Join us to call for the Board of Pensions to divest from fossil fuels!

a project of Presbyterian Peace Fellowship Blessings to you on this Ash Wednesday.  All over the country, people are feeling the effects of a polar vortex. I currently call Texas home, and there's currently rolling blackouts and loss of water and heat in the town where I live. Other people in other places are experiencing record low temperatures and high snow falls. Climate change is here. In this context, we offer to some calls to action. See below for a devotion from our friends at Presbyterians for Earth Care, and more information about an action to call for divestment from fossil fuels in the Presbyterian Board of Pensions. And, below please meet my co-moderator of this ongoing work, Liv Thomas. In this season of repentance, may you remember how loved you are, even as we confess our complicity in the sins of climate change and white supremacy. peace, rev. abby mohaupt co-moderator, Fossil Free PCUSA Meet Liv Thomas, Co-Moderator of Fossil Free PCUSA   Liv is currently living in Baltimore, MD and discerning a call toward ministry. Since moving to Baltimore, Liv has organized and imagined with local community members and churches about what 21st century mission might look like. A native of southern Louisiana, she cares fiercely for the disappearing coastline and for the people who know and love that land as she does. A hopeful dreamer that the church can be better than it has been, she knows this dream comes true only when our resources align with our call to first care for creation and for one another. Demand that the Board of Pensions Divest from Fossil Fuels   We are organizing an email writing campaign in concert with GreenFaith's "Sacred People, Sacred Earth" campaign. GreenFaith is organizing people of faith all over the world to rise and work to stop this climate crisis on March 11th at 11am. Join us on Thursday, February 25, 2021 at 7 PM CST for an action. Everyone enlisted in the Board of Pensions will be encouraged to write an email but all are welcome to come and learn about the work we are doing. Register here.  Lenten Devotion from Presbyterians for Earth Care   from the introduction to the devotion: I remember the beginning of the 2020 Lenten season quite clearly. It was my first Lent as a seminary student, and the school was abuzz with anticipation. Students were discussing amongst themselves about how they might channel this period of abstinence into impactful action. The chapel worship team excitedly invited all to join together for the Ash Wednesday service. Some students even hosted Mardi Gras parties (yes, more than one) complete with colorful beads and a plethora of sweets. I was excited to be in this space where Lent and Easter wouldn’t just be Sunday morning references, but events to be reminded of and look forward to daily. Little did I expect, however, that we all would soon be giving up much more than we had bargained for. Over the past several months, we’ve watched as the world collectively entered into something from the Twilight Zone. Elbow bumps and quick waves are the new handshakes and hugs, “Zoom rooms” have replaced classrooms and church sanctuaries, and masks are essential accessories. What’s more, violence against our Black siblings has finally opened the eyes of many to the deep injustices rooted in our nation, and the events of January 6th have given us a brand new definition of political turmoil. Whether we like it or not, the world is a different place, and it has touched all of us.   Whatever your Lenten practice might be this year, I pray that you will look to God for comfort and assurance in this ever-precarious world we find ourselves in. I pray that you let the voices in this devotional move your heart, and to accept their invitation of joining in communion with all creation as we go forward.   Jonathan Lee download and read here   A reminder about our pause: As an organization that is mostly (but not completely) white and believes that where our treasure is, there our hearts are too, we are participating in a six month deep focus on the call to defund the police.  We, along with others involved with the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, paused most of our other work until March 2021, and we hope you'll join us in dismantling and divesting from white supremacy. If you would like to join us on this journey, you can see the schedule of upcoming events here. We at Fossil Free will also check in periodically to share what we are learning, talk about any connections we might see between defunding and divesting, and share our planning for the future.

Don't just give thanks for our earth. Give support to its care. Fossil Free PCUSA relies on the support of the people and presbyteries who care about this work. We are grateful for financial contributions great and small, and invite you to give as you are able. Donate here. We are also seeking congregations who are able to help back this work in bigger ways. Will you ask your congregation or presbytery to commit $500 to Fossil Free PCUSA before the end of the year? For more information contact the rev. abby mohaupt, FFPCUSA Moderator, at forcreation@fossilfreepcusa.org.  Donate

Copyright © 2021 Fossil Free PCUSA, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you signed up for more information on the divestment from fossil fuel movement in the PC(USA). Our mailing address is: Fossil Free PCUSA c/o Presbyterian Peace Fellowship 17 Cricketown Rd. Stony Point, NY 10980