When we look at what’s happening around the world, it’s easy to feel defeated and hopeless. Wars, mass shootings, hate crimes, and the realization that global warming is here and now are just a few of the things that could cause us to give up hope.
Those of us who grew up in the ’60s and ’70s certainly had serious problems, like Vietnam and the threat of nuclear war, but we never seemed to feel all that doomed. We were busy riding bikes outdoors with friends and playing board games with my siblings. We all have time to even get bored sometimes, which led to daydreaming, but in the age of the iPhone and his 24/7 social media, that seems to have all but disappeared. Bad news wasn’t spread around the world with the tap of a finger on a handheld keyboard, as it is now.
For Pastor Stephen Harding, it is this overwhelming sense of fear in his 17-year-old son Theo’s worldview that is the driving force behind the need to tackle climate change. [news about] Things like school shootings, terrorism, and climate change are truly overwhelming when you stop and think about them. I have to do something because his sense of the future is very different than what I grew up with. ”
Harding, pastor of Grace Episcopal Church in Vineyard Haven, isn’t the only one who thinks so. As part of the island’s Interfaith Climate Action Team, he joins more than a dozen people who have met regularly since COVID-19 to brainstorm ideas about climate and ecology and turn those ideas into action. I am meeting with a group of people. The idea is to not allow doom to begin, but to inspire hope through faith and recharge the sense that change is possible, even in addressing big issues like climate change.
The real change is coming from their gathering, with a special event planned for the weekend of April 5th-7th. They will begin discussions and present information in what they are calling “One Home, One Future: From Prayer to Action.” , Taking Courage in the Climate Crisis,” will be facilitated by Rev. Dr. Margaret Britt Jonas. And they want to emphasize that this weekend is not just for spiritual thinkers, but is open to everyone.
Britt Jonas is an Episcopal priest and missionary of creation care for the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts and the Southern New England Conference of Christ. She is a popular speaker, author, and organizer who has engaged in civil disobedience since 2001 and was arrested during a church service along with other protesters against global warming at an event in Washington, D.C. I did. Climate action groups believe her message will resonate with island communities.
Speaking with members of the group over the weekend, it became clear how they have been informing each other, friends, family, and now the community at large.
Rebecca Gilbert is a frequent visitor and speaker at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Vineyard Haven and considers herself a believer in “Earth Spirituality.” She shared some insight into why she joined her Interfaith Climate Action Team.
“I’ve noticed that when we feel fear or confusion, we tend to shrink back into our usual ways,” Gilbert says. “Providing examples of things that actually work well for us and are kind of fun is a way to break out of that situation.”
Almost everyone in the group talked about real changes they had made both in the congregation and in their own lives. Don’t miss the solar panels on the grounds of Grace Church’s parsonage. They have also switched to using heat pumps. No more Styrofoam coffee cups, plastic utensils, milk jugs, or throwing away food waste. Members are switching to more environmentally friendly activities.
One way to do this is to provide your worshiping community with composting bins and make it easy for them to get started. The First Congregational Church of West Tisbury has taken the lead in composting and instituted a program called Sacred Land. “We hand out small countertop buckets from IGI to teach congregations how to compost,” said team member Libby Fielder.
Joanne Taylor of St. Andrews Anglican Church said she was currently starting a similar program. Parishioners can pick up and return compost buckets on Sunday, and the material is then transported by Bruno’s Waste Removal and Recycling to Island Grown Initiative farms to be used in IGI’s fields. Coming full circle, IGI supplies the community with both vegetables sold at the Island Market and vegetables collected for the food pantry. “St. Andrew just started composting and people are loving it,” Taylor said. “There are things we can do to empower each family so they feel like they’re not just lying around and drinking it.”
In most, if not all, faith communities, religious teachings have something to say about creation, ecology, and caring for the earth. But translating these directives into action is another matter.
Britt Jonas writes on her website (revivingcreation.org): This is a gospel that is too small. ”
But we are creatures of habit, and convincing us to change is not easy.
The climate team co-chairs, Jana Bertkau of West Tisbury Church and Abby Bates of Grace Church, are effective leaders of this group. They’re in it for the long haul.
Bartkau explained that the group first met on her deck during the pandemic, with Grace Church taking a leadership role and Bates stepping forward to co-chair with her. They have been participating in the island’s Climate Action Fair in May for the past six years or so, holding workshops to create ecological streamers to hang in homes and places of worship, as well as other projects at the fair. .
“We meet about every six weeks to share best practices on how to communicate with our congregations about climate change and what actions we can take as individuals and as a church,” Bertkau explained. did.
She said that as people of faith, we should recognize the great gifts of nature to humanity and have a responsibility to cherish those gifts. Bates acknowledged that there is a sense of hopelessness, but added that her upcoming weekend’s events can motivate people to “get through it and do something to make things better.”
Events are held at St. Andrew’s Church and Hebrew Center on the weekends, and on Sundays at the West Tisbury Library. And Bates added that politics were not involved. Those who are uncomfortable with the devotional aspects of the weekend can skip those events and go directly to the Sunday offerings at the library. “No matter your faith or your feelings about communal worship, you can take something away from this retreat,” Bates said.
The Interfaith Climate Action Team is comprised of members from Episcopalian, Congregational, Federalist, Friends Meeting (Quaker), Hebrew Center, and Unitarian Universalist traditions. The group shared that diversity in its membership is an advantage, but would love to have more island communities represented, including Wampanoag people and people with Muslim and Buddhist perspectives. .
Alison Van Dyke spoke about how the organization is working with faith-based climate change organizations nationally and globally. There are even entire organizations dedicated to using sustainable palms grown and harvested in Guatemala and Mexico for the Easter season. Van Dijk said the group is looking more broadly toward its goals. “We see our small group as part of a larger vision as we move toward it,” she says.
A banner outside Grace Church reads “One Home, One Future.” This is the goal of the far-reaching organization of the same name. Visit onehomeonefuture.org.
“If people think they’re the only ones working on this problem, they can realize that they’re part of a community where everyone is doing the same thing. That makes it easier,” Bates says. he said. “We’re starting to think about food waste and how it goes back into the soil and feeds people here on the island. This takes it from a small thing to a big thing.”
Sarah Nevin, who with her husband Bruce is a member of the island’s Quaker community, said so far she and Bruce have started by converting their home to solar energy and buying an electric car.
“It’s not difficult. He doesn’t have to pay the electric bill anymore,” Nevin said.
Mary Gentle of the United Church said, “Through simple attainable changes, we can have some success and be part of great projects. We use no paper products at home or in church. From small things like bringing your own mug, it spreads to the community. Even my kids asked, “Where are the disposable cups?” And I said, “I kicked them out.” ”
If you are interested in joining the Interfaith Climate Action Team, please join us on Friday, April 5th. Shabbat services begin at MV Hebrew Center at 5:30 p.m., with Britt Jonas preaching at 8 and 10 p.m. Sunday services are held at St. Andrew’s Espiscopal Church in Edgartown. The event concludes with a rally held at his West Tisbury Library on Sunday from 2:00 pm to 5:30 pm.
Please contact co-chair Jana Bertkau. jana.bertkau@gmail.com or Abby Bates elizlbates@gmail.com.
