For any Sunday school or other small group itching to “take action” on climate justice, this study is your one-stop shop. The study includes:
- four 15-minute videos
- discussion guide and meeting template
- recommended advocacy projects and action planner
- additional video and written resources
The study is designed to be used in four 1-hour sessions, including video viewing times, but the content is highly flexible and easily customizable. Group leaders will appreciate the study’s helpful guidance on structuring discussions around tough topics, and ready-to-implement advocacy actions that include practical checklists and printable templates.
The Path of Hope is responsive to people of faith who want to move from personal environmental stewardship to climate policy advocacy. The videos clarify the often-obscure language of global climate policy, and demonstrate the critical need for strong US climate leadership—especially headed into COP26, the global climate negotiations set for November 2020 in Glasgow, Scotland.
The Path of Hope is available free of charge at thepathofhope.org. Participants must register a user account to access the study content.
————————————————————
More Details
The Path of Hope focuses on how climate change already is impacting the humanitarian ministries of faith communities around the world; how those impacts will increase in the future; and why those impacts create an imperative for people of faith to support strong US climate action in 2020. Unlike many—if not most—faith-based climate studies, the study does not feature “creation care” or “environmental” themes, nor does it include any discussion about climate science.
The videos feature interviews with US faith leaders; representatives of impacted communities from the global South; and presentations by UN officials and other climate experts. The videos feature a consistent “cast:” four Americans representing faith-based organizations at “COP25” (the 2019 United Nations climate negotiations in Madrid, Spain), who share their policy insights along with poignant personal reflections. Most of the video content was shot at the COP. The title “The Path of Hope” is taken from the remarks of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the opening of COP25, in which he described humanity’s choices in the coming decade as “the path of surrender” and “the path of hope.”
The Path of Hope includes a discussion guide that asks participants to think deeply about how their own local faith community’s direct service programs intersect with climate impacts, and how knowledge and experiences gained through these programs might help to inform climate policy. The study’s Action Center provides practical, step-by-step instructions for advocacy activities, as well as recommended policy asks for local, state, and national leaders. The Action Center includes a reporting form so participants can log their legislative interactions.
The Path of Hope was made possible through Texas Impact’s unique partnership with two secular organizations. Financial support from the US Climate Action Network allowed Texas Impact to bring a videography team to COP25 to gather the raw material for the video series. The video team members were granted media credentials through a reporting partnership with The Austin Chronicle. Through this partnership, Texas Impact provided daily video content on the COP for the Chronicle’s website.
—————————————————–
Appearing in The Path of Hope:
John Hill, United Methodist Church
Rev. Susan Hendershot, The Regeneration Project
Ruth Ivory-Moore, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Lynnaia Main, Episcopal Church
Rev. Melanie Mullen, Episcopal Church
Rev. Danielle Ayers, Friendship West Baptist Church
Rev. Bill Somplatsky-Jarman, Presbyterian Church (USA)
Adrian Shelley, Texas Impact Board
Ilka Vega, Hope Border Institute
Tracey DePasquale, Lutheran Assistance Ministries of Pennsylvania
Rev. Michael Malcom, Alabama Interfaith Power & Light
Robert Muthami, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Kenya
Ibis Fernandez, General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP)
Babacar Sylla, National Confederation of Workers of Senegal (CNTS)
Nana Firman, GreenFaith
Cherise Udell, Utah Moms for Clean Air
Toby Thorpe, Education for Sustainability Tasmania
Sadie DeCoste, E Co., Ltd
Harjeet Singh, ActionAid
Clara-Luisa Weichelt, MISEREOR
Jamie Williams, Islamic Relief
Patty Ferguson-Bohnee, Arizona State University
Hilda Nakabuye, Uganda
The Path of Hope: A Study on Climate Action for Faith Communities
For more information contact Bee Moorhead: bee@texasimpact.org or 512-636-3135