Climate Activists Mourn Death of United Methodist Leader

Crisis Watch Aug. 6, 2020

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A United Methodist Insight Column

United Methodist and evangelical climate advocates this week are mourning the untimely death of Beth Bond, 54, a leader in the movement who died unexpectedly of natural causes July 29.

The Rev. Mel Caraway, a retired pastor who served as United Methodist Insight’s correspondent to the COP25 climate conference last year, described Ms. Bond as a vibrant, passionate leader among people of faith advocating for better care of God’s creation. At the time of her death she was helping to organize this fall’s United Methodist EarthKeepers virtual creation care summit, Rev. Caraway said in an email. "Beth was a dear friend and her leadership will be truly missed in creation justice work as well as United Methodist Women," he wrote.

Rev. Caraway’s tribute was echoed by a press release from the Evangelical Environmental Network:

“Beth will be remembered as a trailblazer— for addressing climate change as a critical aspect of Christian discipleship and for the adoption of renewable energy throughout the church and across the Southeast. Simply put, Beth grasped the need for creation care well before many within the Christian Church and led the way through her advocacy for renewable energy and for women’s and children’s health. She was a leader in civic engagement, fearlessly speaking out for clean energy and a pollution-free world for all of God’s children.”

Ms. Bond was an active member of First UMC in Decatur, Ga., where she lived. EEN announced it would create The Beth Bond Memorial Book Club, a community resource for books about the climate crisis, in her honor. Donations in her memory can be sent to the Global EarthKeepers Ministry at umcmission.org

UMC-related medical school tackles COVID-19

Not many United Methodists may know it, but the denomination supports a distinguished medical school. Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn., is one of the historically Black educational institutions supported financially by the Black College Fund, one of the five church-wide funds to which members donate through annual apportionments.

Kathy L. Gilbert of UM News has a feature on how Meharry is contributing to the campaign against COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Her article is accompanied by photos by UM News’ photographer par excellence Mike DuBose. Check it out to see the difference your contributions are making to global health.

COVID-19 rural spread claims Texas pastor

First UMC In Itasca, Texas, in the Central Texas Annual Conference, is mourning the death of its pastor, the Rev. Tom Wood, 83, who died July 29 from COVID-19, according to an article by Emily McFarlan Miller of Religion News Service. She cites Rev. Wood’s death as an example of how the spread of COVID-19 into rural areas has directly affected churches and communities there.

The Rev. Leah Hidde-Gregory, superintendent of the Central District that includes Itasca, told Ms. Miller that many United Methodist churches that re-opened in mid-May have now scaled back or closed their in-person events because of the coronavirus surge that hit Texas in July.

Oregon churches help needy families with mobile food pantry

Two United Methodist congregations, Central and First-Farragut, are providing food and school supplies to families hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic in their part of Oregon through a mobile food pantry, reports the Blue Mountain Eagle.

“Vehicles lined along Kingston Pike early Saturday morning, wrote Jeremy Nash for the Blue Mountain Eagle. “Drivers pulled in front of the church and stayed in their vehicle as volunteers from both churches placed bags of food and school supplies in the back.

“Volunteers prepared to feed 250 families, but [spokeswoman Laura] Derr on Sunday said only 124 families showed up for the distribution. That included 211 adults, 248 children and 90 seniors. She did not know why the number was down. Volunteers also gave out 249 school supply kits.”

Africa U students skip meals to feed families

Students at UMC-related Africa University are skipping a day’s meals once a week to provide money to feed needy families who can’t afford food in Zimbabwe’s crisis. “Four theology students at the United Methodist university started the Feed a Family campaign to help families struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic,” writes Chenayi Kumuterera for UM News. Organizers said their intention is to spread hope in the face of hardships caused by the pandemic.

The coronavirus pandemic has added another layer of misery to Zimbabwe, which is also struggling with political and economic crises that have given rise to allegations of human rights abuses. Former president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a United Methodist, has joined a growing cadre of international politicians and celebrities voicing concerns about human rights in the country.

Opponents of President Emmerson Mnangagwa contend that he and his government are using COVID-19 restrictions to silence his political opposition, who have included journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and prominent author Tsitsi Dangarembga. The ad hoc group is using a hashtag, #ZimbabweanLivesMatter, imitating the Black Lives Matter protests staged since George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in May.

Economists: End the carbon economy

As people of faith pray for the world’s future in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, a group of distinguished economists is urging nations to rebuild the global economy by ending their dependence on fossil fuels, according to an article in the U.S. edition of The Guardian.

Led by noted economists such as Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz and former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, the letter issued on Aug. 4 asserts that “the carbon economy amplifies racial, social and economic inequities, creating a system that is fundamentally incompatible with a stable future.

“From deep-rooted racism to the COVID-19 pandemic, from extreme inequality to ecological collapse, our world is facing dire and deeply interconnected emergencies. But as much as the present moment painfully underscores the weaknesses of our economic system, it also gives us the rare opportunity to reimagine it. As we seek to rebuild our world, we can and must end the carbon economy.

“Even as climate breakdown looms around the corner, the pressure to return to the old carbon-based economy is real – and all the more dangerous, given the fundamental instability of an economy rooted in injustice. Sources of large-scale human suffering, such as crop failures, water shortages, rising tides, wildfires, severe weather, forced migration and pandemics, go hand-in-hand with a warming world. For example, exposure to airborne pollution heightens the risk of complications from diseases like Covid-19, and deforestation and rising temperatures make the emergence of future infectious diseases more likely. When these consequences manifest, it is no accident that they are disproportionately felt by communities of color, low-income communities, the most vulnerable nations and peoples, and other historically marginalized groups.”

For its part, United Methodist Insight will continue to monitor and report on the faith-based response to the interconnected crises facing us.

Another day of prayer

United Methodist Men have really stepped up their spiritual support for United Methodists during these times of crisis. Now it's the North Central Jurisdiction UM Men's turn to host a national day of prayer. See the details on the poster below.

Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011.