For hours, Fossil Free PCUSA representatives lay scattered across the floor outside of the convention hall at the 223rd General Assembly in St. Louis last week. The “die-in” was in response to the commissioners’ decision to accept a minority report asking the Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment (MRTI) to continue its engagement with fossil fuel companies.
Eight former General Assembly moderators have endorsed an overture to the 223rd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) that calls for church investors to divest stock in companies that produce fossil fuels.
The former moderators stated in an open letter to the 538 commissioners of GA223 they are taking their stand “because of the grave and urgent threat of climate change and the fossil fuel sector’s well-documented and unyielding refusal to change …”
Presbyterian News Service recently submitted questions to Joseph Kinaird, chair of the Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment (MRTI) about the upcoming General Assembly in St. Louis and its continuous discussions with the fossil fuel industry.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) on Sept. 5 hosted the Global Energy Parliament (GEP) at the Ecumenical Center here. The event addressed the theme “The Science of Peace in Humans, Humans in Peace,” featuring reflections on how lasting peace can be built by individuals and nations.
Two high school seniors appeared before the Jan. 11 meeting of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area, asking for divestment of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Foundation and the denomination’s Board of Pensions from all fossil fuel company stocks and bonds.