Climate Justice
Our congregation has affirmed care for the environment as part of our stewardship of Creation since the 1970s, when members first participated in Earth Day celebrations. As climate change has grown to threaten all life, especially the lives of the poor, the marginalized, and communities of color, we have increasingly turned prayer and action toward Climate Justice. As a people who believe that all creation is sacred and interconnected, we are called to prophetic speech and action to stop the destruction of our life-sustaining ecosystem for profit. We are equally called to be agents of healing and compassion in a world where climate catastrophes already stoke conflicts, mass migrations of refugees, and competition for dwindling resources. Some of the ways we engage in this mission are through:
Prayer and worship
Including ongoing prayers for climate justice, and hosting a climate-focused service to open Harvard Heat Week 2015 with guest preacher Tim DeChristopher
Educating ourselves
- We host a Climate Justice book group, as well as periodic Adult Forums after worship serices to equip us spiritually and practically for action.
- Groups of OCBC members have attended films together, such as Merchants of Doubt and This Changes Everything
Reducing our carbon footprints
- We have been in the process of greening our building since 2006, when a major project diverted rainwater to a tank under our parking lot, which we use for watering our gardens.
- In 2015, the congregation took the Paris Pledge to reduce our building’s carbon footprint by 30% by 2030, and to zero by 2050.
- We belong to the Cambridge Energy Alliance and Massachusetts Interfaith Power and Light
Activism on behalf of Climate Justice
- We are exploring possibilities for congregational divestment from fossil fuel companies. Meanwhile, many of us are divesting our personal savings and participating in the divestment movement (as students and alumni of educational institutions, as members of Baptist organizations, and as contributors to pension funds).
- Members are also working with
- American Baptist Creation Care Ministry at regional and national levels
Massachusetts Interfaith Coalition for Climate Action, through which we demonstrate and lobby with other people of faith for a clean energy future in Massachusetts - Better Future Project/350MA, including activism action against new fossil fuel infrastructure, and for fossil fuel divestment and clean energy
- American Baptist Creation Care Ministry at regional and national levels