Mission Yearbook: OPW helps lead multifaith service that advocates for protecting the Earth

The Presbyterian Office of Public Witness recently helped lead a multifaith Earth Day celebration in Washington, D.C., filled with prayers, reflections and calls to stand against actions that harm God’s Creation.

Image

The Rev. Jimmie Hawkins (Photo by Rich Copley)

The Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, director of advocacy for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), prayed to God, “Please help us understand that to have dominion over Creation does not mean domination, but it means stewardship, as we are called to follow your example and value the sacredness of Creation, for when we defile the Earth, we defile ourselves.”

The event, emceed by OPW’s the Rev. Christina Cosby, brought together leaders from various faith traditions, activists and others to recommit to caring for the planet, where the effects of climate change have become more and more apparent.

“Today, millions of people and the very planet are suffering and dying from hunger, from drought, from floods, disease, from suffering and violence caused by climate change,” said keynote speaker Laura Peralta-Schulte, senior director of Public Policy and Government Affairs for Network, a Catholic social justice lobby group.

Image

The Rev. Christina Cosby (Photo by Tammy Warren)

But there is hope, Cosby said, that “by being together, by praying together, by acting faithfully together, our collective voice and actions will make this Earth a place where this generation, and all generations, will come to find hospitality and the necessities to live with dignity for all.”

The Washington Interfaith Staff Community’s Energy and Ecology Working Group hosted the event in collaboration with speakers from several groups, including the Friends Committee on National Legislation and the Muslim Public Affairs Council. The gathering also included remarks from Leo Confalone, an energy and environment staffer from U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s office.

“We are already seeing the impacts of climate change, and that's not just in Maryland. That's in the whole DMV (the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia), which I know you all serve, and the senator is extremely concerned about it,” he said. “We’re going to keep pushing back on this administration's actions related to fossil fuels and their support of that industry, their rolling back (of) environmental protections” and the letting go of public servants, including scientists who protect clean air and water.

Image

Photo by Joshua Newton via Unsplash

Confalone also spoke about the importance of advocacy by faith communities, noting, “You are the trusted leaders, and you are the ones who can open minds and open ears to the issue of climate change and advancing clean energy and how important that is.”

In her keynote address, Peralta-Schulte said that Earth Day is a celebration of nature’s mysterious beauty and a call to action to protect “our very fragile planet.”

She also spoke about the importance of caring for neighbors who’ve been exposed to environmental pollution, such as lead-contaminated water in Flint, Michigan, and spoke on the need to reject the politics of greed and exploitation.

In closing, she prayed that all leaders would listen to the crying of the Earth and have the courage to act wisely and urgently for healing and restoration.

“We pray for our political leaders, including those in this room,” she added. “We ask that you ground your work in love and build a future that allows the flourishing of everybody.”

The keynote was followed by a time of reflection by several speakers, including Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb, rabbinic adviser to the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL). He talked about the importance of being on the side of liberation.

Ultimately, action must be taken to protect the environment for the children, Hawkins of PC(USA) said during prayer.

“Your children deserve fresh drinking water, clean air and garbage-free neighborhoods,” he said. “Therefore, we ask that you recreate in us the innocence of the Sixth Day. Remold us into the stewards that we were created to be, blessed to have been made in the image and likeness of a God, who created a world where everyone has enough. This is indeed our prayer, in your holy name.”

Darla Carter, Communications Strategist, Communications Ministry, Interim Unified Agency (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Robyn Davis Sekula, VP, Marketing Communications, Presbyterian Foundation
Jeanie Shaw, Stewardship Officer, Stewardship & Funds Development, Administrative Services Group (A Corp) 

Let us pray:

God of grace, we trust in your provision for us and all creatures. Help us to answer your call to work for Sabbath, jubilee and life for all Creation. Amen.

Minute for Mission: Earth Day

My new friend Oswaldo was regaling me with stories of working for justice for Afro-Peruvians when out of the blue, he asked me, “Will you be going to Cali, Colombia, in October for the COP-16 on Biodiversity? His question took me by surprise because I would, in fact, be attending the 16th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (COP), but I could not for the life of me figure out why he was asking! It seemed completely off-topic. Before I make the connection, perhaps I should take a step back first.

Church partners gathered with Indigenous peoples, leaders from across the African
Diaspora, State and civil society representatives, and thousands more from across
the globe for the United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP-16) held in Cali,
Colombia, to search for ways to protect and sustain the diversity of life on planet Earth.

The previous year, after I returned from Dubai from the U.N. Conference on Climate Change, I received an invitation from the Latin American Network of Churches and Mining — a group that Presbyterian Hunger Program global partner Red Uniendo Manos Peru has participated in for over five years — to join with them at the COP-16. At the heart of their concern is an issue I had been addressing in Dubai – namely, that lands occupied by Indigenous peoples are at great risk from mining activity due to new demands related to the energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable energies. And, if we do not support the rights of Indigenous peoples, then we risk repeating the harms of colonization once again. Furthermore, the lands on which most Indigenous peoples live represent over 80% of the world’s biodiversity, which is immensely valuable for water, climate stabilization, local economies and planetary health. So, it was in the interest of Indigenous peoples that I would be in Cali for the COP-16, which is why I did not understand Oswaldo’s question.

Seeing bewilderment in my eyes, Oswaldo explained that the lands on which many Afro-Descendent communities settled after they won their freedom from enslavement are lands that represent about 40% of the world’s biodiversity. It is land they care for and protect. Yet, these lands are also being misappropriated and contaminated by mining activity. Part of the demands for reparations for Afro-Descendent peoples in Latin America is the restoration of these lands and the protection of their rights to defend them.

What is so increasingly clear is that seemingly disparate themes of injustice that at times are pulling us in opposite directions or have us competing for time, energy and resources are, actually, deeply interconnected themes. Historic harms and present-day problems, such as those faced by Indigenous communities and Afro-descendent communities in Latin America, are intricately woven together, just as our efforts for healing and justice must be — efforts to repair the harms of the past, resist the threats of the present, and restore life for the future. To celebrate Earth Day is not only to celebrate our one common home but the interconnectedness and diversity of all life that depend on it.

Jed Koball; Global Ecumenical Liaison based in Lima, Peru; Interim Unified Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

• Laurie Kraus, Director, Humanitarian and Global Ecumenical Engagement, Interim Unified Agency
• Rebecca Kueber, Desktop Publisher & Formatter, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation 

Let us pray:

God of Creation, you have woven us into the fabric Life, making us interdependent across cultures and species. Grant us curiosity and courage to discover the unique value of all beings, that our hearts may be filled with wonder. Give us resolve to care for this Earth that all may know the joy it brings. Plant in us a deep desire to know your very presence in the midst of our interconnectedness. Amen. 

Minute for Mission: Earth Day

Earth keeping: Protecting foodways from plastic pollution

April 22, 2024

Leigh Takak, Chris Noongwook, Vi Waghiyi, Mellisa Johnson, 

Field Institute 2022 (provided)

When thinking of the Arctic, many cling to an image of pristine white tundra. This is far from reality. Research is confirming that the Arctic contains some of the most highly contaminated animals and people in the world due to the persistent industrial chemicals and pesticides that are transported on atmospheric and oceanic currents from lower latitudes. Much of this pollution comes from both plastic production and plastic contamination. 

Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT), an Anchorage-based nonprofit, is seeing growing awareness of the Arctic as a place of vulnerability and an increasing interest in concerted action. They have been a grant partner of the Presbyterian Hunger Program since 2018. The PC(USA) and other groups are dedicated to learning or relearning how to listen to Indigenous wisdom as they support climate change work that protects the health and well-being of our earth, its wildlife and peoples. 

The ACAT research team has been conducting community-based participatory environmental health research on Sivuqaq (the traditional name for St. Lawrence Island) for more than 22 years. Initially, ACAT’s research collaboration began at the request of respected Savoonga elder and community health aide Annie Alowa. Annie, who died from breast cancer herself in 1999, witnessed health disparities among her people such as cancers, thyroid disease, miscarriages, birth defects and reproductive disorders, particularly among the people who lived and worked at Northeast Cape on Sivuqaq, home to approximately 1,700 Yupik residents. One of the crucial pieces of work that ACAT is doing is making connections between these health issues and the fossil-fuel driven production of plastics in the region. 

The people of Sivuqaq rely on a traditional diet of greens, berries, fish, reindeer and marine mammals for their physical, cultural and spiritual sustenance. 

Sadly, the study of these foods shows how contaminants from plastic production carried to the far north by atmospheric and ocean currents persist for years and sometimes decades, burdening the region’s Indigenous people.

The community-based research on Sivuqaq is guided by elders and other community leaders, and now includes eight universities working together with the tribes and Alaska Community Action on Toxics, who train local people as community health researchers for the biomonitoring work. The research informs government decisions and aims to improve accountability of the fossil fuel industry.  ACAT educates parents, teachers and health-care providers about ways they can reduce exposures to harmful endocrine-disrupting chemicals in their homes and environment. And the results of their research also inform environmental health policies at the state, national and international levels. Alaska Community Action on Toxics organizes with community leaders to present information to policymakers in Juneau, Alaska; Washington, D.C.; and in Geneva, Switzerland, at the United Nations. ACAT has also been active in the negotiation and implementation of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs treaty), a global legally binding treaty to eliminate the world’s most dangerous chemicals.[i]

For ideas to engage in climate education and action go to pcusa.org/climate, or to see Earth Day Sunday resources including Real Faith in a Synthetic World Plastic Jesus, visit pcusa.org/earthday.

Jessica Maudlin, Associate for Sustainable Living and Earth Care Concerns, Presbyterian Hunger Program

[i] Since 1996, in memory of the massacre of 19 Brazilian landless peasants who were brutally assassinated, the Via Campesina, an international peasants movement, has declared April 17 to be the International Day of Farmer and Peasant Struggles, a day for recognizing the struggles of smallholder food producers globally and organizing actions in support of food sovereignty and food justice.

Today’s Focus: Earth Day

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Kevin Garvey, Funds Development Specialist, Presbyterian Foundation 
Margaret Gay, Associate, International Property, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency  

Let us pray

Creator, we pray today for farmers like Ibrahim who are farming because they love the land and want to nourish their families and communities. We pray for a world in which farmers like Ibrahim can ensure their children and families a peaceful and dignified future. We pray for a ceasefire in Gaza and lasting peace in the region. And we pray for small farmers all over the world who are also faced with violence and the destruction of their dreams of the future, that they may also experience God’s saving grace.

Minute for Mission: Earth Day

April 22, 2023

An Earth Day Sunday celebration at Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church in Louisville. Photo credit: Rebecca Barnes.

In the first quarter of this year, we have experienced some severe weather occurrences in most parts of our country — fire, flooding, drought, wind and snow. Globally, the same is true. It is no longer far from most of our minds how we are connected to, and dependent on, the earth.

From power outages to destruction of homes to loss of life, we feel much more regular impacts these days of the “global weirding” that has been used as a nickname for climate change. Young people’s climate anxiety is in the news. Ongoing disaster recovery continues even as a new hurricane season approaches.

We pray: God, in your mercy.

We also recognize in Scripture that God has put us in a special relationship to the earth and has instructed us to care for it. Thus, we also must call on ourselves and one another: have mercy.

How much will we continue to ask vulnerable populations, future generations and the earth itself to withstand — just so that we can continue to live the way we want? Our prayers to our Creator implicate us, particularly those of us with privilege. For us to have mercy, to promote healing, and to bring forth justice means deep changes in the ways we think, live, consume, and relate to others and the earth itself. How can we prayerfully embody our commitment to enact God’s love for the cosmos?

We can reject the notion that success is unfettered economic growth at the cost of social and ecological injustice. We can reject the ease and convenience of disposable goods. We can step aside from the pursuit of luxury pleasures that negatively impact others. We can restore native habitats, grow our own food and support local farmers, plant trees, build new and respectful relationships with those most impacted by environmental ills, and invest positively in sustainable, equitable and renewable development.

For ideas to engage in climate education and action and/or to contribute to the Tree Fund, go to pcusa.org/climate.

 Rebecca Barnes, Presbyterian Hunger Program, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Dwayne Batcho, Production Clerk II, Presbyterian Distribution Center, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)
Doug Batezel, Vice President, Information Technology, Board of Pensions

Let us pray

Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer of the cosmos, may we draw ever closer to your vision for this world and our proper role in it. Help us to value, enjoy, rest and delight in your Creation even as we confess and work to repair the harm caused. In Christ who showed us the way. Amen.

Minute for Mission: Earth Day 2022

April 22, 2022

Bike blessing hands (provided)

It’s been more than 50 years since the first Earth Day (1970). Spurred by concerns from that time period about oil spills, polluting factories, and dangerous chemicals being used regularly (described in Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring”), thousands of college students and concerned citizens came together in mass rallies, across political lines. Later that year, the United States Environmental Protection Agency was formed, and federal environmental laws soon followed: the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act. By 1990, Earth Day began to be celebrated globally. The first United Nations Earth Summit was held in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro.

Presbyterians have long been engaged in caring for God’s Creation. National church policy as early as the 1950s showed concern for wasteful use of natural resources. In the 1980s, there was demonstrated coalescing around environmental concerns culminating in the 1990 Restoring Creation for Ecology and Justice policy passed at the General Assembly. There has been a continuous Presbyterian uplifting up of earth care concerns ever since. (To see some of these policies, go to presbyterianmission.org/ministries/compassion-peace-justice/acswp/topics).

Alongside policies, Presbyterians formed a grassroots network in 1995 called Presbyterians for Restoring Creation (now Presbyterians for Earth Care), created volunteer Restoring Creation Enablers in presbyteries, and started a national office for Environmental Justice. Presbyterian staff have participated at the global United Nations talks on climate since the original 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

In 2022, there are nearly 300 PC(USA) congregations who are certified as Earth Care Congregations through the Presbyterian Hunger Program and multiple environmental networks working to educate and advocate around issues of climate change and earth care. Throughout the year, at local and national levels, you will see numerous resources, events and opportunities for action to care for God’s Creation — including Earth Day Sunday (April) and Call to Prayer for the Care of all Creation (September). Many local congregations are visible in their community with Earth Day fairs, solar panels, stream clean-ups, community gardens, reusable shopping bags with the church logo and so much more.

For more Earth Day history, see earthday.org/history.

Rev. Rebecca Barnes (she, her, hers), Coordinator, Presbyterian Hunger Program

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Sean Payne, Research Analyst II, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)
Tabatha Peach, Trust Administrative Assistant, Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray

Dear God, we give you thanks for the beauty, bounty and mystery of your Creation. We know we are but a small part of it. And we know we have often failed at your instruction to us to care for it. Many parts of Creation and communities of people suffer as natural resources continue to be unjustly extracted, as we fuel our desires for consumption, and as we fail to listen to the wisdom of those who know that land, water, plants, animals and natural systems are a gift to be cherished, honored and nurtured. Continue to embolden us so that we can educate ourselves and others, act for the protection and preservation of this earth, and stand with impacted communities who suffer the worst impacts of climate change and environmental degradation. Bless us, O God, that we may be transformed into a blessing for your Creation. Amen.

Minute for Mission: Earth Day

April 22, 2021

The Matthew 25 invitation from Matthew 25:31–46 calls all of us to actively engage in the world around us, so our faith comes alive and we wake up to new possibilities.

 We recognize Christ’s urgent call to be vital congregations and worship communities, where God’s love, justice and mercy shine forth and are contagious. Faith comes alive when we boldly engage God’s mission and share the hope we have in Christ. This Earth Day, the Presbyterian Hunger Program is again reminded of the 277 Earth Care Congregations (ECCs) and all the ways in which they turn their commitments into caring for God’s Creation into ministry that rejuvenates, restores and revitalizes their own communities.

Peace Presbyterian Church

The Rev. Elizabeth Deibert, pastor of Peace Presbyterian Church, which is both an ECC and a Matthew 25 church in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, shares about the Peaceful Path, a natural space in the wetlands part of their campus that provides opportunity for reflection and contemplation for their entire community.

Having escaped a troubling situation at home, a woman found peace on a path in the woods, where the people of a congregation named Peace have developed beautiful “forest art” in a place set aside for connection with God and neighbor via the natural world. 

One family came to the Peaceful Path for relief from the dread of chemotherapy for their preschool child with a malignant brain tumor. They rejoiced in discovering painted rocks along the path with messages of hope, peace and kindness.

It began when a Presbyterian congregation chartered in 2009 was blessed with a 24-acre site, half of which is a natural wooded forest, adjacent to protected wetland area. With a blessing grant from Peace River Presbytery, the church was able to live into their vision for a meditation pathway to benefit the surrounding community, as well as the congregation, in part fulfilling the overall mission to make God known by growing as disciples of Jesus Christ, building a community of peace and caring for the needs of others. 

When COVID-19 isolation left members feeling stir-crazy at home, they got outside and created beautiful things in the path with God’s help. Cut palmetto branches with red berries became a Christmas tree. Dried palm tree sheaths formed into circular flower shapes. Inner layers of dead tree trunks were gathered in circles as if at a campfire. Having been certified as an Earth Care Congregation in the PC(USA), this commitment moved beyond discussions of recycling, sustainability and environmentally friendly policies to a vigorous enthusiasm for the natural glory of God’s Creation!

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;  

let the sea roar, and all that fills it; 
let the field exult, and everything in it. 

Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
before the Lord; for he is coming,

for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,

and the peoples with his truth.”  

(Psalm 96:11–13)

Children and others add painted rocks along the path, which are joyfully claimed as pets or messengers of hope with their fruit of the Spirit words on the back of painted gnomes, hearts and woodland creatures. O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! (Psalm 95:1)

Word gets out in the community, and soon there are many guests on the Peaceful Path. A woman, new to the area, grieving the loss of two sons, comes to walk with her young grandchildren for whom she is now mother, and the family connects with the Peace congregation.

As the sun goes down, the resident deer family appears, along with a pair of hooting owls, as if to say with their presence what the PC(USA) Study Catechism states with words:

“God not only preserves the world, but also continually attends to it, ruling and sustaining it with wise and benevolent care. God is concerned for every creature: ‘The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing’ (Psalm 145:15–16).

Jessica Maudlin Phelps, Associate for Sustainable Living and Earth Care Concerns, Presbyterian Hunger Program

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Dori Hjalmarson, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Randy Hobson, Office of the General Assembly

Let us pray:

In our lives, as it is along the Peaceful Path, old vines and dead branches, frustrations and grief are bent and twisted into good forms of art, healing us with “the peace that passes all understanding” (Philippians 4:7). No matter what unfolds along the way may you, Oh God, be our constantly present reminder that in life and in death we always belong to you.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - The fierce urgency of now

Confronting climate change together

May 8, 2020

As stewards of God’s Creation, we are challenged to care for planet Earth and all its inhabitants.

This is an awesome responsibility, but also an incredible opportunity. There are many concerns facing our planet, with climate change and its impact on the most vulnerable at the top of the list. Related concerns include privatization of the Earth’s precious resources, threats to the safety of our world’s water supply and the effects of toxic emissions.

In 2020, most Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations commemorated Earth Day the Sunday before or after April 22. This 50th anniversary of Earth Day will focus on the theme “The fierce urgency of now,” a phrase used by many people in many contexts to emphasize the dwindling time remaining for change. As we reflect on the many global environmental issues that face us, we will be working together in the most diverse and passionate global movement since Earth Day was established in 1970. For more, see pcusa.org/ministries/environment/earth-day-sunday.

Mama Toya stands on the hillside above her community of Villa El Sol in the central Andes, where the 84-year-old has planted 30,000 trees over the past two decades. (Photo by Jed Hawkes Koball)

Every country is facing a myriad of environmental concerns. There is also a growing movement churchwide to strengthen our witness and efforts to care for God’s Creation holistically. This ministry is being done collaboratively by all Presbyterian Mission Agency ministry areas and global partners, including Presbyterian World Mission and Compassion, Peace & Justice. One of the primary goals of Presbyterian Mission Agency offices addressing environmental ministries is to equip congregations and mid councils as they engage in healing and restoration of God’s creation.

The work of the Rev. Jed Koball, who serves with the Presbyterian Hunger Program’s partner Red Uniendo Manos Peru (Peru Joining Hands Network), supports a partnership with Joining Hands that is greatly enhanced by 84-year-old Victoria Trujillo, better known as Mama Toya. In the past two decades, Mama Toya has worked with the Conservation Committee of her beloved Villa El Sol community and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance to plant more than 30,000 trees on the community’s contaminated lands.

If you wonder what kind of impact one person can have on climate change, consider Mama Toya and give thanks for her inspiring witness. On a visit to Villa El Sol, Jed asked for Mama Toya. Her daughter told him, “She has been out working in the hills since sunrise. That’s where she is every day, all day.”

“It was there that we found her,” Jed said. “Lifting rocks, moving soil, watering trees, never stopping. ‘These hills give me life,’ she said. ‘I thought I was going to die, and these lands healed me. God healed me. And you walking with me gives me the strength to keep going.’”

Consider supporting the work of Jed and Jenny Koball, mission co-workers in Peru. Visit pcusa.org/donate/E200447.

 Sara Pottschmidt Lisherness; Director of the Compassion, Peace & Justice Ministry; Interim Director of Presbyterian World Mission

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Amy Clark, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Tim Clark, Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray:

Holy Lord, may our words, our work and our hearts welcome all your children into the broad and beautiful kingdom of God. Amen.

Minute for Mission: Earth Day

April 22, 2020

Provided by Interfaith Power & Light

On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans — 10% of the U.S. population at the time — took to the streets, college campuses and hundreds of cities to protest environmental ignorance and demand a new way forward for our planet. That first Earth Day is credited with launching the modern environmental movement and is now recognized as the planet’s largest civic event.

This year, the Presbyterian Hunger Program is joining with Presbyterians for Earth Care in partnering to promote Interfaith Power & Light’s Faith Climate Action Week 2020. This year’s theme is “Love Made Visible: Engaging in Sacred Activism” to protect the people we love who are most impacted by climate change.

On this 50th anniversary of Earth Day you are invited to join the National Earth Day Climate Prayer by reciting the following prayer at noon local time on Earth Day.

You can also pray along throughout today on IPL’s Facebook page with videos of the Rev. Susan Hendershot, president of IPL, and religious leaders from various traditions saying prayers for the earth.

Let us pray:

Interfaith Climate Prayer in English and Spanish (La bendición climática)

We Hold the Earth

We hold brothers and sisters who suffer from storms and droughts intensified by climate change.We hold all species that suffer.We hold world leaders delegated to make decisions for life.We pray that the web of life may be mended through courageous actions to limit carbon emissions.We pray for right actions for adaptation and mitigation to help our already suffering earth community.We pray that love and wisdom might inspire my actions and our actions as communities …so that we may, with integrity, look into the eyes of brothers and sisters and all beings and truthfully say we are doing our part to care for them and the future of the children.May love transform us and our world with new steps toward life.Amen.

Sostenemos la tierra

Sostenemos hermanos y hermanas quienes sufren de tormentas y sequías intensificadas por el cambio climático.Sostenemos todas las especies que sufren.Sostenemos líderes mundial delegados a tomar decisiones por la vida.Rezamos que la red de la vida se pueda reparar a través de acciones valientes en limitar la emisión de carbonoRezamos por acciones correctas en ajustacion y mitigación para ayudar nuestra comunidad mundial que sufreRezamos que el amor y sabiduría enspire mis acciones y nuestras acciones como comunidad …para que podamos, con integridad, mirar a los ojos de los hermanos y hermanas y todos los seres y en verdaddigamos, estamos haciendo nuestra parte para cuidar de ellos y el futuro de los niñosPara que el amor nos transforme y el mundo con nuevos pasos hacia la vida.Amen.

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Laura Bryan, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Dana Bryant, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation