Peace Camp: Fossil Fuel Divestment and Gun Violence Prevention

PEACE CAMP: Monday, June 22 This morning's reflection comes to us from Rev. Leonard Nielson, Presbytery of San Francisco: In our Constitution, all property including our money “is held in trust for the use and benefit of the Presbyterian church, to be used as a tool for the accomplishment of the mission of Jesus Christ in the world.”  In the Great Commission, God’s people are tasked with telling the good news to all people, and with teaching people to do the things that Christ has commanded us.  One thing Christ has commanded us is related in the parable of the talents. That parable has a disturbing aspect to it: the master entrusts his servants with varying amounts of wealth, but nowhere in the story does the master explicitly tell his servants what to do with The Presbytery of San Francisco was blessed with some money that we decided to invest in the mission of the church. When we set up our investments, there were few high-yield mutual funds which excluded fossil fuels. And that troubled our conscience. When the issue was raised again last year, we discovered that the investment market had changed. Strong and credible mutual fund investments which had little or no fossil fuels and far less environmental risks were suddenly available because the market had demanded it. The desire for investing well with greener options had driven the market to create more environmental-justice investing options. We divested our portfolio last year, the first Presbytery to do so, reducing by 95% our fossil fuel related investments. And one year later, those investments are doing better than those we had owned before.  You can do the same in your church and in your personal life. Drive the market, create the change that you want to see. It’s what Jesus is expecting of us.    You view Friday's teach in about fossil fuel divestment here (subtitles in English and Spanish coming soon) Here's the language that San Francisco and Boston Presbyteries have used to divest. And here's more about the story of how San Francisco Presbytery divested. Time's Up, Time to Act on Climate Change - by Rev. Christopher De La Cruz on the Fossil Free PC(USA) blog "At this point, divesting from fossil fuel companies is not even an overly outlier or idealist position, judging from the $11 trillion - and counting - already committed. Frankly, we can’t claim the mantle of radical leadership as much as simply getting onboard a moving train. Of course, when it comes to a moral movement with our world in the balance, better late than never!" Rev. Leonard Nielson has been the pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in San Leandro for more than ten years. He chaired the Finance and Property Committee of the Presbytery for several years. In his present staff position at Presbytery (as well as with other churches and non-profits on a consulting basis) he specializes in helping congregations re-examine their finance and property resources within the context of their present mission, as well as helping congregations understand their role as trustees for both the local church and for the larger church (PCUSA). He was ordained as a ruling elder in 1983 while pursuing his ministry calling on an avocational basis. He started in ministry in 1977 as a youth leader, later working as a lay counselor. Alongside his ministry work he maintained a secular career in architecture and construction for more than forty five years. He was a founding member of the original Habitat for Humanity affiliate in the Bay area, working as their pro-bono general contractor for several years. He is also a professional mediator, expert witness in the construction field, and a licensed contractor. He is a fourth generation Californian, having grown up in Bayside CA (Humboldt County), then later going to Junior and Senior High School in Los Altos CA. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley (BA Architecture) and SFTS (MDiv). Rev. Leonard Nielson Presbytery of San Francisco Associate for Mission and Church Assets www.presbyteryofSF.org (search: fossil fuel divestment) lnielson@sfpby.org Registration does not close for Peace Camp. Forward this email to anyone you think might want to join us! Register here.  Presbyterian Peace Fellowship 845-786-6743 | presbypeacefellowship.org Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

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