Just and Free. Fossil Free UMC.

by The Reverend Pat Watkins God told Adam to “till and keep” the garden, the first vocational call laid upon humanity that we know of. God asked Noah to preserve all the animals that God had made, a uniquely human task of preserving God’s creation. The covenant that God made with Noah and family also…

“We confess that the negative impacts resulting from the degradation of the natural world have fallen disproportionately on marginalized communities, including indigenous tribes, religious and ethnic communities, people living in poverty, and other vulnerable groups. We, therefore, pledge to resist all forms of environmental exploitation, neglect, and inequality…We oppose policies and practices that relegate marginalized…

It’s time to phase out fossil fuels! In this decade. Not just from our investments. I mean it’s time for us to start significantly reducing and phasing out fossil fuels now. I know this sounds almost impossible, but this is the what science is telling us. Consider the recently released 2024 State of the Climate…

As we move forward with Fossil Free UMC, I rejoice that a young seminary student named Spenser Ross is inspired and ready to put some time into these efforts. He and I met in June at the California-Nevada Annual Conference when I spoke with the Young Adult Delegation, and again during the plenary when Spenser…

Fossil Fuels and Climate: Counting the Cost “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it?” Luke 14:28 When Jesus spoke these words, he was using the scenario of building a tower to illustrate the cost of…

Photo: Musa Dube, the distinguished professor of New Testament at the Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, preaches during a Vigil for Creation on April 22 to mark Earth Day. The gathering took place at First United Methodist Church of Charlotte on the day before the United Methodist General Conference began its work nearby. Photo…

See Fossil Free UMC’s press release at the close of General Conference: Support for full fossil fuel divestment grows as The United Methodist Church moves to care for creation and address the climate crisis—including adding new divestment options. If you want to know exactly what happened with our attempts to get fossil fuel divestment passed at…