 What we will do today is talk about some concrete ways that we have come up with as a kind of conference green team, Reverend Mel Caroway and others have helped kind of put together a set of resources that a couple of you may be familiar with already, just having been in some of those conversations and a couple of new ones that may really be helpful for us to touch base about that we've discovered in the meantime. So I'm really excited about talking about some concrete ways to think about climate change through the lens of faith and a robust Wesleyan model of discipleship, knowing that we like the early Methodists are a part of a faith that engages the world in a really robust way. Thinking about how faith compels us to be engaged in our communities, especially around where there's hurting in the world. We think of the early Wesleyan movement, John Wesley and his early pastors and lay leaders getting started in some of the poorer parts of England, connecting with those that were displaced during the Industrial Revolution and facing a lot of social change and disruption of economic and social ways of being in their world and frankly ecological disruptions, the advent of coal plants and coal mining and disruptions that were brought about by the Industrial Revolution for better and worse. And so we know that we are in good company with the saints and the great cloud of witnesses that have come before us. I would like to share my screen with you now and offer us a prayer that is available Mel Caraway discovered as a part of a reflection, a set of reflections and devotional that was created ahead of COP26 versus global gathering of leaders wrestling with how we can, as the world's kind of biggest economies and those that are most affected on the ground by climate change can make some real commitments and ways to follow through with those commitments to prevent the worst effects of climate change, right? So that's COP26 that a lot of it has already happened here this month, but there are a few more days left. And so we wanna be able to pray for them and pray for our country and others in following through with our commitments. So if you allow me to read these words on my end and on your end, I invite you to pray these words where you are. Holy God, all things live and move and have their being in you. You create day and night, sky, earth and sea. You make earth to bring forth plants, yielding seed and trees bearing fruits. You set the sun and moon and the stars in their orbits and let them measure the passage of time. Out of the dust of the ground, you formed us and every bird of the air and animal of the field, creatures of unfathomable beauty and variety. You make us in your image with power and responsibility to fulfill the good in all the great web of life. Guide us and those in the liberation in Glasgow today to carry out our responsibilities and exercise our power to support all your good creation. So there are a number of ways that we wanted to talk about ways that we have already found to respond as disciples Jesus Christ. So these are things that people are already doing. These are things that are at hand, people we know are doing them. And so we wanna be able to lift those up to us and make sure we know that there are things that we are already doing and can join in the work and even kind of leverage. So some examples here locally. One, renewable energies and production. So Casa Emanuel United Methodist here in Dallas has already installed solar panels. I'm connecting with them to see kind of what their experience has been as a faith community and working out what electricity costs are and kind of all those details to see what that might mean. First Mesquite here in the Metro District worked with Texas actually Mesquite master gardeners to basically replant the front of their church with all native plants, with volunteers from the community worked with the city of Mesquite to install these huge systems that were donated by the city to collect rainwater to then feed those plants in that native garden. Christ UMC Plano where we sometimes have our annual conference invested in zero escaping in a lot of areas as a concern for the earth. And one of their building additions is actually a LEED certified building because that was important to them. In East Dallas, we have the Owenwood Farm and Neighbor Space which has installed pollinator plots. They partnered with the National Resources Conservation Service which provides grants to install these plots of land that are all native plants that provide kind of a safe harbor for bees and butterflies of course the monarchs have been coming through North Texas in the last few weeks. And so that helps them. Next year, it's believed the monarchs are gonna be designated an endangered species of sorts. And so there'll be opportunities to be able to help in and new ways to help them in their migration. Emergency center power backup. So they have been working with their city counselors to try and take advantage of American rescue plan funds that the federal government gave to the county and city to create warming and cooling shelters in the event of emergencies like last February. And we know that climate change means that many of the weather events that we find most harmful like last February in the winter storm will probably get worse in terms of intensity and the frequency. And so they're looking to actually install backup systems to power their physical plants. So it's gonna keep their pipes from bursting. It's gonna make sure neighbors, especially those that are vulnerable or warm or kept cool. And they may even be able to put some solar panels in batteries and invest in some renewable energy. That's kind of an ongoing project that they're working on. We as a conference, so some of your churches purchase electricity through a kind of pooled aggregate energy plan that the main allure is a very cheap energy plan, but at least 20% of that is renewable, which is about what is normal across the state of Texas. And I believe individual churches can actually move that number up in what they are investing in wanting to invest in. And that may increase their price, but those are things that individual churches discerning what they can do might be able to avail themselves of. Interfaith power and light isn't a interfaith organization nationally that works on climate justice and ways that congregations can respond. So they've created what's called poolcongregations.org and it has lots of ideas and in fact a checklist of ways that you can work through as a congregation easy ways to not only save money, but try to save the environment and fight the worst effects of climate change. Climate change is happening, will continue to happen. And the question is, I think for many, how can we prevent the worst effects of climate change and keep it as a threshold that is less destructive? So those are include energy audits. So some congregations have already done this, but there are companies out there that come in and help do energy audits to see kind of where money can be saved in your campus. And for some, especially when we have older buildings that just means having a programmable thermostat. That's something a lot of people have invested in and they have lots of suggestions for how to go about doing these things. Within our United Methodist Church, we have Earthkeepers training to train individuals on ways that they can kind of be activated in their community and in church to do some of this very work. And so we've got links here for that. And all of this is gonna be sent to you after our workshop today. United Methodist Creation Justice Movement. So UMC creation, UMC, UMcreationjustice.org is another kind of element of our church that is convening work around this area. So there are people already doing some of this work and people that are like-minded and like-hearted. And of course, our United Methodist women have a number of studies that they have conducted in the last couple of years, Bible studies and devotionals that have really worked around change hands. Solar energy is, I think, something that's an ongoing conversation within United Methodist circles, but United Methodist women circles. And so on their website, they actually have a number of free devotionals and ways that people can get engaged that won't be totally unfamiliar to a lot of our churches. And we have folks around the connection our United Methodist annual conferences that are trying to help equip other conferences to kind of grow their impact and ability to lead in issues around climate change. So this month, so on the first, there was a call about, why is this important? Why is this our mission? Let's talk about theology and creation and why we are here. And the next session is coming up around, let's think about our contexts, given our various mission settings. So Dallas and North Texas and as a state, and then they're gonna talk about how to recruit and think about kind of building those things out. So if you're interested in kind of helping spark some of this work, not only in your setting, but across North Texas, there's a place for you and we would love to have your help thinking through some ways when we can do that because we know that for some of us around North Texas, there's gonna be a way in which, different people have different skills. So let me see if Tracy may be with us. So I don't see her today, but Tracy Wallace, who's a member at Greenland Hills, I believe has a nonprofit where she works to train those who are coming out of the criminal justice system, those who are having a difficult time finding employment and gets them trained for doing solar installations to help kind of in this new green economy and find a way to gain meaningful employment. And they refer those trainees to reputable companies that treat their workers well. And so different people have, oh, thank you, greencareersdialyst.org. Thank you, Carrie. And so there's also a need for helping think through what some good policies for building new buildings might be around our own land use. When we think about as a conference, there are committees that you have to go through if you're wanting to have a building project. So are there questions that we need to ask about those projects to make sure that they're not LEED certified necessarily, but things that are doable. And then also just help with advocacy efforts and helping us broaden the conversation because if we're to make a difference as people of faith, it has to be providing a vision for hope and giving some really practical ways that we can make a difference. Because when we start talking about climate change, it brings up so much anxiety, right? For many of us, especially many young people, millennials generation feel so much anxiety and the sense of doom and gloom that it can be at some points paralyzing. And so it's for us, those of us who believe in resurrection, in grace that defies even the cross to think about ways that we can give for folks to be able to make a difference in just about not using a straw. In fact, this kind of sense of personal guilt that's kind of put on us kind of socially to make a difference is in one part good and okay, but in other parts, it's for these bigger structures of international companies, of nations like ours to be able to collectively be held accountable to make good choices for the betterment of all of us as a people around the globe. That's where the real difference gets made. So we in two previous meetings had some conversation around what we might be able to do and what God is kind of calling us to do around the conference. So we talked about speakers groups moving around to different churches that have an interest that don't quite know where to get started. Churches have had a creed Bible study during Lent. Gracie, is that your church? Yeah, so Gracie's on the call from Rockwell First Methodist and they have a creation care study that they've had. I'm sure they'd be willing to share some of their resources. How can we lift up voices of youth that perhaps are really concerned and want to voice their hopes and dreams for how we might address these things? I'm talking about community gardening and farming, working with a lot of our churches are more and more interested in agriculture and looking at how we can use our space to actually grow food and think about how to share food together. Excuse me. There are ways that we might be able to actually direct funds toward helping some of the efforts around the conference. Excuse me, a little bit of a cough this week. So one item that, let's see, let's make sure Gracie seen if she was on, because she's our resident expert in this. One thing that we're in conversation about with our Center for Connectional Ministries, which of course is the money and the insurance and the legal matters here as a conference and are talking about with the leaders of this organization. It's called PACE, and it's a Property Assessed Clean Energy Program. Excuse me, I have to get a cough drop to make it through this sermon. So as you know, even though we're nonprofits, our properties are assessed at a certain value by our different taxing agencies locally. And this is a federally backed and organized program that each state and in some cases counties end up managing. And what it does is incentivizes property owners to make upgrades in their facilities with little or no upfront capital. And what it effectively does is allows a nonprofit or company to borrow for a long-term low-interest loan, up to 20% of the value of a loan that's already out on the building, which many of our newer churches can already have loans to help with, or 25% of a property's assessed value if the loans are paid off, to make improvements like solar panels and new rubes, weatherization to lower the utility bills. So one example is Congregation Beth Israel in Austin. They needed a new HVAC system in a big way. So they financed $460,000 of HVAC systems and energy savings. So we're talking about insulation, weatherization, new lighting systems like that are upgrades that save in utility bills that allow them to not have these outages. Because they had a day school and so that was disrupting their ability to be in ministry, not to mention Sunday mornings. And so they have these new mechanical systems that resulted in this 9,000 kilowatt hour reduction immediately and so utility savings annually of about 15,000. So these can be used on mechanical system modernization, working on new roofs, new windows, high efficiency chillers, boilers and furnaces, wastewater reuse, high efficiency of lighting, water conservation equipment. You think of the systems to capture rainwater to help your physical plant. And these are kind of some numbers that they're looking at. And I'm not in a place yet where I can say this is necessarily a good idea, but it's one that we're exploring that might make some of our different ministry settings around the conference be able to kind of make it really financially in the years to come and be able to make some. You mentioned lead certification and... Oh, Christine, you're muted yourself. You mentioned lead certification and Pace has been around for a while. And they kind of, the thing that holds people back from making a lot of efficiency changes is the upfront cost. And so Pace addresses that and regarding lead certified buildings that the city of Dallas has constructed or renovated, they say that the changes pay for themselves. It's the upfront cost that needs to be handled and that's what Pace is for. Right. So there's some settings where this really makes sense and others not so much. So I'd be interested to know for your particular setting the things that you're doing right now individually and some of your leadership and different ministries and churches, what is most exciting for you? Where do you find yourself drawn right now? And if you just say your name and perhaps where you are as a congregation. Yeah, my name is Glenn and I'm working with Citizen Climate Lobby. Have you heard of that? I've heard of it, but could you describe it for us? Okay, it's a, I see Christine shaking her head. I think she's familiar with it, but it's a nonprofit, non-political organization that's pushing the idea of fee and dividend. And the reason why I'm quite interested in it is I see a lot of young people in it too as well, which is exciting and a rather diverse group with a lot of young people because they're the ones that are gonna be most impacted, but I'm trying to work on presentations to inform people about the issues of climate change, which a lot of people with so much misinformation out there that we have to try to present stuff that people believe in, which I usually use credible sources like NASA and stuff like that. But that's kind of where I'm focusing on now. And I like what CCL, Citizen Climate Lobby is proposing, which is basically a fee and dividend approach to on carbon, fee on carbon. And then everybody has a dividend back, an equal dividend to encourage people to reduce their emissions. And Katherine Hayhoe, I'm sure you all have heard of her. She commented that about a third of it, roughly is what we can do as individuals, but the other two thirds is a systemic problem that we have. So we've got to change the system. And that's why I think what they're driving at is that systemic problem. I think that's important. And of course, it doesn't say we can't do things individually. I mean, you know, there's more, this is a pretty complex issues. There's a lot of different things we can do. But that's kind of where my focus is. I'm trying to work on a presentation for church groups. I've talked to some down at First Methodist and I'm working with CCL to try to tune that presentation to get at the work. Thank you, Glenn. Others, where are you finding your energy drawn around climate change? And it's also okay to just not feel any energy right now. I, last Sunday led the discussion of the first part of the film that I told you about. The Ants and the Grasshopper in a Sunday school at Christ Lutheran. And it was very well received. The people were really excited about seeing the rest of the film. It's a three-week study. And it's a way in which climate change can be related to many of our other callings as a church, our ministry and our concern for others in a way that is more visible and more accessible than our hearing statistics about tons of carbon. Christine, are you available to conduct that kind of discussion at other churches? Yes, but they don't need me. The study guide is available online at the antsandgrasshopperdocumentary.org. I'm not sure what the name of the website is. I will look that up and get that to us. Others, what prompted y'all to join this call today? For me, just information as to what's going on and what activities there are. Just general knowledge. I didn't realize y'all get 20% of the energy from renewable energy, so that's a plus that I could put in. Yeah, I'll kind of say the same thing at our church. There's a few people who are interested in climate change, and so just hearing some more information about what's going on and what other churches are doing that we could possibly do. Oh, great. Andy has shared with us the link for the ants in the grasshopper film. I'm going out on a limb here. I hope this is the one Chris was talking about. Internet at your own peril. Any others? So general information. Seeing what other churches are doing. So moving ahead, so Mel Karaway, who's a retired clergy person, but in many senses, not retired at all, is actually in Glasgow right now, and it's been a part of the conversations happening there at COP26. And when he is available, once he returns, he has volunteered to kind of go over what happened, where some of the conversations are, and kind of what we can do on the ground. Would that be of interest to you to hear more about what his experience was and kind of where we are? Yeah. It's funny you said that I actually just emailed a day asking if you would join our church and society group next Thursday to talk about, to give an update. So maybe we can kill two birds with one, or feed two birds with one scone. Let's do that then. I'll introduce myself. I'm Elizabeth McCormick and I'm a missionary, but work as a mission advocate for global ministries, our mission agency for our United Methodist Church. And connected with Mel recently, and was on a recent, in a recent conversation with the Creation Justice Network. And so, and you mentioned Earthkeepers earlier through global ministries. And so if it's okay with you, I'll put the links to both of those in the chat. But on this most recent call, we talked about, well, you talked about it just now about advocacy within our own congregations, within our own networks. And I think that's so important because some of us have kind of, you know, let this slip to the wayside. But we need to be very vigilant about this and sharing it in our networks, in our communities. And in our Sunday mornings, we are, you know, this is the creation that we live in. God made it and we get to take care of it. So just to be a voice for that. So I'll throw some links up in the chat that you guys already know about, but may find them helpful. So, yeah. That would be really helpful, Elizabeth. And what I'll do is copy them out of the chat and send them with some follow-up notes afterward. And a couple of things that may be of interest. So I've picked up a couple of books. One is called The Church of the Wild by Victoria Lures. Some of you may be interested in this. She started with others a, basically a wild church network. And so they have spaces that are outdoors in a lot of circumstances. And think about how, especially given the time of climate change and needing to build our resilience and really begin more advocacy, how we can have faith experiences outside that really engage those things. Because many of our church experiences are really kind of divorced from nature. And, you know, I don't know about y'all, but the experiences that I've had either going on retreats or just kind of being out in nature really kind of open up our souls to be able to experience God and Christ in new ways. And so that's one of the things I'm reading and interested in right now. So, Phil, I know you're in and out right now, but we'll connect about the call maybe next Thursday. Is that right, Phil? I will send that to everybody. Yeah, that's correct. That noon. Yeah. That noon. I can send that information to our group once you get that call put together. And so you'll have that and can share that as well. Is there anything else that you would like to kind of share in terms of any resources or ideas that we haven't named already? Things that you're interested in? Well, I want to thank you for your time today. We'll set up this call with Mel. Thank you, Elizabeth. And I will put in, let me put in my email address in case there's other information that you want to send our way for others. And we will kind of reconvene a little ways out for any updates we might have because we want to keep the energy going around this issue. All right. Tracy, would you lead us in a prayer? Sure. God, we thank you for this space. And we just admire your creation and the fact that you have given it to us as a gift and something to take care of. God, we help us to be faithful in that, in that pursuit and help us to lead others in that pursuit. We ask you to guide us and lead us and be with us. Amen. All right. Thanks, y'all. Have a good rest of your week. Thank you.