Summer Warming
A United Methodist Insight Column
We're laboring under several days of heat advisories here in Dallas where United Methodist Insight is produced. Since I'm especially vulnerable to extreme heat because of medical conditions, my attention has been pulled toward what churches can do to help relieve summer heat for vulnerable people.
First, be sure to read The Conversation's article on lessons learned from the 2021 extreme heat wave in the Pacific Northwest. Proposals for future adaptation include having churches and other civic organizations serve as cooling centers and advocating for relief for low-income residents and other vulnerable populations.
Second, the Washington Post's new (well, fairly new) Climate Coach, Michael J. Coren, reports that passive cooling, AKA "cool roofs," could send large amounts of Earth's excessive heat back out into space.
What if your church planted greenery on its roof to reduce the amount of heat directed inside? Or perhaps the church could paint its roof white or upgrade to specific roof cooling products rather than another tar-and-shingles roof?
Have your board of trustees check out an online calculator "to estimate your energy savings by analyzing your climate, insulation, building type and energy prices," writes Coren. He cites two such calculators: "Dow offers a Cool Roof calculator; a second is available from Oak Ridge National Laboratory." Coren writes that such measures could save the cost of installation within a year alongside helping us avoid dying from an overheated planet.
Meanwhile, our favorite astronomical newsletter EarthSky shares this nugget:
2023 June solstice: All you need to know
At the June solstice, the sun rises and sets farthest north on your western horizon. The sun is closest to being overhead at your local noon. So noontime shadows are short. A solstice isn't a whole day. Instead, it lasts just a moment, when the sun reaches its northernmost point in our sky for this year. In 2023, the solstice moment will fall at 14:58 UTC (9:58 a.m. CDT) tomorrow. All you need to know here.
Longest sunsets happen around the solstice
We're talking about how many seconds it takes for the body of the sun to sink below your western horizon. Sunsets take a longer time around solstices, and a shorter time around equinoxes. It's true whether you live in Earth's Northern or Southern Hemisphere. Read more.
"On the recent spike in ocean heat
"Global oceans are hot right now. They're so hot that scientists around the world are struggling to explain them, according to Jeff Berardelli at News Channel 8 in Tampa, Florida. He wrote: “Sea surface temperatures in June are so far above record territory, it is being deemed almost statistically impossible in a climate without global heating. This is happening across the huge expanse of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.” But, as Jeff explains, there are several factors contributing to high ocean temps in 2023. Read more."
Climate-related resolutions at annual conferences
Cathy Velasquez Eberhardt, a United Methodist EarthKeeper in Minnesota and part of the coordinating team of UM Creation Justice Movement, reports that several annual conferences this year have passed climate-crisis-related resolutions. One of the most recent was in the West Ohio Conference as reported on its website:
"The Net-Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions recommendation asks the West Ohio Conference to join our denominational boards and commissions in committing to a just and equitable reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050. The recommendation calls on the bishop to establish a working group to study this action and develop an implementation plan. The working group will report back on their plan to the 2024 session of the Annual Conference."
The Rev. Richenda Fairhurst (see next item) reports that Pacific Northwest came through with several climate-friendly actions:
"The Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Methodist Church, Washington State, just voted to divest even more funds, to encourage every local church to divest funds, and to achieve net zero with an even stronger set of numbers than the denominational pledge—thanks and good part to a magnificent speech by Jenny Phillips and a urgency plea from the body.
"We also voted to call the connectional table in the PNW to hire somebody to address creation justice and environmental justice, though that will take a little bit of time to put together! (i.e., that's not a mandate for them to hire. But it is a mandate for them to figure out what that would look like and get back to us at the next annual conference.)
"And we voted to approve the fossil-free screen for general conference."
UM Creation Justice Movement is keeping tabs on conference actions on similar climate resolutions. In addition to West Ohio and Pacific Northwest, the annual conferences of New England, North Carolina, Western North Carolina, Tennessee-Western Kentucky, California-Nevada and Mountain Sky have considered topics such as fossil fuels, net-zero emissions, green teams, and climate finance.
Notes from a climate activist
As noted above, the Rev. Richenda Fairhurst's ministry focuses on creation care. She has generously shared some of her best stories with Insight over the past year. In addition to her work with Faiths4Future, she has started a weekly newsletter on Substack called Just Creation. It's chock-full of news and notes for faith-based creation advocates, so subscribe! Some notes from her latest offering:
Creation Justice & the UMC. It is Annual Conference season — Shout out to my Methodist siblings across the denomination and in my home conference of the PNW for passing Climate Justice resolutions this month!! United Methodists inspired by the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement have called for divestment, green teams, new Creation Justice positions, net-zero pledges, and more. Finally!! and also Whoo hoo!!
Solar for Congregations. A webinar from Interfaith Power and Light Solar Financing for Congregations Webinar takes place on June 21, 2:00pm Eastern Time.
Be a UM EarthKeeper! Global Ministries seeks U.S.-based United Methodists to lead grassroots environmental projects that are action-oriented, antiracist, bold and entrepreneurial. Is this you? Find the application and more information here. The next training begins in October.
Movement Cafe June 21. The next Movement Cafe from the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement will speak to the Just and Equitable Interagency Commitment to Net-Zero out of the UMC. Speakers are Rev. Jenny Phillips, Senior Technical Advisor, Environmental Sustainability at General Board of Global Ministries and Jake Barnett, Managing Director, Sustainable Investment Strategies at Wespath. Learn more and register.
Climate Prayer. A monthly prayer group, Climate Intercessors, formed in the runup to COP 26 and still meeting. (A six-day-a-week Facebook morning prayer group from St. Stephen UMC in Mesquite, Texas, in which I participate regularly prays for the climate crisis, as do many other groups elsewhere).
Racism spurs fossil fuels usage
With the lessons of Juneteenth still in our rearview mirror, Richenda also shares this word:
Fossil Fuels & Racism. A new study out helps illuminate the connection between burning fossil fuels and impacts experienced based on factors such as race. Read an article about the study from Greenpeace New Study: Fossil Fuels Disproportionately Impact Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Poor Communities Throughout The Supply Chain Read the study: Fossil fuel racism in the United States: How phasing out coal, oil, and gas can protect communities.
Four ways to take climate action
Finally, the ecumenical Creation Justice Ministries reminds all faith-based creation advocates that there are four ways to participate in the democratic process that leads to climate crisis legislation at all levels of government:
Directly Contact Decision-Makers. In our U.S. democracy, engaging with elected officials is a civic responsibility.
Get Published. Efforts to care for God's creation are news-worthy. Write your opinion in the comments section of online articles, or formally respond to an article with a letter to the editor. United Methodist Insight welcomes articles from creation care advocates.
Organize Your Community. Where two or three are gathered, God is among us, and nothing is impossible. Planning educational events, prayer services, community forums, and town hall meetings make a difference.
Testify at Public Hearings. When public policy decisions are being made, there is often an opportunity to make your opinion heard in a public hearing.
Media Mentions as of June 20
There is more to United Methodists than debate over LGBTQ rights - Courier-Journal*
Remaining United Methodists look to religious life after disaffiliations | TribLIVE.com
Nevada City United Methodist Church becomes a Reconciling Congregation - YubaNet
Faculty members honored for teaching, community contribution and scholarly work. – DePauw University
Four ways to leave your denomination: How churches are disaffiliating from the UMC –Religion News Service
For first time, Florida United Methodists approve LGBTQ clergy at Lakeland meeting – Lakeland Ledger
Bishop Williamston Tells Louisiana United Methodists to Get Up Off the Mat – Louisiana Annual Conference
*Paid subscription required.
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A veteran award-winning religion journalist who has covered the United Methodist Church at all levels for 35 years, Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight. She founded the news-and-views journal in 2011 as a media channel for marginalized and under-served voices across the United Methodist Church. "Crisis Watch" is part of Insight's participation in Covering Climate Now, an international collaboration of more than 500 worldwide news outlets committed to enhance climate reporting.