At the upcoming event, Climate Witness: Let Our Actions Speak! Thread Gathering, Friends will explore how Quaker values inform climate justice work and learn from those actively engaged in this ministry. Among them is Pat Finley (Old Haverford Friends Meeting), co-clerk of the Eco-Justice Collaborative, who has spent years in initiatives focused on sustainability and environmental justice.
Pat describes the Eco-Justice Collaborative as a group that has evolved over time:
“We started out as the Environmental Working Group and then, in order to be more effective, we kept reorganizing and changing the name. So sometime around 2009, we became Eco-Justice Collaborative, which is a group of leaders who are doing work, their own work, and we support each other.”
The Eco-Justice Collaborative developed the Friendly Households program, inspired by the Transition Town movement.
“It’s sort of like, in the town, you break out all of the kinds of work that need to be done, and various committees work together to do this in terms of creating resilience and adaptation. At the meeting level, we get together, we have potlucks, but we all make commitments to doing something a little bit more than we did before—either at the personal level, the local community meeting level, or the public domain.”
The Eco-Justice Collaborative workshop, What is Happening and What is Possible?, at the Thread Gathering will be facilitated in partnership with the Climate Witness Stewards. This workshop will highlight practical ways that Quaker meetings can take action and connect with wider climate movements.
“I’ve been identifying the work that’s being done in monthly meetings on climate for about three years. We have a presentation that shows all the work that’s being done according to action areas such as activism, education, reducing our carbon footprint, finance, and mourning loss and instilling hope. We’re trying to show Friends in the meetings that this is something you can do and if you need help, these are the places you can go to get it.”
For meetings wondering how to bring climate action into their communities, Pat suggests small, tangible commitments and seeking support from others already doing the work.
“A lot of what we do is connecting people—if a meeting wants to move toward net-zero, we point them to another meeting that has done it,” Pat said.
Friends interested in getting involved with the Eco-Justice Collaborative can reach out:
“They can call me up, or they can call Ruth up, or any of us on Eco-Justice, and we can talk and figure out what works for them. We’ve been adding a few people lately—sometimes they stay with us and start their own projects through us.”
Friends can connect with Pat at finleyp2932@gmail.com if they have any questions about the workshop or the Eco-Justice Collaborative.
The upcoming Thread Gathering is on March 22nd is an opportunity for Friends to learn, connect, and work toward climate justice – in Person at Friends Center or online.
