Speak Up for Permanent Protection of Bristol Bay

Bristol Bay, Alaska is home to the world's largest wild sockeye salmon fishery, which has supported the subsistence livelihoods of the Bay’s Native Alaskans for thousands of years. This stunning piece of Creation is now under threat from a proposed open pit mine that would destroy the salmon habitat and cause irreversible damage to God’s Earth and God’s people.

 

Add your voice to the call for permanent protection of Bristol Bay.

 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently issued their Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment, which describes the damage that large scale development such as the proposed Pebble Mine could pose to the Bay’s clean waters, fish, wildlife, and people. 

 

Presbyterians for Earth Care joins the National Council of Churches and people of faith around the country in standing with the Native Alaskans and commercial fisherman who depend on the health of Bristol Bay’s fishery. We ask the EPA to use the Clean Water Act to protect Bristol Bay from the irreparable harm the proposed mine would cause God’s people and Creation in and around the Bay. Click here to send your message to the EPA asking them to permanently protect the world’s largest wild sockeye salmon fishery, 14,000 American jobs, and a Native way of living that is thousands of years old. 

Think Those Chemicals Have Been Tested?

Dear Friends,

 

"Think those chemicals have been tested?" So started a recent article in a national newspaper. When it comes to the chemicals in dozens of products we use every day, the answer is "No." Tens of thousands of chemicals remain in everyday products, such as cleaners, food containers, furniture and even children's products without being tested for safety. Under current law, the EPA can call for safety testing only after evidence surfaces demonstrating a chemical is dangerous. As a result, the EPA has only been able to require testing for roughly 200 of more than 84,000 chemicals currently registered in the United States.

 

Can we do anything? Senators Gillibrand (D-NY) and  Lautenberg (D-NJ) have introduced the Safe Chemicals Act of 2013. They need the help of people of faith to move it out of the Environmental and Public Works Committee. Please consider signing GreenFaith's petition urging Senator Boxer (D-CA), chair of the committee, to move the bill out of the committee without amendment.

 

The Safe Chemicals Act of 2013 would give the EPA the tools it needs to collect health and safety information, screen chemicals for safety, and require risk management when chemicals cannot be proven safe. Click here to learn more about the Safe Chemicals Act and why its important.

 

As people of faith, we are called to care about God's Creation. These chemicals may be harmful to the earth, and to humans, we do not know. What we do know is that the CDC has found more than 212 industrial chemicals in American's bodies, and that babies are born with chemicals already present in their bodies. Paul says the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Americans' bodies are temples full of chemicals.

 

Please sign the petition today. Or call your Senators and see if they have signed on as a co-sponsor to the bill, and if not, urge them to. It is important to the future of God's Creation.

Holy One, so many of the people we have sent to Washington to represent us work diligently on behalf of our earth and its inhabitants.  We ask blessings on them as they work through overwhelming amounts of information and misinformation.  Give them vision and strength and give us the wisdom to support them as they seek understanding and take action.

 

Blessings,
Sue Smith
PEC Treasurer

Register for PEC's 2013 Conference!

God, our gracious creator, redeemer and sustainer, bring us together to teach and inspire us that we might seek your justice for the earth and its peoples. Amen.

Dear Friends in Earth-Caring,

As you begin your vacation and conference planning for this year, please keep our PEC 2013 Conference “Ethical Earth Care: Keeping Creation Sacred” a priority.  The conference is October 16-19 at Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center in Little Rock, Arkansas.  It is a critical time for those of us who know the crisis that our planet is facing to gather, be in community, and seek new ways of sustainable living and being.

At the conference, there will be opportunities to learn, reflect, share and plan ways of seeking environmental and social justice, immersing ourselves in new ways of honoring the sacred space of the Earth. Our plenary sessions will be led by Larry Rasmussen, ThD, who will draw us toward an “Earth-Honoring Faith.” Worship and music led by the Revs. Neddy Astudillo and Bryan McFarland will invite us to engage our souls and faith in this work.  All will guide us toward a deepened vision, seeking a new song in a strange land.

Our diverse workshop options will provide a vast array of opportunities to delve into Celtic spirituality, greening congregations, the connection of environment, poverty, and violence, as well as the connection between our local-global food supply and the importance of food sovereignty and much more.  Advocacy opportunities include information and action in response to mountain top removal, fracking, clean water and air, chemicals and our health, and more. Come to share time with Rebecca Davies, Andrew Kang Bartlett, and Leslie Woods of the Peace, Compassion, and Justice Division of the PC(USA) as we work toward renewed vision together.

Plan to join us for the pre-conference tour on Wednesday of Heifer International headquarters and the William J. Clinton Presidential Center. If you are able to join us, plan to arrive Tuesday and stay overnight at Ferncliff. The staff will meet you at the airport when you arrive. Shuttle service is provided at no additional charge!

Please click here to view our full conference brochure and click here to download and share the tri-fold brochure with your congregation. Click here to register for the conference through the PEC website.  For questions, please contact Elspeth Cavert at presbyearthcare@gmail.org.

We will look forward to our gathering and seeking a more just and sustainable society. 

 Seeking a just Earth together,

 Diane Waddell,

 Moderator

PEC's Spring Update

Dear PEC friends,

Eastertide blessings and Earth Day greetings to you all.  Although spring is off to a bumpy start this year, God's consistent grace holds us with reminders of renewal and resurrection. I am grateful for your maintaining hope and courage through these times of challenge for creation and climate.

                                                  
 
I am also grateful for the PEC Update team (Abby Mohaupt, editor) and all those who contributed to the Spring issue of the Update.  It is bright, creative, and commanding! Please click here to view the Update online.

Inside this issue, you will find a preview of plenary themes for PEC’s 2013 Conference by Dr. Larry Rasmussen, a reflection by Sam Hamilton-Poore, Earth Day resources, an article on advocacy work by Katie Preston, a piece by former Young Adult Volunteer Lauren Wright, thoughts on the Keystone Rally by Abby Mohaupt, a thank you to all of our 2012 donors, and more! Click here to view the entire issue.

In gratitude for renewal and hope,

Diane Waddell

Care for God’s Earth: Get your PEC Update by e-mail

Dear Creation Caretakers,

As an organization, Presbyterians for Earth Care works to protect and preserve God's earth through advocacy as well as in our operations. The PEC Update, our quarterly newsletter, has been published in a paper format since 1995.  If you would prefer to receive the Update by e-mail rather than the paper edition in your mailbox, please complete this form. 

We want to make wise use of the financial resources that you provide to PEC. Layout, printing, and mailing of the PEC Update are a significant portion of our budget. Paper copies of the PEC Update are a better option in some situations, but if you would prefer to receive yours by email, just fill out this form.

      


For almost daily updates from PEC, look at the Presbyterians for Earth Care Facebook Page. If you haven’t already, join more than 1250 people who “like” us on Facebook! You can also write a recommendation about PEC on our Facebook page.  

Detailed information about PEC, our advocacy platform and upcoming conference is always available on our website, www.presbyearthcare.org.  No matter how you choose to communicate, let’s keep in touch!

Blessings,
Jane Laping
PEC Vice-Moderator

Renew your PEC membership by April 22!

Dear Friend of Presbyterians for Earth Care,

As you read this Membership Renewal reminder, we can report to you that many PEC members and leaders were a part of the 50,000 plus who gathered on the Mall in Washington, D.C. for the Forward on Climate Change rally to bring public pressure on the President and Congress to end the Keystone XL pipeline project.

Opportunities like this to network with others who care for God’s Creation are what make your membership in PEC valuable. With your support PEC can continue coordinating educational and inspirational conferences and advocacy events that shape our conversation about and practice of environmental stewardship.

For example, on June 1-8, young adults will gather in Portland, Oregon for another of a series of events in our on-going effort to develop a new generation of leaders in the church by helping them to connect faith and Earth care concerns in the Eco-Stewards program.     

 

Also, on October 16-19,  PEC members will gather at the Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center in Arkansas to be inspired by noted sustainability leaders addressing the topic “Ethical Earth Care: Keeping Creation Sacred”. This conference, like all PEC events, creates a community of support and a network of renewal for those of us actively engaged in faithful witness to creation care. Please visit www.presbyearthcare.org for more details and early bird registration.

At our Steering Committee retreat last fall we were inspired by new plans to listen carefully to our membership for ways we might best bring the resources of our national network to bear to help your voice be heard both locally and nationally. Additionally, we are committed to be a resource for ways to articulate the connection of our faith with Earth care concerns from our Presbyterian/reformed perspective and to continue to strengthen and build partnerships with other PC(USA), ecumenical, and religious groups who share our concern for the planet.

 

We are grateful for your previous support and remind you that PEC memberships are due for renewal on Earth Day, April 22. You may renew your membership online by clicking here.

Any additional gifts you may choose to provide above the basic membership contribution are also greatly appreciated and will be put to good use to achieve our shared goals. 

Yours in Christ, 

Diane Waddell

PEC Moderator

Resurrection – A Miracle is Waiting to Unfold

A Devotional for Easter Sunday

By Rev. Dr. Randy Bush

The data about how human actions affect the world in which we live is overwhelmingly negative. Sadly we read regular reports about global climate change, soil erosion, water pollution, persistent national addictions to fossil fuels, damage done to the ozone layer, and much more. Film documentaries show us the depletion of the vital polar ice caps. Meteorological statistics weary us by noting how current weather patterns are the worst in recorded history. And our mailboxes overflow with donation requests from overworked conservancy and advocacy groups, desperately fighting for eco-justice.

But all this cannot be the final word we offer on this subject. To give up or accept a defeatist position runs counter to other scientific evidence as well as our Christian faith. Other data points to how the earth can heal many of its ecological wounds, once we stop the worst forms of damage and environmental abuse. Nature does adapt, re-group, and re-claim what we have wrongly usurped. Air, water, and soil can come back through rejuvenating wonders built into God’s essential design of this world.

To make this happen requires an “Easter perspective” on nature. In between the time on the cross and the sunrise on Easter morning, the earth waited. The followers of Jesus mourned and stopped what they had been doing. The violence of the cross was over for a spell. Then came the third day – a time of life reborn, of hope renewed, and of resurrection in every sense of the word. To step away from ecological violence means we have to be still, waiting and watching and praying and believing. For to our longing eyes, a miracle is anxious to unfold.

Resurrection is not just a one-time event. It is a way of life – real life – and a walk of faith – this day and for all time. For that good news, let us say: Thanks be to God!

Rev. Dr. Randy Bush has had the privilege to serve as an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) since February 1989. Currently he is Senior Pastor at East Liberty Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh.  He also serves as Adjunct Faculty at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, teaching courses in Pastoral Care, Preaching & Ethics, and Pastoral Theology. He has served congregations in Africa, and the Midwest.  He gave the keynote address for the PEC luncheon at the 2012 General Assembly.

Click here to download PEC's full 2013 Lenten Devotional "From Ashes to Resurrection, From Soot to Hope"

One Great Hour of Sharing

Dear Friends,

In mid-March I was given the opportunity to visit agencies in New York City which are providing ministry after Hurricane Sandy and were affected directly or indirectly by that storm.   Our group heard first-hand from pastors and agency staff who have dedicated themselves to providing shelter, even weeks after the storm. They will be providing this shelter for months to come, as the need is great. I am hoping that you would also see this as a vital ministry and give generously to One Great Hour of Sharing. 

I was a part of a team representing the Presbyterian Hunger Program Advisory committee, meeting in collaboration with the Advisory committees and staff from the other partner agencies of the PC(USA) which received essentially all their funding through One Great Hour of Sharing. The other groups who met were Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and Self Development of People. PHP, PDA and SDOP provide truly miraculous ministries in areas of social and environmental need and devastation.

We heard that there were four times as many people displaced by Hurricane Sandy as Katrina.  There are 100,000 households in New Jersey alone who have needed help.  Many of those affected have few resources to deal with the devastation.  They are dealing with trying to get their homes gutted because of the mold, which is a problem after the water receded.  Some have waited 3 months to get hot water and heat back.

We visited Red Hook in Brooklyn, which is a community of 79% poverty and was hard-hit by Sandy. A  beautiful community garden was devastated.  The Red Hook Initiative (www.rhicenter.org) is a mission agency in the community which was there to help empower citizens to regroup and restore their neighborhood. 

We also visited “Just Food” (www.justfood.org) and the New York City Coalition Against Hunger  (www.nyccah.org) which help bring about and support just food economies that are sustainable and resilient. NYCCAG has a huge program focusing on the long-term, root causes of hunger and seeks innovative solutions for food self-sufficiency.  

The need for providing shelter and wings of protection for sisters and brothers on this planet is huge.  One way to help is through the ministry that One Great Hour of Sharing provides. You can click here to give now. This offering is a way to provide the love and compassion of Christ through our financial gifts.

Presbyterian Hunger Program is now the agency which provides funding for our partner, the Environmental Ministries Program. They are both largely dependent on OGHS funds in order to do their vital work.  Both work for sustainable and just means of eating and lifestyle management for those who are most vulnerable.  

Environmental Ministries has been supportive of PEC, assisting us in many ways including with financial resources for many years.  We are so grateful for their partnership.  

We are all in this work and world together as partners in ministry. In recognition of this, I am hoping that you will share generously through the One Great Hour of Sharing, not only now but throughout the year. Please spread the news.

You are needed and appreciated.  

Deep blessings to you during this very Holy Week,

 Diane Waddell

 Moderator 

 Presbyterians for Earth Care

Tell Us, What is Going to Happen?

A Devotional for Palm Sunday

By Karen Turney

It was tough times for Jesus and the disciples before they made their scripted way into Jerusalem to the upper room. The high priests and religious scholars were looking for a way that they could seize Jesus and kill him. They agreed it should not be done during Passover week - we don't want the crowds up in arms, they said. (The Message, Mark 14:2)

The disciples questioned Jesus before his return to Jerusalem - tell us, what is going to happen? Was his answer just for them or for our ears too?

Tell us, what is going to happen with our earth? Will we be able to stop the XL Tar Sands project once and for all? Will we be able to end mountaintop coal mining and heal the deep scars it has left behind? Can we curb the export of coal to China and prevail on that country to clear the air? Will we wake up the people to the dangers of fracking? Or find the courage to divest ourselves from partnering in oil company business? What if the degradation to the environment continues to get worse despite all our efforts?

                                               

Back in those days before the Passover feast, Jesus told the disciples it was going to be hard. He even warned the disciples that fake messiahs and lying preachers were going to pop up everywhere. So Jesus said, staying with it - that's what God requires. Stay with it to the end. You won't be sorry and you'll be saved. All during this time, the good news - the message of the kingdom, will be preached all over the world, a witness staked out in every country. And then the end will come. (The Message - Matthew 24:13-14)

PEC friends, you are walking through the pain of not knowing all the answers or knowing some of the answers and seeing them ignored or ridiculed.  It is painful to our environment and hurtful to our souls. We most likely will not witness the end - we don't know, but evidently, staying with it...keep on keeping-on...that's what God requires.

Karen Turney is a Presbyterian Elder and member of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, where she is currently Clerk of Session. She has been active in Peacemaking groups in Atlanta and Kansas City and has been a member of PEC for several years. She has previously served on the nominating committee for PEC.  

Click here to download the entire 2013 PEC Lenten Devotional, "From Ashes to Resurrection, From Soot to Hope"!

Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

A Devotional for the Fifth Week of Lent

By Rev. David A. Dolan

A statement often attributed to the great theologian Karl Barth goes something like this: “One should read the Bible in one hand, and the newspaper in the other."  In order to understand the contemporary culture, a modern version of this statement could say: “One should read the Bible in one hand, and the Rolling Stone magazine in the other."  In the August 2, 2012 edition of Rolling Stone, Bill McKibben, a Methodist Sunday School teacher and author of numerous books on climate change, published an essay titled "Global Warming's Terrifying New Math" on the issue of climate change and the impact that the fossil fuel industry has had on the rapid increase of global warming. Bill McKibben argues that if the fossil fuel industry were to produce and sell all the fossil fuel that they currently have rights for, the Earth’s temperature would dramatically increase to the point where all of Earth’s inhabitants would not survive. He then lays out the strategy for influencing the fossil fuel industry by calling for the divestment of this industry by universities and other institutions (including religious denominations, as mentioned in his article "Playing Offense" in The Christian Century) much in the same way this practice was effective in influencing the South African government to drop its unjust policy of Apartheid in the 1980’s. Bill McKibben’s 350.org movement is sounding the call for this action to save the Earth.

The 350.org movement is a campaign to address the issue of climate change and influence individuals, governments and corporations to take action to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from the current amount of 392 parts per million (ppm) to a safe 350 ppm.

I made a symbolic commitment as a teenager: I would not get my driver’s license until I turned 21. I had several reasons for taking this unusual step. When I was in my early teens growing up in Santa Barbara, California, I witnessed the ecological devastation of the massive oil spill in the Santa Barbara Channel in January of 1969. I also witnessed the beginning of the environmental movement including the first Earth Day in 1970 and was particularly impressed by the negative impact cars had upon the planet. This was my personal act of “divestment” of the fossil fuel industry.

Like giving something up for Lent, this symbolic commitment took some discipline. I walked, rode my bike and utilized public transportation. My discipline meant that there was just a little less pollution and consumption of petroleum. I often had a chance to explain my reasons for not having a driver’s license — a teachable moment as result of this symbolic act.

During this time of Lent, we have another teachable moment. I urge all Presbyterians to make a prayerful study of all Biblical passages dealing with the stewardship of creation and also read Bill McKibben’s Rolling Stone article. Upon reflection, I hope that a discussion and dialogue would commence within our denomination for us to consider joining this call for divestment of the fossil fuel industry in order to demonstrate our commitment not only for human rights, but the right for all of God’s creation to thrive in a healthier planet for many years to come.

Rev. David A. Dolan is a Minister-at-Large in the PC(USA) and has a life-long commitment to the environment and conservation. He has served on the staff at several churches and presbyteries and is the official liaison for the 350.org movement to the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Click here to download the entire 2013 PEC Lenten Devotional, "From Ashes to Resurrection, From Soot to Hope"!