FossilFreeUMC

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Conversation on Divestment with Bill McKibben, William H. Morris, Steve Hucklesby and more! The opportunity was especially rich in thinking about divestment not only as an essential part of addressing the climate crisis, but also as an essential moral action–an act of faith.

Please sign on to our letter and ask the United Methodist Church to 
 divest from fossil fuels. 
Sign on here and share. More information here.

The recording is posted. Links below.

Our conversation went to the heart of why divestment is an urgent part of the effort to reduce emissions and keep a stable climate. Bill McKibben spoke to the moral as well as the financial imperative of divestment, to not only the immediate need stop burning oil, coal and gas, but that there must be a reinvestment in energy from wind and sun, stating that drawing energy from the sun via solar panels is like water into wine. God has blessed us with clean energy.

We enjoyed also a dialogue between Bill McKibben and William Morris of GreenFaith, where William shared what it was like to grow up in a neighborhood where a refinery once exploded–and drilling continues in a “comically evil” place, next to a school and neighborhoods. We were also blessed to hear from Steve Hucklesby with the Methodist Church in Britain. He joined from London and shared how the churches in England, Scotland and Wales have already divested, and how they did it.

We heard also from co-hosts, UMC leaders working address the environmental and climate crisis: Cathy Velasquez Eberhart who heads up the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement and Rev. Sharon Delgado who convenes Fossil Free UMC, and Rev. Richenda Fairhurst with Climate Cafe Multifaith, and JustCreation.org.

A number of links were shared during the conversation:

United Methodist Creation Justice Movement: Link to the website. Connect also with the Movement Cafe, and other teams making a difference. Look for information on General Conference. See the resolutions, including the divestment resolutions, that will be at General Conference. If you haven’t yet, join the our newsletter/mailing list.

Fossil Free UMC: Link to the website. Check out also the blog with the moral and other reasons why the UMC needs to divest, the problems from a strategy of engagement, and what’s at stake. Link especially to the LETTER CALLING FOR THE UMC TO DIVEST. Please sign and share. A form also to join the effort and/or subscribe.

Bill McKibben: Link to his website and The Crucial Years newsletter. Bill McKibben also wanted to underline his recent post where he underlines some of why oil and gas companies have become so powerful and why they won’t stop. The founder of 350.org, Bill McKibben recently founded Third Act which includes a Third Act Faith. We heard from Kathleen Dickson, a member of Third Act Faith who organizes from a small town rural church.

Steve Hucklesby: If you aren’t yet aware, 100s of faith-based institutions have already divested from fossil fuels, such as the churches in England, Scotland and Wales, and including the Methodist Church in Britain. Steve Hucklesby is a policy and investment leader in the Methodist Church in Britain and worked on the divestment effort. He shared links to Operation Noah, Bright Now, and the Ash Wednesday Declaration. Read also the press release on the decision to divest.

If you are a member of the United Methodist Church, there will be delegates attending General Conference from your local Annual Conference. Let them know you hope they will support divestment. 

If you haven’t already, please sign up to get updates from Fossil Free UMC, the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement, and JustCreation.org

Thank you so much to the sponsors of this event: