Climate Crisis Action Committee

Growing up I often heard the phrase “many hands make light work.” This was especially used when the tasks were not necessarily pleasant or easy, seeming like it would take forever or be impossible for just one person to do. These days we are confronted with many problems and situations which seem initially to have no easy solution and the various perspectives look entrenched, allowing for little “wiggle room,” let alone compromise.

This past July we had three days which recorded the hottest worldwide temperatures, according to Copernicus, the European Climate Agency. All three days were above the previous record measured in July 2023, and that month was followed by 13 straight months of increasing hotter monthly temperatures over the previous years, reported by the Associated Press. When faced with such a seemingly insurmountable task of this very real crisis, what can we do?

Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua edited a book of articles called Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility. The book brings together contributions of over 20 writers sharing their experiences of transition from despair to possibility. In her end of the book review, Rebecca wrote that “two intertwined themes run through all the pieces in this book. One is love, and the other is community.” Love for coming generations, love for the community around us, for the natural world, for justice, for truth and for possibility.

She also writes “a lot of climate grief seems to be connected to loneliness, to the sense that no one cares, or the people in power don’t care.” But we need to stop thinking and acting as individuals only and join with others in this cause. Being with people who care helps. It is in relationships and alliances that communities come together and amazing progress and healing happens.

The Climate Crisis Action Committee is reaching out to make connections and seeking to show possibilities to move forward to counter declarations of climate doom and despair by offering speakers and movies during our Faith Formation classes. Looking further into the community, everyone is invited to participate in the Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light Annual Convergence to be held virtually from 1:00 to 6:00 pm on Sunday, September 29th. You can meet with people of various faith backgrounds from around the Commonwealth who are concerned about the climate crisis and are meeting, taking action on legislation and providing educational and spiritual opportunities. Further event details will be forthcoming. We all can move from climate despair to possibility when we do it in community and with love.

Damon Wagner Fields, Climate Crisis Action Committee

Civil Rights Movement Tour

Racism and Resistance. Violence and Nonviolence. Fear and Courage. Hate and Love. Faith. Discipline. Commitment. Persistence. Empowerment. Boycotts. Marches. Sit-ins. Desegregation of schools. Equal justice. Voting rights. Jobs. Ordinary people.

Footsteps in the sidewalk memorializing the many “ordinary” people who marched for change.

These are words that Jason, Jake and JulieAnn have carried in our minds and hearts since visiting sites of the Civil Rights Movement through the South in July. This tour was sponsored by Thriving Together, an educational program connected with Messiah University, in which our congregation partners with eleven other congregations. The goal of the trip was to provide us with the experience of learning about racism and resistance in the actual places where events occurred in order to have a deeper understanding of the dangers of racism and the courage of resisters, both Black and White.

We not only visited sites like the Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King Memorial in Atlanta, GA, (“We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.” – MLK, Jr.), and the beginning of the Selma to Montgomery March that began at the Edmond Pettus Bridge where marchers like John Lewis experienced horrific violence and after three tries and intervention by US Marshalls finally marched on to the State Capitol in Montgomery, AL; but we were also able to hear stories and talk with those who had participated in the Movement between 1955 and 1965.

Dr. King’s inspiring words to the courageous people of Albany, GA

It was not only the famous leaders of the Movement who we learned about, but the many “ordinary” people, whose footsteps in sidewalks that we saw in multiple places, who took risks to desegregate schools and businesses and marched for freedom. They were people who risked danger with courage and nonviolent discipline. We heard the stories of two women, one of whom was present in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL when a bomb there killed four of her young friends and a woman whose sister was one of those girls who was killed. (Their stories and others are in books in the Social Justice Library.) This followed weeks of a boycott of businesses in a white section of the city next to the church to protest segregation of those businesses.

In Albany, GA two women who formed and participated in the Freedom Singers, who traveled the country inspiring and raising money for the Movement, taught us their songs.

National Museum for Peace and Justice

And near the end of our trip we visited the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery that remembers the more than 4,000 lives taken by racial terror lynching between 1877 and 1950 and the many who were arrested and incarcerated for crimes they did not commit. It was the racism based in fear of cultural and economic changes after the Civil War that motivated the violent White Supremacy and the nonviolent resistance of thousands of these “ordinary people” based in their deep faith and the love preached by MLK, Jr. and other leaders that empowered the resisters with courage, commitment, discipline and persistence.

While riding on the bus we watched many documentary videos of the actual violence perpetrated during this period of time. It was truly an immersion experience and we thank you for your prayer support that week and your questions as we returned.

While these events happened in the mid-twentieth century, racism and White Supremacy still exist in the twenty-first century. We arrived home with renewed faith and commitment to our work toward racial justice and hope that we can share some of what we experienced with you. Look for a Faith Formation hour in this fall, connections with the Kingian Nonviolence Weekend in our church October 4-6, and a day long experience of immersion in civil rights this winter. Will you join us that we may become “ordinary” people of faith and courage in our time, bringing the Kin-dom of God a little bit closer to earth?

“Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” – MLK, Jr.

In Peace,

Jason Haldeman, Jake Weaver Spiedel, and JulieAnn Keith

Pastor Liz Called at Special Church Council Meeting

A Special Church Council Meeting was held on Sunday, August 4, in the Sanctuary and online following worship, attended by approximately 85+ people. Moderator Joe Detrick welcomed the gathering and Pastor Naomi opened the meeting with prayer.

According to our church constitution, when necessary, special or additional meetings may be called by the Moderator or the Board. The first two items of business related to the “call” for Liz Bidgood Enders to serve 2/3rds (part-time) Pastor of Congregational Care for the Etown CoB. Liz received a strong 91% affirmation by congregational ballot. The related action item was the approval of the compensation package for the balance of 2024, affirmed by a 93% ballot vote. ANE District Executive, Pete Kontra, was present to officially represent the district and oversee the vote as prescribed by the Annual Conference policy for ministerial placement. Pastor Liz will officially begin her new position on September 1. A service of installation will be planned for September 15.

Two additional action items were introduced by Board Chair, Kevin Engle. The first item regarded the Endowment Integrity Committee Report from the Church Board. Following a review of the Report and some brief discussion, the Report was unanimously approved. The last item of discussion involved the revisions for the Elizabethtown Memorial Fund Paper. Kevin highlighted the changes to the Memorial Fund Paper, reflecting the intent of the Endowment Integrity Committee Report. He noted the importance of the timing for these changes as they relate to budget planning for 2025. The revisions were unanimously approved.

Pastor Liz adjourned the meeting with a sending prayer.

Joe Detrick, Moderator