

Establish Caretakers of God’s Creation Coordinator 20010 in every Annual Conference- CS! Approved 31 yes 2 no

Green Team Formation – – 20781 – passed 32 to 1, passes without discussion and 87.5% support, and also passed out the Local Church Community. 

Net-Zero GreenHouse Gas Emissions 20782  just passed yes 28 no 5 and was passed earlier with 88% approval by the Local Church Community. 

Revised Social Principles – Preamble, Preface, Community of All Creation, Economic Community passed with 94% support.

Other Legislation

Love Your Neighbor Coalition (LYNC): Updates on other legislation from our LYNC partners.

Find lots of other good news about legislation in the Mainstream UMC blog.  It looks like we are truly moving ahead as a denomination in good ways.

Watch on Livestream.

You can watch the Livestream of the General Conference plenary starting Monday morning at 9 am EST.