This week’s green-living tip is to follow and take action with the official Episcopal Public Policy Network, and our quote comes from Bernadette Demientieff.
Think having a green corner in your parish newsletter or bulletin is a great idea, but don’t have time to research or write one? Episcopal Climate News is here to help! Every Monday, to help Christians live out our faith, ECN offers a free green-living tip and a theological quote that your parish can use. Just copy/paste the text below, and feel free to edit/shorten as your space requires. You can also share this week’s column on Facebook.
Living on God’s Earth
By Episcopal Climate News, facebook.com/EpiscopalClimateNews
This week’s earth-friendly living tip: Take Action with the Episcopal Public Policy Network
Did you know that the Episcopal Church has an Office of Government Relations (OGR) in Washington, D.C.? Church and state are separate, but policy and values are not. This important office educates lawmakers about the positions held by their Episcopalian constituents. Everything OGR does is grounded in resolutions passed by General Convention, the official legislative governing body of the church, including 19 environmental resolutions passed in 2018.
OGR also “strives to equip Episcopalians to become advocates themselves,” which you can do by following their official Episcopal Public Policy Network online. Sign up for EPPN action alerts in your inbox here (https://bit.ly/2PTaILA), and be sure to follow them on Facebook too.
One of the most recent EPPN action alerts was called “Protect the Arctic Refuge.” The church calls on Episcopalians to stand with the native Gwich’in People of Alaska by asking Congress to support “legislation to repeal drilling in the Arctic and protect it for future generations.” You can send your letter here.
Episcopal Climate News quote of the week: Bernadette Demientieff
Bernadette Demientieff is the Executive Director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee in Alaska. She is also a member of the Episcopal Church’s Task Force on the Care of Creation and Environmental Racism, and was a featured speaker at this year’s General Convention. This quote comes from a May 2018 interview with Grist magazine:
“My main purpose is to protect the calving grounds of the Porcupine Caribou herd. The Gwich’in people migrated with the herd. For over 40,000 years we’ve had a cultural and spiritual connection to them. But our trail never went into the calving ground where they want to drill. Even when my people were starving we never went there. We call it ‘Iizhik Gwats’an Gwandaii Goodlit,’ and that’s The Sacred Place Where Life Begins…
“All over the world, indigenous people are trying to stand up for Mother Earth; they are trying to stand up for things that are important to everyone on this planet. And none of us [are] asking for anything. We’re not asking for money, we’re not asking for schools or buildings. We’re asking to be left alone to continue to live as we always have, in connection to healthy land, healthy animals, and clean water. It’s frustrating that it’s 2018 and we are still fighting for our human rights.”
Episcopal Climate News 
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