Dear Environmental Contacts,
 
This may well be my last email to you all!  Following General Synod this next week, I will be finishing my term as Climate Justice Intern with the MACUCC.  It has been a delight and an enormous learning experience to have this opportunity with the MACUCC, and I thank you for being a part of it.  I only wish I had time to work with you all in a more direct way, though I suspect this would take several years at least!
 
This week, there’s a few opportunities and a great deal to explore, particularly with “Praised Be,” the pope’s encyclical on ecology & climate change having been recently released.
 
Have you seen Pope Francis’ groundbreaking encyclical on ecology? Visit our page on the encyclical for links to the document and supporting resources.
 
Rev. Meighan Pritchard, the UCC’s minister for environmental justice, is asking churches to ring their bells this Sunday at noon to support the release of the encyclical, as she mentions here. Consider calling your pastor with a request to ring your church’s bells in honor of a great leap forward for climate justice!
 
Ask your pastor to preach on climate change to help create a New Awakening. If you haven’t yet, the wake of the encyclical is the perfect time to ask your pastor to Pledge to Preach on climate change for the Season of Prophetic Climate Witness, between Francis Day (October) and Transfiguration Sunday (February). Explore our resources at ClimateWitness.org. In the fall, an affiliated project with be launching a full climate change lectionary.
 
Check out the renovated FossilFreeUCC.org.  Our UCC divestment portal now has expanded explanations, a fuller collection of resources, and tips for how to publicize your congregation’s divestment.
 
Sign up for the 350Mass emails if you have enjoyed getting updates about regional climate justice events. Signup here.
 
Follow ClimateProgress if you’re looking for a superb climate change blog.

 
Thank you all again for the work that you do in your congregations. After my position ends with the conference, you will receive the occasional email from Conference Minister Jim Antal or Patti Babcock, his administrative assistant. Please email future questions about MACUCC climate initiatives to babcockp@macucc.org. If you need to reach me personally, please email patrickncage@gmail.com. 
Blessings in all your future climate sainthood!
 
In peace,
Patrick
 
Patrick Cage
Climate Justice Intern
Massachusetts Conference, United Church of Christ