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Rev. Rachel Thompson, Parish Associate, is leading FPCP's new Green Team! The team convened for the first time in February 2020, and Rev. Rachel contributed this article to our spring newsletter.
In a recent sermon, I drew a comparison between the prophet Isaiah and climate activist Greta Thunberg, 17, TIME Magazine's Person of the Year in 2019. Like Isaiah, Greta is delivering a message of doom, and she is enraged at the rich and the powerful, who want to keep things as they are. |
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Greta told world leaders: You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. . . People are suffering, people are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction. and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!
Greta is extraordinary, and she continues to inspire millions of young activists around the world. Though she doesn’t speak out of a religious context, we can put her concerns for the planet and its people into religious context. The Bible speaks again and again of the sacredness of Earth, and the need for humans to be good stewards of the planet and all living things that call it home. People of faith are speaking out. In 2014, Pope Francis warned that the legacy we leave to future generations may be "debris, desolation, and filth," adding that "the pace of consumption, waste, and environmental change has so stretched the planet's capacity that our contemporary lifestyle, unsustainable as it is, can only precipitate catastrophes." |
Greta Thunberg, climate activist
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One of our founding myths is that once upon a time we lived in a garden. We called it Paradise. Because of the choices we've made over centuries, our garden is now endangered. We’re being called by God to make the choices that will help restore and nurture the sacred garden that we’ve been given to tend.
When I preached this sermon, it was like throwing a lit match on a pile of dry leaves! People were on fire to act before I said a word. We now have a Green Team at FPCP! With support from our members and community, our team can act on great ideas that will help make our Church of the Open Door a beacon for environmental action. You can join our Green Team! Your membership, ideas, and enthusiasm are welcome. To learn more, just email Rev. Rachel at rachel@racheljack.net. Let's GO GREEN at FPCP! |
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FPCP Green Team Mission
To facilitate good stewardship of God’s earth within our own congregation and community, we work to develop practical policies and activities to encourage participation in a daily sustainable lifestyle. We seek to inspire our community, to raise awareness, and to enhance engagement about environmental and climate change issues -- local, national, and global. |
