If future generations are to remember us more with gratitude than sorrow, we must achieve more than just the miracles of technology. We must also leave them a glimpse of the world as it was created, not just as it looked when we got through with it.
--Lyndon B. Johnson

About Sukkot and Our Work to Care for Creation

Submitted by Yaira on Wed, 2011-10-19 16:57

At the end of each month's interfaith environmental conference call, we close our time together with a prayer. Often, I'll ask a clergy-person to lead us. Today, though, the theme of this month's call--"greening" the holidays--had me thinking about the current Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which ends today at sundown. What follows are the words I offered at the close of today's call.

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Today is the last day of the Jewish festival of Sukkot, during which we are commanded to go outside and sit in temporary dwellings, open to the elements. This act of moving outside for seven days is a reminder of our impermanence and fragility, our connection to the natural world, and our responsibility to be engaged with and active in the larger world, outside our comfort zone. All of that might sound pretty heavy.

But during this festival of Sukkot, we are also commanded to be happy and joyful!

October Interfaith Environmental Conference Call: Greening the Holidays

Our October interfaith environmental conference call is scheduled for Wednesday, October 19th at 12:00 p.m. On this call, we'll focus on upcoming winter holidays and explore environmentally-friendly ways to celebrate on the individual and congregational levels. We'll also include information about ongoing programs, upcoming opportunities, and policy updates. If you or your congregation already does something green for the holidays--or if you don't but are looking for ideas, please plan to join us!

As always, we will have some time for callers to ask questions, share ideas and connect.

October Interfaith Environmental Conference Call

     Wednesday, October 19, 2011, 12:00-1:00 p.m.

Interfaith Service of Public Prayer and Purpose Kicks Off Austin's Keystone XL Hearing

September 28, 2011

AUSTIN—Texas religious leaders led an interfaith prayer service at the LBJ Fountain on the UT Campus this morning immediately before the start of US State Department hearings on a controversial international oil pipeline. Worship leaders representing Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, Unitarian Universalist and Jewish traditions offered prayers, readings and meditations that highlighted the interconnected nature of life on earth and called for renewed stewardship of our shared resources.

Interfaith Service of Public Prayer and Purpose before Austin's Keystone XL Hearing

Please join us in Austin on Wednesday, September 28th at 10:30 a.m., before the U.S. State Department hearing on the Keystone XL pipeline begins, for an interfaith prayer service. Religious leaders of different traditions will frame the day by offering words and readings, prayer and meditation. This interfaith service of prayer and purpose will be held just outside the LBJ Library. Please join us and invite others.

Texas Jewish Leaders’ Statement on the Proposed Keystone XL Pipeline

The U.S. State Department is holding a series of hearings to collect public input into the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, giving citizens an opportunity to contribute in a meaningful way in this decision-making process. On Wednesday, September 28th, one of the hearings will be held in Austin, TX, and religious leaders from different traditions will participate. Some will contribute prayers and readings at our interfaith prayer service at 10:30 a.m. that morning, and some will offer testimony at the hearing.

Because the date of this hearing conflicts with the beginning of the Jewish High Holy Days and marks the first evening of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year, the Texas Jewish community's participation will be understandably limited on the day of the hearing. Working with the Jewish community, we offer this statement and invite Texas Jewish leaders to add their names by signing on. Texas Interfaith Power & Light leaders will read and submit this statement at the September 28th hearing on behalf of those who sign on, making it part of the public testimony.

Urge Secretary Clinton to Say No to the Keystone XL Pipeline

As the U.S. State Department is considering whether to approve a request from TransCanada to construct the Keystone XL pipeline, you can send your comments and concerns urging Secretary Clinton to say no to this dangerous project.

Your comments can be sent through an online form or by postcard:
To print postcards and submit public comment via regular mail, please click here.
To fill out the online form, click here.

Interfaith Environmental Network of Austin Statement on the Keystone XL Pipeline

The Interfaith Environmental Network (IEN) of Austin issues the following statement about the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. In addition to issuing this statement, leaders of IEN plan to testify on this issue at the State Department hearing in Austin on Wednesday, September 28, 2011.

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The Interfaith Environmental Network of Austin, a coalition of individuals and congregations from a variety of faith traditions who are committed to environmental stewardship, is opposed to the request being submitted to the U.S. State Department by TransCanada to construct the Keystone XL pipeline, that would carry bitumencrude petroleum 1,661 miles from the tar sands in Alberta, Canada down to Houston, Texas. 

Our opposition to this proposal is based on several environmental and moral concerns:

Rev. Sally Bingham Visits Austin Soon

We are thrilled to announce that the Reverend Canon Sally Bingham, President and Founder of the national Interfaith Power and Light, will be in Austin for a series of events, October 21-23, 2011. Rev. Bingham's visit presents the Central Texas community with a unique opportunity to connect around issues of environmental stewardship and explore religious responses to global warming. Below is a basic outline for the weekend; we invite you to participate, and invite your friends!

On Friday evening, October 21st, at All Saints Episcopal Church, 6:30 p.m. All are welcome to join in a celebration of life and the planet that we share, “Arts and the Environment: Under the Same Sky,” a family event complete with art, music and activities. This event will be open to the community. Local artists and musicians, including the Drumsistas, will participate.

On Saturday morning, at All Saints Episcopal Church, from 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m., a workshop focusing on global warming with Rev. Bingham as the keynote speaker. The event will feature a morning panel presentation and conversation--including Rev. Sally Bingham, founder of Interfaith Power & Light; Dr. Camille Parmesan, Associate Professor of Integrative Biology at the University of Texas at Austin; Amanda Robinson, Coordinator of Texas Interfaith Power & Light; and Ilan Levin, Associate Director of the Environmental Integrity Project--followed by a light lunch and an early afternoon session of small group discussions. Click here to register for this event.

Staff Member Amanda Robinson Tapped for National Leadership

Amanda Yaira Robinson Joins GreenFaith's National Fellowship Program 

Amanda Yaira Robinson, Coordinator of Texas Interfaith Power & Light, the environmental program of Texas Impact, has been named a GreenFaith Fellow and will join the 2012 Class of the GreenFaith Fellowship Program. Robinson will join a class of 25 Fellows from diverse religious backgrounds. The Fellows represent over ten religious denominations, including Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Evangelical, Roman Catholic, mainline Protestant, and Unitarian Universalist. 

"I look forward to the opportunity to deepening my training in religious environmentalism and to helping create an environmentally just and sustainable world," Robinson said.

Statement on the Keystone XL from Interfaith Power & Light

The national office of Interfaith Power & Light recently released this statement about the propsed Keystone XL oil pipeline. Here in Texas, we are coordinating a religious response to the pipeline. If you would like to be involved in any way, including attending and/or testifying at the State Department public hearings (September 26th in Port Arthur or September 28th in Austin), please let us know.

Keystone XL Tar Sands Oil Pipeline Not in the National Interest

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