Mar k of Mi ssi on 5
FEDERAL AND STATE ADVOCACY
74
In addition to the state-advocacy
networks we’re working to build
across The Episcopal Church
(see Mark 4, p.51), we’re working to establish and strengthen
new ecumenical partnerships
for environmental advocacy. On
behalf of The Episcopal Church
and in collaboration with 36
other denominations, the Missionary Society helped launch a
new pan-Christian organization
called Creation Justice Ministries
to resource and drive an ecumenical response to the safeguarding
of God’s creation. The new organization supports the state-level
advocacy efforts of the Missionary Society, fosters interdenominational discernment and partnership on tough issues such as
fossil-fuel investment, and assists
local communities exploring the
links between poverty and environmental justice.
In addition to this work, our
Office of Government Relations
in Washington, D.C. has worked
to communicate to policymakers
the grassroots support of Episcopalians for new carbon-emission
rules initiated by the Environmental Protection Agency and
new regulations on ozone, both
announced in 2014. Additionally,
in partnership with the Gwich’in
Indians who live in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve in Alaska
– approximately 90% of whom
are Episcopalians – we’ve worked
with the White House to create
a comprehensive-conservation
plan to protect that sacred land
from drilling for years to come.
BUILDING GLOBAL AND
ECUMENICAL PARTNERSHIPS
The Missionary Society supported the Presiding Bishop and the
Archbishop and Primate of the
Church of Sweden (Lutheran)
in co-convening an ecumenical
and multi-national summit on
climate change in Washington,
D.C. in May 2013. Summit participants spent substantial time
in conversation about global
cooperation to stem climate