Social Action – Page 25 – Lakewood United Church of Christ

StandingWomen.net

The women of the world are rising! One by one, small group by small group, masses of us are coming together to do the work needed to evolve humanity toward its greater good. Please stand with us one more time to affirm and confirm this reality. (We are doing something here!)

Sunday, May 12, 2019 at 1 p.m. local time
See the invitation

Tell us where you will stand
See where others are standing

DECLARATION OF STANDING

     We are standing for the world’s children and grandchildren, and for the seven generations to come.
      We dream of a world where all of our children have safe drinking water, clean air to breathe, and enough food to eat.
      A world where they have access to a basic education to develop their minds and healthcare to nurture their growing bodies.
      A world where they have a warm, safe and loving place to call home.
       A world where they don’t live in fear of violence–in their homes, in their neighborhoods, in their schools, or in their world.
      This is the world of which we dream.
      This is the cause for which we stand.

[Print out the Declaration here.]

To register your ‘standing’ or to find a gathering in your area, visit www.standingwomen.net. Each and every post is a step that grows the dream toward reality.

To help Standing Women go viral, forward this information on to your friends and family, in your own and other countries, and/or to any news service that seems appropriate. Use the hashtags: #StandingWomen #StandingWomen2019 #StandingWomenGlobalMovement

To be inspired, spend time on www.standingwomen.net, watching the ‘standings’ move around the world, reading the dreams and sensing into the unity of our human intention for the children.

To connect up, send an email of appreciation through the website to someone who speaks to your heart, standing in another state, province, or country.

On May 12, 2019, join countless people around the world standing for a time in silence with a common focus. Feel the deep connection and potential in this act of love… the call of the ‘seven generations to come’ … from every nation on earth.

With gratitude and trust,

Jeanie, Deb, Bruce, Julie and Bon

P.S. Check out Ariel’s song ‘White Linen’ to get an energetic sense of the ‘mother’ strength behind our 13 years of ‘standing!’

Open Letter to Governor DeSantis

Open Letter to Governor DeSantis (please share as it is appropriate) Tampa, May 2, 2019

Ban Fracking, for the Love of God

Rev. Dr. Neddy Astudillo

As a Venezuelan-American, a Presbyterian Pastor, and Coordinator of GreenFaith Florida, I have witnessed how people representing diverse religious and spiritual traditions, all of whom are concerned about the environment, feel called to love and protect Earth as an act of faith. For me personally, Loving God as Creator and loving God’s Creation need to go hand in hand, or else my faith is weak. Across our many faith traditions in Florida, we are joining in solidarity to ban fracking, and calling for Governor DeSantis to deliver on the promise he made upon taking office: to oppose all forms of fracking in the State of Florida.

Governor DeSantis, we are calling on you to uphold the values shared by so many of our fellow Floridians, including the Judeo-Christian values that were observed throughout our state during this past Holy Week, Easter, and Passover celebrations. Holy Week reminds Christians about God’s love for the natural world (John 3:16) and how, through Christ, God wanted “to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross.” (Colossians 1:20b)

My faith in Christ calls me to protect and to reconcile myself with all God has created. As we consider our calling to protect this land from pollution, we can also remember the words of Prophet Ezequiel saying: “Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet?” (Ezekiel 34:18)

As a person of faith, we ask you to join us. Let us protect the beauty of Florida’s natural springs.

We must avoid all actions that could jeopardize such precious resources of clean, fresh water for people and animals alike. We already have enough water issues to deal with in our state. Why add one more to the list?

Help us to keep all our sources of water clean, Governor DeSantis. One needs only to meet our state—not as a favorite vacation or winter spot, but rather as the precious wetlands, swamps and marshes that it is—to know that its porous and sandy soils were not made to keep the water in just one place, let alone the dangerously potent chemicals and waste produced by fracking.

As a person of faith, we are not strangers to stories of paradise going wrong, when people do not follow the wisdom given to us to help guide our lives on the land. Fracking is a great harm to our paradise, Governor DeSantis. Let’s keep our Garden beautiful.

Fracking leaves communities burdened with health problems, damaged infrastructure, irreversible environmental impacts, and a weaker economy in the medium- and long-term. Earth is already giving us abundant energy for free, so why force the extraction of unsustainable resources?

God has blessed us with wind and sunshine. These natural resources already provide us with many sustainable, clean methods to boost our economies and meet our energy needs.

You are not alone in this fight, Governor DeSantis. As people of faith, we know that there are times when we need to make choices and decisions for the common good, rather than just for a select few … and we are ready!

We pray that you will recognize the blessing that we can make together if you, a single person among millions of others, can be the one who puts an end to the threat of fracking in Florida.

Please listen to the 90 cities and counties across the state that have passed local measures opposing fracking. Please listen to the people, follow the wisdom of the marshes. Please pass the statewide ban on fracking now without delay.

CONTACT INFO:

Rev. Dr. Neddy Astudillo, GreenFaith Florida Organizer, neddy@greenfaith.org, 815-519-8090

Neddy

Rev. Dr. Neddy Astudillo
Director for Training and LatinoAmerica
neddy@greenfaith.org

https://greenfaith.org/team
815-5198090
Tampa, Florida

www.greenfaith.org
www.facebook.com/GreenFaithLatinoamerica

www.facebook.com/GreenFaithFlorida
@greenfaithworld

Local to Global: Environmental Challenges Facing Us Today

Local to Global: Environmental Challenges Facing Us Today

Indivisible FL-13 is co-sponsoring this event

Please join us for an engaging panel discussion moderated by Jennifer Rubiello, Environment Florida, State Director along with a knowledgeable and diverse group of thought leaders in Tampa Bay.

Friday, April 26, 2019
6:30 PM-800 PM followed by a reception from 8-8:30p
Allendale United Methodist- 3803 Haines Rd N, St Pete

This timely and important discussion will focus on the global and local issues affecting us and our environment, and the actions being taken to impact them.Free and open to the public. Reserve your ticket here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/from-local-to-global-environmental-challenges-facing-us-today-tickets-60350468877

Link to event on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/875131942817757/

The event is hosted by Fired Up Pinellas with co-sponsors: Chart 411, Suncoast Sierra Club, Allendale UMC, Democratic Socialists of America, Indivisible FL-13, League of Women Voters St. Pete and the Leif Nissen Social Justice Lecture Series.

About our Moderator:
JENNIFER RUBIELLO, State Director for Environment Florida since 2012. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from University of California, Berkeley and has been Canvass Director for Fund for the Public Interest as well as Work for Progress and a Field Organizer for Green Corps

Environment Florida exclusively focuses on protecting Florida’s air, water and open spaces through independent research and tough-minded advocacy. They work at local, state and national levels to improve the quality of our environment and lives.

About our Panelists:
BRYAN BECKMAN, Suncoast Sierra Club leads the Pinellas Ready for 100 campaign. In 2018, he led the Largo Ready for 100 campaign, which resulted in a city resolution to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2035. He is a precinct captain in Pinellas County Democrats – District 66, a member of the NAACP, LULAC, and League of Women Voters. Bryan is retired from Kraft Foods/Mondelez International, where he was responsible for global logistics information systems. He enjoys spending much of his time volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and helping non-profits, churches, and other organizations save energy, money, and understand how to lessen our collective impact on the environment.

RACHAEL CURRAN, Florida Staff Attorney at Center for Biological Diversity is committed to protecting all things wild in Florida. A native Floridian, she holds a law degree and a certificate of concentration in environmental law from Stetson University College of Law and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida. Before joining the Center, Rachael clerked for the EPA and Our Children’s Trust, and was a paralegal for six years at various South Florida law firms.

ZULEMA RAMOS, Extinction Rebellion, Activist, and recent graduate from the University of Tampa in philosophy and history. She co-runs seven organizations in Tampa and St. Pete, including Sex Worker Solidarity Network, Occupy ICE Tampa, Tampa Food Not Bombs, and Extinction Rebellion Tampa Bay. Extinction Rebellion (XR Tampa Bay) is a climate justice group focused on empowering and protecting those affected first and worst by the accelerated climate crisis. like immigrants, non-men, people of color, differently abled/disabled people, LGBTQ++ members, low-income workers, etc. They work every day to achieve full liberation for all earthlings.

SHARON WRIGHT, Community and Environmental Planner, is currently St. Petersburg’s Sustainability Manager for the Mayor’s Office, which involves establishing an internal and community-wide sustainability program. Responsibilities include working with leadership and community to set goals and actions, manage projects related to sustainability, incorporate sustainability into the City’s “DNA” through code and policy revisions, lead sustainable design and green building certification efforts for multiple City projects, and work regionally on climate action and resiliency issues.

Fired Up Pinellas is a grassroots political advocacy organization working at the local, state and national level to protect our progressive values and defend our democracy.

For more information email: info@fireduppinellas.org