From Action to Advocacy to Interfaith and Beyond: Connecting isms

 

"The Great People's March" at COP30 in Belem, Brazil    

Photo credit: Simon Chambers/ACT

by Courtenay Willcox

We are stronger together, and today, the interfaith community is standing up to many isms, including racism, authoritarianism, consumerism, White Christian nationalism, militarism, sexism, and antisemitism.

I am in awe of the faith communities who are speaking up (hear our own Rev. Margaret Fox from Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis) and standing with and protecting residents who are marginalized, afraid, traumatized, dehumanized, and singled out because of how they speak, the color of their skin, and even the jobs they hold and the places in which they work.

I was moved by an interview with Ahmed bin Hassan, who shared a video he took of himself being confronted by ICE and Border Patrol while working as a ride-share driver, waiting in line at the Minneapolis airport. When asked by an interviewer if he was afraid of ICE, he said, “I am a Muslim man, and my faith tells me to fear God.” He went on to say that he could have been startled or fearful, but he wasn’t because of many past interactions with law enforcement in his American life. He said the agents identified him as not being “one of us. You’re not an American, you know?” because of the color of his skin and his accent. Hassan was unflappable, and at the end of his interaction with Border Patrol, he said, “I kept on recording, because even if I end up losing my life, this is going to show people that law enforcement is getting used in a very weird way to dehumanize people.”

I’m grateful to people like Ahmed bin Hassan, who have a faith that compels them to act.

Activism is showing up in our world in clear ways in Minneapolis, and it is also showing up in Presbyterians for Earth Care as we work to stand up against the desecration of the world God has given us to steward, because our faith moves us to action. Activism and advocacy are involved in writing overtures that will go before the General Assembly this summer so that we can better care for creation through regenerative agriculture, to make amends for the harm humans have done to the earth, not to mention calling on the PC(USA) to hold corporations accountable for their actions through divestment.

Environmentalism resists the degradation of creation and of the people who reside on this earth. We are called to stand with each other and the environment that surrounds us. Sometimes it gets complicated and messy, and we’re are required to exercise discernment about our call. What is it that is ours to do, and how are we to act as God’s people?

In this week’s lectionary, the famous verses from Micah about doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly, are paired with the Beatitudes, which mention longing for justice (Matt. 5:6), practicing mercy (v. 7), acting with authenticity and single-mindedness (v. 8), and making peace (v. 9). These are kingdom-shaping, kingdom-making practices, and here, we have good instruction about our path to creation care, and against many of the isms that we face in our world. It is my prayer for each of us that we are able to hear our call clearly and continue to find faithful, thoughtful, and creative ways to love our neighbor and the beautiful world that God has given us to steward.

Courtenay Willcox is a transitional pastor at Northampton Presbyterian Church, Moderator of Presbyterians for Earth Care, and a very grateful Gigi to three remarkable granddaughters.

PEC’s Advocacy Committee Develops Overtures for the 227th PCUSA General Assembly

 

by Fred Milligan

Three Overtures sponsored by the Cayuga-Syracuse Presbytery call for further extension of policies already approved by PCUSA General Assemblies on environmental justice issues.

“On the Importance of Regenerative Farming Practices in Caring for Creation” calls for education for Presbyterians through PCUSA church-wide programs, such as the Office of Public Witness and the Presbyterian Hunger Program, on regenerative farming consistent with the 2014 General Assembly “Food Sovereignty for All” overture. It also calls for advocacy in public policy that promotes regenerative farming and supports small farms, similar to the policy adopted by the 2022 General Assembly.

“Changing Course for a Green Future” calls for completing, by 2030, the ongoing gradual divestment of Presbyterian Foundation and Board of Pensions investments from companies that earn over 50% of their profits from fossil fuel extraction, production, transport, and marketing. This would bring the church’s financial practices into alignment with the current climate science consensus and with other commitments the PCUSA has made during the 2022, 2024, and several previous General Assemblies.

“The Green Future Endowment Fund” provides for the creation of a “just transition” fund, first recommended by the 218^th General Assembly in 2008 but not implemented. This fund would provide grants to churches, through a needs-based process, to reduce fossil fuel use. The fund would also provide grants to support communities and habitats adversely affected by climate change and other environmental justice-related concerns, as part of a just transition away from the current fossil fuel-based economy and toward one based on renewable energy sources.

Please visit the PEC website for more information on how your congregation or presbytery can help promote these earth care overtures.

 

Rev. Fred Milligan, H.R., is the Co-Facilitator of the PEC Advocacy Committee.

CANOPY: A Gathering of Young Activists

 

by Emma Marshall

In January, a group of young adults (ages 18-35) from across the country gathered on Zoom. One member shared on-the-ground updates from her experience attending COP30 as part of PC(USA)’s denominational staff; another taught the group how to construct a meaningful land acknowledgement or Indigenous People’s Month statement for one’s congregation. The conversation was rich and exciting, even Spirit-filled.

 

The group was CANOPY, the Creation Action Network of Presbyterian Young Adults. Since September, this group of 40-odd young people has gathered in virtual space to connect, teach and learn, and take action in solidarity with God’s creation. All leaders in their own right in congregations, on campuses, in workplaces, across the country, and within the denomination, CANOPY members long for many things: connection with other faithful young people, tools to promote creation justice in their communities, accountability for churches and the denomination, opportunities to act and serve, and the development of friendships and mutuality.

 

These many longings have brought CANOPY together, and several months into the work, our advocacy and activism are beginning to take shape. Specific issues in creation justice have come to the fore. One concerns the rights of Indigenous people and movements for Indigenous justice, including #LandBack; recent progress in the Presbytery of San Gabriel has made this issue especially salient. The other concerns the impact of global conflict on climate - from Gaza to Venezuela to the Congo, where land and resource stewardship are implicated in violent conflict, and the conflict itself degrades land and resources. Several CANOPY members are also working with the PEC Advocacy Committee on overtures for GA227, stepping up to participate in decision-making and discernment in the faith community they claim as their own.

 

CANOPY’s work continues to develop and evolve as our bonds and connections as a group strengthen, deepen, and multiply. Watch this space—we can’t wait to tell you where we’ll go next.

 

Emma Marshall has been Presbyterians for Earth Care's Young Adult Organizer since June 2025. She completed an MDiv at Princeton Seminary in May 2025 and is in her final semester of an MSW degree at Rutgers University; she is also a candidate certified ready to receive a call in the PC(USA). She spends lots of time with her dog, Daphne, roaming the hiking trails and antique shops of central New Jersey.