Veronica Kyle, Congregational Outreach for Chicago-based Faith in Place, spoke this past Friday to the Province V gathering at the annual ENEJ (Episcopal Network for Economic Justice) conference. Faith in Place has partnered with over 500 congregations in Illinois—Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Zoroastrian, Baha’i and Unitarian—to promote clean energy & sustainable farming. They’re also part of the national Interfaith Power & Light campaign. Bullet points from the presentation:
- We need to merge our efforts to bridge the ecological divide and to bridge the economic divide. Our job should be to educate everyone about issues of sustainability.
- The faith community needs to be involved in the conversation about the green economy.
- We often think about the secular green organizations, the Sierra Clubs. How can we connect our faith to thinking green? Can we make changing light bulbs and recycling an expression of our gratitude to God?
- We need to find allies, because this work can’t be done alone. We as faithful believers need to be going to city hall, learning bill and resolution numbers, serving on steering and planning committees. We need to look deeper into our congregations for allies that may not be currently serving on our other ministries.
- We should consider beginning with education: for self, for congregation, for clergy and lay leadership. Can we start a bible study on economic justice or ecology issues, a film series. Can we educate both the workers and the guests at our food ministry. What would a faith based litter campaign look like?
- Speaking as an African American woman I ask why are we under-represented in this green conversation. A very helpful book to understand historical context is To Love the Wind and the Rain: African Americans and Environmental History by Diane Glave and Mark Stoll.
- We have to “infiltrate,” we have to bring these green concerns, our economic justice concerns, not only to our environmental concerns committee or social justice committee, but throughout the work of the church.
- One community of faith started looking at the issue of childhood obesity and linked it to access to nutritious food. An urban parish, they began raising vegetables in containers, connecting the children to the process of growing food. The garden was transformative. They wound up replacing all soda with fresh juices and clean water.
- One parish had a large mostly unused basement. They became a large deconstruction retail store, taking in used but re-usable building materials from structures being demolished.
- We should consider thinking of green issues for saving people, not polar bears. These should be vital issues for congregational care, for community care, not the “over there” and far away which the polar bear metaphor brings to mind. Sometimes I call it the “in your face” care, which starts at home, with us.
- When we buy that $5 t-shirt, we need to understand the real costs. This is difficult for us, but we need to understand the cost of our consumption. We don’t want to talk about our shopping bags full and child labor laws and how they are related. But our consumption drives this. (Veronica then shared some of her personal history, at one time she was a personal shopper.) This is work of understanding the purchase in its long transaction from manufacture of item to distribution to consumption.
- Make no mistake, environmental sustainability will require sacrifice from all of us. Can we get to the place that when we do something unsustainable, we understand we are cheating the community, all of us, and our legacy of sustainability.
- Can we host farmers’ markets to learn what food in season looks like. Can we talk about the sustainable implications of that huge chicken in the discount markets for .89 an lb.
- Every day is a struggle, because every day we choose between the short and long term, between the convenient and the sustainable. Can we live into the statement, when you know better, you do better?
- After our education piece and we have begun to make individual and community changes, it is time to step into the policy arena. We need to know the issues, the lobbyists and who they represent.
- Again, a stress on partnerships. When one parish became active in state government, they invited their college students to join in a lobbying effort. All were surprised: how interested the legislators were in meeting with young people, the youth surprised at how a citizen could engage with an elected official. A real win-win.
- Be tenacious. Paradigm shifts take time.
- Celebrate your successes, all of them, large and small.
- Give yourself permission to think in 3-D. It won’t happen if you can’t imagine it.
- One parish began a garden after needing herbs for culinary training they were offering. One parish developed a relationship with a local farmer, purchasing shares in a CSA type arrangement. Each share purchased was really two shares, one for the parishioner family and one for a family that couldn’t afford the share.
- We need to make the clear connection between caring for people, caring for community, and caring for the earth
- Food & Faith: Justice, Joy and Daily Bread by Michael Schut. (Mike was convener of the session.)
- One parish has 100 mi. potlucks, where all the food must have been grown or raised in a 100 mile radius.
Tags: Advocacy, Environment, Food Ministry, Garden, Green, Social Justice, Volunteer
