The Pollinator: A UCC environmental justice forum for the sharing of ideas and inspiration.
Dear Pollinators,
In their book This Is an Uprising, Mark and Paul Engler offer a description of moments of change much like the one we are experiencing now. While change may normally crawl forward "with incremental demands," there are also rare moments in which "widespread disruptive action" can cause movements to "break into a full sprint." The protests over the past few weeks have opened up an opportunity to sprint. While we certainly need long-distance runners in the struggle for justice, occasionally even the long-distance runner needs to turn on the speed and race toward the prize. This sprint is a time for solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. It is a time for addressing societal inequalities wherever we may be. And, it is a time for churches to step into this kairos window of possibility—this God charged moment that has emerged amid crisis.
Last Saturday, the Wisconsin Conference of the UCC voted to do just that. At their Annual Meeting, they voted to covenant with one another in making a full commitment to the Kairos Call to Action—a call issued by the UCC's Council for Climate Justice for an all-out mobilization of churches to address climate and inequality. In this issue of the Pollinator, I want to share with you three resources to get you energized for the race ahead:
● Read the Rev. Michael Malcom's impassioned plea for action entitled "It's Up to Us to End This."
● Read the Rev. John Helt's timely and insightful remarks before the Wisconsin Conference voted to embrace and champion the Kairos Call to Action.
● Register for the next Creation Justice Webinar entitled "Protest during a Pandemic." It will feature Sophia Benrud, a co-founder of one of the leading organizations in Minneapolis struggling for black liberation, along with climate justice activist Lindsay Harper of Arm-in-Arm and Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick who has written about the numerous ways nonviolent actions have become manifest during the pandemic
With gratitude for your ministry,
UCC Minister for Environmental Justice, Rev. Brooks Berndt
PS: As I was putting the final touches on this issue the Pollinator, the Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth issued an important call for solidarity and action as the organizers of RISE ST. JAMES in Louisiana's cancer alley take on the super-polluter Formosa Plastic.