Category: Commentary

  • Competing Worldviews at COP 30

    Competing Worldviews at COP 30

    As representatives of many nations and members of civil society from around the world prepare to gather for COP30 in Belém, the competing worldviews of various participants are clearly in view. Representatives of the United Methodist Church will be there, informed by our common faith. The Community of All Creation section of our United Methodist…

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  • Communities and Churches Destroyed by the January 2025 Wildfires

    Communities and Churches Destroyed by the January 2025 Wildfires

    In January 2025, two United Methodist Churches—Community UMC of Pacific Palisades and Altadena UMC—were burned to the ground in a devastating wildfire. Though only a few miles apart, both shared more than geography: each was founded over a century ago and leaves behind a legacy of deep community involvement. Community UMC has long been known…

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  • Calming the Storms of Our Times

    Calming the Storms of Our Times

    Photo by Paul Jeffrey. Used by permission. I’m grateful to be working with the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement (including Fossil Free UMC and the California-Nevada Climate Justice Ministries Task Force), doing what we can and calling the United Methodist Church to urgent and meaningful climate action. Our most recent effort was to write an…

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  • Follow the Mission, Not the Money Managers

    Follow the Mission, Not the Money Managers

    Follow the Money, Not the Money Managers by Mark Davies The transformation of the world does not mean the destruction of the world or the destruction of a livable cimate for all life on earth. The United Methodist Church should not be investing and profiting from the fossil fuel companies that have created and are…

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  • Moral Clarity for a Fossil Free UMC

    Moral Clarity for a Fossil Free UMC

    Reprinted from Mark Davies’ Moral Clarity for a Fossil Free UMC – One World House – Mark Davies Living in Oklahoma most of my life, I have had a front row seat to watch how fossil fuel companies work their influence to protect their interests and expand their profits regardless of the impact on our…

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  • The Road to Environmental Redemption and Reconciliation

    The Road to Environmental Redemption and Reconciliation

    By the Reverend Christian DeMent, Pastor of La Mesa First United Methodist Church, on His Participation in California-Pacific Annual Conference’s Vote to Divest from Fossil Fuels I finally have some time to offer a reflection on my participation in the Fossil Free Legislation that passed at the Cal-Pac Annual Conference this year (2025). First, I’d…

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  • Watch the Boycott Chevron Webinar

    Watch the Boycott Chevron Webinar

    Presented by UMKR, MFSA, and Fossil Free UMC on March 12, 2025 Go the the UM Kairos Response Website to watch the recording:https://www.kairosresponse.org/webinar_12march2025_chevronboycott.html Ending Israeli occupation and genocide is a climate justice issue.  All over the world, struggles against colonialism and the destruction of God’s creation by corporations for the sake of profit are intrinsically…

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  • ENGAGING THE UMC IN CLIMATE CHANGE

    ENGAGING THE UMC IN CLIMATE CHANGE

    by William (“Bill”) Myers and Kenneth Lynn Jobe Introduction How did the UMC get from its declared mission of discipleship of Jesus Christ, “to transform the world”, to continuing to invest over a billion dollars in fossil fuels when it is fully informed they annually kill and harm millions of people and massively damage the…

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