Today in the Mission Yearbook - Going green by going solar

University Presbyterian Church in San Antonio celebrates its fifth year as an Earth Care Congregation

July 2, 2024

University Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, Texas, has 

seen significant savings in its energy bill following the installation 

of solar panels. (Photo courtesy of University Presbyterian 

Church)

Being an Earth Care Congregation brings a sense of joy that exudes to anyone you speak to who serves their respective congregation in this capacity.

Since 2020, University Presbyterian Church of San Antonio, Texas, has been an Earth Care Congregation. In 2019, the congregation began to discern what it would mean to embark on this journey. The application process invites congregations to ponder worship, facilities, education and outreach. In 2021, the church invested in solar panels, which greatly reduced the amount of electricity the church was using. Solar panels were installed in the carport, with the panels serving as the roof, and for shade from the hot Texas sun. Church administrator Anastasia Bernal said that using a local manufacturer helped boost the local economy with manufacturing, construction and engineering jobs.

Leaning into being an Earth Care Congregation has led UPC to think more intentionally about how to use its resources. The checklist helps to look at all the areas of church life that can help people become better stewards of the environment. Some of the initiatives that have been relatively easy to implement include joining a recycling program, installing LED lighting throughout the campus, adding bike racks and reducing paper consumption.

The solar panel installation at University Presbyterian Church 

featured this one over the church’s carport. (Photo courtesy 

of University Presbyterian Church)

Sandy Nicholson, chair of the church’s Earth Care Ministry Team, provided data to demonstrate how effective being an Earth Care Congregation can be. In 2019, the church’s total energy usage was 165,920 kWh. The year following the installation of the solar panels, the total energy usage was 30,320 kWh, an 82% reduction. The transition shaved $15,000 off the church’s energy bill.

The PC(USA)’s Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy continues to do the work of environmental justice in many ways. Sue Smith, co-chair of ACSWP, says in the ACSWP report “Lithium Mining,” “We believe that God is calling the Church to this difficult work as we lift our vision of an environment renewed, better health outcomes, and clean air and water.”

A recent Earth Day celebration at University

Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, Texas.

(Photo courtesy of University Presbyterian

Church)

This is also a great opportunity to remember the work that Mission Responsibility Through Investment continues to do. In the midst of proxy voting season, Director Katie Carter and Associate Simon Doong note that “as Presbyterians and congregations look for creative ways to protect our Earth, one surprising and overlooked opportunity lies in advocacy in the corporate board room. The PC(USA)’s Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment releases a set of proxy voting recommendations each year. The publication outlines shareholder proposals that faith- and values-based investors filed, and MRTI recommends supporting hundreds of companies on a variety of justice issues. The recommendations help Presbyterian individuals and entities ensure their investments are aligned with denominational policy. If an individual or entity owns shares in any of the companies listed in the guide, they are encouraged to consider voting aligned with the recommendations and in support of the proposals that are listed.

“Of the 366 resolutions mentioned in the 2024 guide, almost 100 relate directly to climate change or environmental health. MRTI recommends voting in favor of these proposals as a simple but effective way to fight climate change and help preserve our planet.

“There can be power in numbers. When enough shareholders are aligned with the voting guide, a company’s management often takes notice and considers changing course to be more aligned with PC(USA)’s stance and policies. What better way to protect the Earth and celebrate it than supporting the advocacy to change the actions of publicly traded companies, some of the biggest contributors to climate change?”

Shani E. McIlwain, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Today’s Focus: University Presbyterian Church in San Antonio celebrates its fifth year as an Earth Care Congregation

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Tony Lewis, Operations & Accounting Associate, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation 
Mary Lidtke, Grant’s Administrator, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Presbyterian Mission Agency 

Let us pray

Dear God, we all get caught up in the busyness of our own day-to-day lives. May we all look for ways to share ourselves with others by showing love and compassion. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - The Rev. Anthony Jermaine Ross-Allam, director of the PC(USA)’s Center for the Repair of Historic Harms, discusses how to wake up to what God gave us

‘The Holy Spirit reminds us that something needs our attention’ Ross-Allam says during the most recent ‘Leading Theologically’ broadcast

December 31, 2023

The Rev. Jermaine Ross-Allam (photo by Rich Copley)

In a recent conversation with the Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty, senior director for Theological Education Funds Development with the Presbyterian Foundation, the Rev. Anthony Jermaine Ross-Allam shared his wisdom and thoughtfulness over the work he is doing on behalf of the Presbyterian Mission Agency as the director for the Center for the Repair of Historic Harms. The title of their half-hour “Leading Theologically” talk was “Waking up to What God Gave You.” It can be viewed here.

Ross-Allam told Hinson-Hasty he believes that the work of justice is about entering into the right relationships to provide more opportunities for people to discover what is beautiful about themselves. He believes that despite centuries and layers of denial, the things that we pretend can’t be solved can be if we lean into the truth. Ross-Allam credits the leadership and mentorship of the co-pastors of Liberty Community Church in North Minneapolis, the Revs. Drs. Alika and Ralph Galloway. The church they serve was formerly known as Kwanzaa Community Church.

One of the many lessons Ross-Allam shared is that “when God taps you on the shoulder and puts something on your heart, don’t be content to explain it away or to spiritualize it as just one more piece of data that you know about the past, that you need to represent some kind of guilt or shame over or that you have to acknowledge.”

That insight came amid research he was doing on Queen Mother Audley Moore, the African American civil and human rights leader. Moore complained to the woman interviewing her, Dr. Cheryl Townsend Gilkes,  that African American men “with decent educations weren’t using their intelligence to help the community get reparations,” Ross-Allam said. “I wasn’t trying to have an intimate moment with the ancestors or the Creator, but it was in that moment I could hear simultaneously that she might as well have been speaking to me. There was an opportunity in that moment for me to do some of the work that was not finished when Queen Audley Moore passed away [in 1997].”

The Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty

As for possible next steps people can take, Ross-Allam said, “If there’s guilt and there’s shame, then deal with it. And if there’s acknowledgments to be made, then make the acknowledgments. But don’t make the presumption that God is not trying to inspire you to make something a part of the work that you do with other people within the context of the assumption that it can get done.”

“My favorite thing,” he told Hinson-Hasty, “is to get an email or a phone call from a congregation eager to engage in this work.”

Ross-Allam’s posture sending prayer proved to be yet another invitation of hopefulness: “Gracious God, we thank you so much for creating us with the capacity to receive from you all of the love and the grace and the creativity that is flowing out from you, and in your infinite goodness and in your infinite love, and in your infinite wisdom. We pray that we will have the creativity and the courage and the compassion and the energy to make this world a place that shows the evidence of your reality everywhere that we go, in our lifetimes and beyond. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.”

The Rev. Anthony Jermaine Ross-Allam will be leading a workshop on reparations at the Matthew 25 Summit in Atlanta Jan. 16–18, 2024. Learn more and register here.

Watch upcoming and past editions of “Leading Theologically” here.

Shani E. McIlwain, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Today’s Focus: Rev. Anthony Jermaine Ross-Allam is a guest on ‘Leading Theologically’ podcast

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Mienda Uriarte, Mission Director, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Tina Valdes, Customer Service Representative, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation

Let us pray

God, you go with us and sustain us. Thank you for those with a strong faith who seek your will in their lives. Bless them and the stories they have to tell. Encourage, comfort and make your presence known to all. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - The PC(USA)’s newly formed White Ally Network convenes in Charlotte, North Carolina

Network innovated by Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries works to disrupt patterns in church systems

November 30, 2023

The Rev. Shanea D. Leonard (Contributed photo)

The Rev. Shanea D. Leonard, director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries (RE&WIM), has been doing the work of dismantling oppressive systems for more than two decades.   

In their work, they found that this requires white people teaching and facilitating white people. The hard conversations and unfiltered truths that come from fully embodying this work is often a lighter burden when white people are doing this self-work together without the emotional labor of people of color.

Leonard’s discovery helped lead the RE&WIM team to form the White Ally Network — a working title — which recently met for the first time in Charlotte, North Carolina. Nine colleagues from across the denomination gathered under the overarching theme of “radical welcome” to begin the work of becoming facilitators. “Radical welcome” is defined as the spiritual practice of embracing and being changed by the gifts, presence, voices and power of The Other — the people systemically cast out of or marginalized within a church, a denomination and/or society.

Led by RE&WIM team members Samantha Davis, associate for gender and racial justice, and administrative assistant Mikyle Johnson, Leonard’s vision is finally coming to fruition. “When creating this network,” says Leonard, “Samantha and I were clear that some will only hear this message as truth and the work of the church if it comes from white voices they know and can identify with. I am so glad to have pastors, elders, pew members, mid council leaders, retirees and even national staff all a part of this great work.”
As more such workshops and facilitator trainings are still being scheduled throughout the country, the hope for the White Ally Network is that the people who have deemed it important enough to be a part of it will be dispatched into various parts of the PC(USA) to challenge systems, practices, and culture that promote and sustain white supremacy culture.

“I further hope that this work will challenge some and disrupt patterns within our church that we do not even realize and/or acknowledge are there,” said Leonard.

“And finally, I hope this network will continue to multiply, by the leading of the Holy Spirit, in a way that truly embodies what faith, justice and allyship look like in action. We have plans for the next phase of the work. But for now, we are focused on building something sustainable, communal, effective and transformative.”

For more information on RE&WIM or on becoming part of this initiative, go to RE&WIM’s website here.

 Shani E. McIlwain, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Today’s Focus: White Ally Network

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Julianna Sheridan, Administrator, Investments, Board of Pensions
Alejandra “Alex” Sherman, Executive Assistant, President’s Office, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)

Let us pray

God, fill our lives with courage to live with hope in a hopeless world. Revitalize your church so that many people might see a new dawn! Amen.