Guest commentary by Alison Wood, written for the Presbyterian Outlook in the midst of the PC(USA) Walk for a Fossil-Free World from Louisville, Kentucky, to St. Louis where General Assembly will be held.  We’re learning all kinds of things on the #walk2divest: It takes us two hours to walk five miles, with a snack break in the middle. Ten miles in a day is an easy goal; to finish 15 or more we have to push our pace a little. As a group, we like flavored potato chips better than plain. We learn that Casey often breaks out in dance, Ashley often breaks out in song and three people have broken out in poison ivy. We learn how to identify poison ivy. There are 14-25 of us on the Walk for a Fossil Free PCUSA at any given time. We are walking from Louisville to St Louis in preparation for the 223rdGeneral Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in pursuit of climate justice. The youngest walker has been 11, the oldest walker in their 70s. On the walk so far, we … [Read more...]

Guest commentary by Kerri Allen We live in times where moral ambiguity can have devastating and even deadly consequences.  When it comes to the reality of climate change, there is no ambiguity of the disastrous impact of human degradation of the planet. Right now, the first government-funded climate change refugee resettlement is taking place in the contiguous United States.  Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana, the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw band of Native Americans, has lost 98 percent of its land since 1955.  Just in the past two weeks, a Harvard University study estimates that over 4,500 lives were lost as a consequence of Hurricane Maria. Well over a decade following Hurricane Katrina, white New Orleans has recovered; black New Orleans has not. See a pattern here?  The devastating effects of climate change are undeniable, as is this disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable communities throughout the globe. While the effects of climate change are black and white, the … [Read more...]

Guest commentary by Angela Williams, written for the Presbyterian Outlook in the midst of the PC(USA) Walk for a Fossil-Free World from Louisville, Kentucky, to St. Louis where General Assembly will be held. “What are y’all doing?” “We’re walking to St. Louis!!” This conversation happens about every mile or so, typically from someone in a car that slowed down along highway 50 or someone mowing their grass. We usually get looks of confusion or exasperation. Why would anyone choose to walk from Louisville to St. Louis? Certainly there are more scenic routes to take. The story of why I walk begins three and a half years ago on the streets of Tacloban, Leyte, a city on an island that was my home in the Philippines for my year of service as a Young Adult Volunteer (YAV). I was in Tacloban for an ecumenical memorial service remembering the thousands of lives lost when Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan wreaked havoc one year earlier. At the time, Typhoon Yolanda was the strongest storm to … [Read more...]