Today in the Mission Yearbook - A PC(USA) podcast culminates with the Matthew 25 vision as a whole

Witness, Share and Evangelize: Today in the Mission Yearbook - A PC(USA) podcast ...: The limited-run resource connects lectionary texts to responses to poverty and racism and building congregational vitality December 30, 2023...

Today in the Mission Yearbook - The director of the PC(USA)’s Center for the Repair of Historic Harms makes a pitch to attend the Matthew 25 Summit

Witness, Share and Evangelize: Today in the Mission Yearbook - The director of th...: The Rev. Anthony Jermaine Ross-Allam is the Rev. DeEtte Decker’s guest on ‘Being Matthew 25: Summit Edition’ December 29, 2023 The Rev. Anth...

Presbyterians for Earth Care - Thank You for Prayers & Support AND Link to Inspiring Webinar

Dear Friend of Presbyterians for Earth Care,  Thank you for your prayers, your participation and your support of PEC efforts to help churches and individuals care for God’s creation.   In 2023, Presbyterians for Earth Care (PEC) offered 11 monthly webinars and 33 conference offerings (worship, Bible studies and workshops) with live opportunities for learning led by outstanding leaders that inspired action in a variety of ways to care for God’s creation and counter the climate crisis.  These talks are all posted on YouTube for individual, church and community use for free (see “events” section of PEC webpage).     PEC had a wonderful conference in September meeting in person at three locations (Virginia, Minnesota and California) with all of the events streaming online that offered times of fellowship and learning.  We had a PEC presence at the COP 28 meeting in December at Dubai, United Arab Emirates (look for a report on it in January).  The  Advent Daily Devotional offered insights and action ideas from a diverse group of gifted writers.  Our PEC Coordinator, Steering Committee members and other PEC members have helped countless individuals and congregations to better care for God’s creation in 2023.   General Assembly overtures to help Presbyterians counter the climate crisis are being finalized now for congregations and presbyteries to consider in the next few months.  More is being planned for 2024 – come to our January 21 annual membership meeting to celebrate.     I had a speech teacher in seminary who said, “The more important the occasion, the briefly be.”  He gave the example of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.  So, please consider making an end-of-the-year gift (or beginning-of-the year gift) to support the work of Presbyterians for Earth Care. Click here to give online.   Please donate here today so we can finish 2023 strong and do more in 2024. Thank you!   Blessings on you, your loved ones and your care of God’s creation.   Grace and Peace,   Bruce Gillette Moderator, Presbyterians for Earth Care

WEBINAR RECORDING AVAILABLE Making a Home in the Darkness, Waiting for the Light A Winter Solstice Service The recording of our December 21, 2023 webinar led by The Rev. Dr. Susan Gilbert Zencka, with music by Danny Mitchell, is now available on the PEC YouTube channel.  Click the button below to access the link through our website.

CLICK HERE FOR LINK

How can we help you care for God’s creation?  Drop us an email and let us know at presbyearthcare@gmail.com Help us grow! Please let us know if there is anyone we should add to our list!  Just reply to this email.  Thank you! Please help us to continue to assist individuals and churches in creation care work by donating to PEC through our website by CLICKING HERE.  Thank you! “No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.” - St. Ambrose

Copyright (C) 2023 Presbyterians for Earth Care. All rights reserved.

WCC news: WCC calls for upholding the rights of Armenian community in Jerusalem

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay said the WCC is “deeply distributed” by reports of continuous assaults on the Armenian community and other Palestinian residents of Jerusalem.  November 2022: People go about their day near the Jaffa gate in the Jerusalem old city. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC 29 December 2023 “These incidents, particularly the recent egregious attack in the Cows' Garden, signal a distressing escalation of violence and the severe infringement of the rights and dignities of the communities in the Armenian Quarter,” said Pillay. “The systematic attempts to occupy the land by force and violence are profoundly unjust.” Armenian priests were among those injured in a mob attack in Cows’ Garden on 28 December. “Such actions contravene the moral imperatives of peace and justice that are central to the teachings of all faiths,” said Pillay. "We call upon the international community and local authorities to respond with immediate and decisive action.” Pillay concluded: “It is imperative to uphold the rights of all people and to prevent any forced displacements, ensuring the preservation of the diverse cultural and religious tapestry that defines Jerusalem and Palestinian territories. The World Council of Churches stands in unwavering solidarity with the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem. We pray for a just peace and for the strength and resilience of the communities under threat.”

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland

GreenFaith 2023 Highlights: France & Germany

I hope you’ve been enjoying our GreenFaith 2023 Highlights series this week. Today, we’ll be covering France and Germany. Read on!

DONATE TO GREENFAITHFrance

On Thursday, May 25 in Paris, a day before the annual shareholder’s meeting of the French multinational TotalEnergies, the sun was shining on the Mirabeau footbridge, which crosses the Seine. Immortalized by French poet Guillaume Apollinaire's famous line, “Sous le pont Mirabeau coule la Seine” ("Under the Mirabeau Bridge flows the Seine"), the bridge occupies a familiar place in France’s cultural memory.

Suddenly, two rabbis, a Buddhist master, a Catholic bishop, and other religious figures lined up across the bridge, blocking the famous crossing. They unfurled a banner with a play on the words of the famous poem, “Dans les tuyaux de Total, coule la mort” ("In Total's pipes, death flows"), in reference to the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline, a TotalEnergies mega-project. For 1443 seconds, the religious figures blocked the bridge, marking the 1443 kilometers that the pipeline would slice through Uganda and Tanzania, carrying oil that would quintuple these two countries’ carbon footprints. The demonstrators attracted international attention. “EACOP will displace more than 100,000 people,” the demonstrators explained. “Total is repressing local opposition and insufficiently compensating impacted local communities. This is wrong.”

Six months later, GreenFaith France and GreenFaith Africa together released As If Nothing Is Sacred, a report showcasing Total’s mistreatment of thousands of local grave sites along EACOP’s proposed route. The report attracted international media attention, again demonstrating a formidable multi-religious opposition to the project.

“Croyantes, corps et âme contre EACOP” ("Believers, body and soul against EACOP"), read one of the banners on the morning of May 25. The peaceful physical and spiritual opposition to the fossil fuel industry represents the highest calling of faith communities in the face of the climate emergency.

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Germany

Since the mid-1100’s, the small town of Lützerath, Germany had been home to farmers, small shopkeepers, and several churches. In the 2010’s, the German government gave permission to RWE, Germany’s largest coal company, to destroy the town in order to expand the largest coal mine in Europe. In 2022, RWE advanced its plans. Coal mining at Lützerath would almost certainly push the country past its pledged emissions limits, demolishing Germany’s ability to meet the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal.

In early 2023, resistance to mining grew. Peaceful protestors gathered on the property of the one remaining farmer who had refused to sell his land; people of faith were actively engaged. GreenFaith Deutschland became involved, amplifying the voices of faith-based protestors and the makeshift chapel they had erected at the site. RWE and the German police intensified their pressure, with the police violently disrupting peaceful, lawful demonstrations. The protests grew and attracted global media attention.

Later in the year, our German team organized a public action in opposition to the construction of a liquified natural gas plant off Germany’s northern coast. In 2024, our team will continue to raise awareness about the climate crisis and organize opposition to new fossil fuel development among diverse the country’s faith communities.

You can contribute to our 2024 work for climate justice worldwide by donating here.

Thanks,

Grateful for you,
Rose and the GreenFaith Digital Team

Building a Worldwide, Multi-faith Climate and Environmental Movement.

  

1216 Broadway
Floor 2 PMB 1005
New York, NY 10001
+1-917-997-8783

Copyright © 2022 GreenFaith - All rights reserved.

GreenFaith 2023 highlights: USA & Brazil

This past September, UN Secretary General Antonio Guteres challenged world leaders to bring transformative climate change commitments to a summit in New York City. But what attracted media coverage around the globe was the March to End Fossil Fuels, a 75,000-person mobilization that attracted global media coverage.

GreenFaith was one of the march’s leading organizers. We mobilized thousands of people of faith and hundreds of religious organizations to march for climate justice together. [Watch the video] and hosted a multi-faith prayer service before the march with Indigenous, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, and Unitarian speakers.

Together, we marched, sang, chanted, and prayed for an end to fossil fuels with a beautiful, vibrant faith contingent. I was there that day, and I will never forget our joy, love, and collective strength and hope. Your support made this possible. Thank you.

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90 minutes from Rio de Janeiro is Magé, a city with characteristic Brazilian socio-cultural diversity, located between spectacular mountains and the famous Guanabara Bay. But Magé’s local fisherfolk have suffered from toxic contamination of the nearby river and bay from a nearby oil refinery, and deadly landslides due to drenching, climate-exacerbated rains. These conditions threaten the community’s existence and have overwhelmed Magé’s sanitation systems and infrastructure.

In 2023, we worked with the grassroots from Magé’s Climate Forum and local Catholic, Evangelical, Buddhist, Umbanda, and Candomblé religious leaders there. Watch this video to learn more.

Our goal in 2024, we will organize people of diverse faiths in Magé and organize our first public action to confront climate injustice.

Please support our work as generously as you can.

In faith and solidarity,
Rose and the GreenFaith Digital Team

Building a Worldwide, Multi-faith Climate and Environmental Movement.

  

1216 Broadway
Floor 2 PMB 1005
New York, NY 10001
+1-917-997-8783

Copyright © 2022 GreenFaith - All rights reserved.

SojoMail - Sojo’s top films and TV shows of 2023

View this email in your browser Sojourners’ Top Movies and TV Shows of 2023 In this week’s SojoMail, Ezra Craker writes about the films and TV shows that inspired us this year: In the third episode of HBO’s The Last of Us, a couple argues bitterly over home renovations amid the fungus-fueled societal collapse around them. Frank, played by Murray Bartlett, wants to paint the house and spruce up the neighborhood-turned-compound they live in. Bill (Nick Offerman) thinks this would be a waste of precious resources. But Frank isn’t moved by his prepper partner’s anxieties. “Paying attention to things,” he says. “It’s how we show love.” At their strongest, films and TV shows can help us pay attention to — and by extension, love — the people and the world around us. They can reveal and indict unjust power structures, uncover buried histories, and point us to freer ways of being. These on-screen stories do just that and more — and they represent some of the best entertainment of the year. READ THE FULL LIST Forward Share ADVERTISEMENT   Our Latest Olga M. Segura on the Religion at the Heart of Revolution (by Josiah R. Daniels) Olga M. Segura, a Bronx-based writer, author, and organizer, on Black Catholics, religion, and the future of Black Lives Matter. The Stubborn Faith That Fuels a Leading Gun Safety Activist (by Siobhan Neela-Stock) Amid rising mass shootings, Angela Ferrell-Zabala rejects the chorus of “thoughts and prayers” — but not because she dismisses prayer. In ‘Godzilla Minus One,’ War Is a Monster Leaving Shame in its Wake (by Mitchell Atencio) The original Godzilla was born of nuclear terror; the new film looks at the long ripple effects of violence. Sojourners’ Best Books of 2023 (by Jenna Barnett) Our favorite books span many genres — poetry, memoir, speculative fiction, murder mystery, and more — but they all maintain gospel concerns. ADVERTISEMENT   From the Magazine The Revolution Will Be Dry (by Josina Guess) Dry January offers us a chance to take a break from alcohol, both for our own health and for the health of society.  ADVERTISEMENTS Be A Lifeline - Make A Matched Gift Through conflict, outbreaks, natural disasters, and more, Doctors Without Borders delivers emergency medical aid wherever the needs are greatest. You can Be a Lifeline - Donate Today. Make A Matched Donation to Doctors Without Borders Doctors Without Borders teams are able to respond to emergencies at a moment’s notice - but only with your support. With your help, we can be a lifeline for those caught in crisis around the world. Make a matched gift today. DONATE   SUBSCRIBE Copyright © 2023 Sojourners, All rights reserved. Sojourners | 408 C St. NE | Washington, DC 20002 Email: sojourners@sojo.net | Tel.: 202.328.8842