Invitation to all Mt. Toby Climate Change: Meetings 4th Sundays, Beginning 10/23 8:45 am. Please come.
Ten of us met last week at pot luck and had an excellent discussion around the concerns below. We are forming and ad hoc committee that will meet monthly on 4th Sundays before meeting, (no extra, carbon-emitting trips). First one is this Sunday; everyone is invited. We will continue shaping future agendas in response to those on the committee and opportunities to join actions initiated by others. ( We will meet in the Champney room or storage room depending on YF. If you are interested but can’t be present this time please tell Alan Eccleston or Roger Conant and we will keep you posted.)
Concerns and ideas we are talking about
We are busy people in a busy world--a world that needs our attention. There are droughts, fires, floods, new insect infestations and nearly double the average of natural disasters experienced in the 1990’s. We have seen some of these in western Mass. About 1000 all time records for heat or rain have been set. As Bill McKibbon points out, the world we are living in is not the same as the one we grew up in. The safe level of greenhouse gases is 350 ppm; we are now at 391. The planet continues to move toward an irreversible “tipping point”. National and world politics are in turmoil; the initiative for meaningful change will have to come from the bottom up and we Quakers have a part to play in this.
For years there has been an on-going concern for the environment at Mt. Toby evidenced by the full moon group and various study groups. Individually, we are led or not led to respond to our current level of consciousness and act accordingly. However, the threat to the planet is so immense many of us feel led to join or even to initiate joint actions. We believe that Mt. Toby, as a community of faith, has a role to play and a contribution to make. What can we do as a body of Quakers, and how might we strengthen the growing climate change movement to address the issue with the sense of urgency and scale that is needed?
Of course, we can take actions to make our meeting house and homes more sustainable and make personal changes. In the last 3 years many Mt.Toby folks have been doing this; some are also called to a public witness and have helped organize successful actions aligned with the national and international efforts of FCNL and 350.org. Those of us attending the 2011 Sessions of NEYM were inspired by Steve Chase’s keynote on Climate Change and his call for action. We hosted YAF’s who urged us “to get more involved as a meeting” in addressing the current and future calamities of climate change.
Many actions initiated by others are aligned with Friend’s testimonies on stewardship (see Faith & Practice, NEYM, pp. 189-191). Some actions that individual Mt. Toby members joined had only a month or two lead time. To add a corporate Quaker presence to such actions in the future we need a way to respond that is timely. The committee would support individuals in the meeting who are led to act and it may also sign petitions or participate in other actions endorsed by FCNL, NEYM, Mt. Toby PSCC or interfaith actions aligned with Quaker values. We would create worshipful opportunities for each of us to consider what God is calling us to do and/or how to support others who reach clarity for an appropriate action. Join us.
In the light, Alan Eccleston for all of us at the table. (Any questions please call or e-mail me.)
(From Alan Eccleston)
Invitation to all Mt. Toby
Climate Change: Meetings 4th Sundays, Beginning 10/23 8:45 am. Please come.
Ten of us met last week at pot luck and had an excellent discussion around the concerns below. We are forming and ad hoc committee that will meet monthly on 4th Sundays before meeting, (no extra, carbon-emitting trips). First one is this Sunday; everyone is invited.
We will continue shaping future agendas in response to those on the committee and opportunities to join actions initiated by others. ( We will meet in the Champney room or storage room depending on YF. If you are interested but can’t be present this time please tell Alan Eccleston or Roger Conant and we will keep you posted.)
Concerns and ideas we are talking about
We are busy people in a busy world--a world that needs our attention.
There are droughts, fires, floods, new insect infestations and nearly double the average of natural disasters experienced in the 1990’s. We have seen some of these in western Mass. About 1000 all time records for heat or rain have been set. As Bill McKibbon points out, the world we are living in is not the same as the one we grew up in. The safe level of greenhouse gases is 350 ppm; we are now at 391. The planet continues to move toward an irreversible “tipping point”. National and world politics are in turmoil; the initiative for meaningful change will have to come from the bottom up and we Quakers have a part to play in this.
For years there has been an on-going concern for the environment at Mt. Toby evidenced by the full moon group and various study groups.
Individually, we are led or not led to respond to our current level of consciousness and act accordingly. However, the threat to the planet is so immense many of us feel led to join or even to initiate joint actions. We believe that Mt. Toby, as a community of faith, has a role to play and a contribution to make. What can we do as a body of Quakers, and how might we strengthen the growing climate change movement to address the issue with the sense of urgency and scale that is needed?
Of course, we can take actions to make our meeting house and homes more sustainable and make personal changes. In the last 3 years many Mt.Toby folks have been doing this; some are also called to a public witness and have helped organize successful actions aligned with the national and international efforts of FCNL and 350.org. Those of us attending the 2011 Sessions of NEYM were inspired by Steve Chase’s keynote on Climate Change and his call for action. We hosted YAF’s who urged us “to get more involved as a meeting” in addressing the current and future calamities of climate change.
Many actions initiated by others are aligned with Friend’s testimonies on stewardship (see Faith & Practice, NEYM, pp. 189-191). Some actions that individual Mt. Toby members joined had only a month or two lead time. To add a corporate Quaker presence to such actions in the future we need a way to respond that is timely. The committee would support individuals in the meeting who are led to act and it may also sign petitions or participate in other actions endorsed by FCNL, NEYM, Mt. Toby PSCC or interfaith actions aligned with Quaker values.
We would create worshipful opportunities for each of us to consider what God is calling us to do and/or how to support others who reach clarity for an appropriate action. Join us.
In the light, Alan Eccleston for all of us at the table.
(Any questions please call or e-mail me.)