With the new presidential administration starting, many have been moved to get more actively involved in important social justice issues such as the Climate Crisis. On December 17, 2024, Peggy Harrison and Ronda Yeomans represented the Environmental Justice Team (EJT) at a Climate Justice Advocacy webinar presented via the UCC national church. The webinar featured Sam Daley-Harris discussing his book, Reclaiming Our Democracy: Every Citizen’s Guide to Transformational Advocacy. The EJT is encouraging the congregation to read this book and discuss it on February 23. Reclaiming Our Democracy describes successful methods for promoting social justice legislation at the federal level as developed in Sam Daley-Harris’s “RESULTS” organization. A video of the webinar is available at https://youtu.be/VwbNpfBTCRA?feature=shared.
The UCC is spearheading the Climate Hope Affiliate program which is a national effort to train volunteers in effective methods to move climate legislation effectively through federal congress. Volunteers will also be trained in how best to inform and energize more people about the climate crisis. Rev. Brooks Berndt, the UCC Environmental Justice Minister, with input from Sam Daley-Harris, will be training volunteers in these methods in a launch meeting, 4 weekly sessions, and then in a once monthly national meeting. The training will be open to the whole congressional district regardless of religious affiliation. In the monthly meetings, Rev. Berndt will provide support as volunteers share successes, methods, and challenges. The informational meeting to describe the training program and ongoing commitment will be Tuesday, February 25, from 7pm – 8:30 pm, in Edwards Hall. The Climate Hope Affiliate program is sponsored by the Environmental Justice Team and the contact person is Ronda Yeomans. All are welcome and we hope to see you there. Thank you.
Submitted by Ronda Yeomans