Temple of Understanding ECO JUSTICE FOR ALL Dialogues presents:
“What the world religious leaders are doing about the climate crisis”
Dialogue with Rev. Fletcher Harper & Rev. Brian McGurk
Rev. Fletcher Harper and Rev. Brian McGurk will dialogue about the recent “Faith and Science Toward COP26” meeting convened by Pope Francis with 40 world religious leaders and also comment on the Interfaith program called “Faith Plans for People and the Planet” which aims at leveraging religious groups’ assets and investments. This event was recorded on Oct 28, 2021 1-2pm ET Online.
Rev. Fletcher Harper
The Rev. Fletcher Harper is an Episcopal priest and the Executive Director of GreenFaith, a global multi-faith climate and environmental justice network. An internationally recognized author, speaker, and pioneer of the worldwide religious environmental movement, he has been a leading voice in the faith community’s response to the climate crisis for the last two decades. He has worked with diverse faith leaders around the world, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. Rev. Harper is the co-founder of Shine, an international campaign that brings together bold innovators to overcome the threat of entrenched poverty and climate change, and to achieve universal access to affordable and reliable energy. He spearheads the faith-based fossil fuel divestment movement around the world, is one of the faith leaders of the People’s Climate Marches, and plays a leading role in the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative, a campaign organizing religious communities to fight tropical deforestation and protect Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Rev. Harper is the author of GreenFaith: Mobilizing God’s People to Protect the Earth.
Rev. Brian McGurk
Brian McGurk, Board Member, St. Christopher’s Church, Rectorm Chatham, MA.; Earth-Honoring Faith Committee, Member, Faith Communities Environmental Network (FCEN), Co-chair Town/District: East Orleans. I was born in Connecticut, but grew up in Barbados, West Indies — where I developed a deep and intimate relationship with the natural world. This experience (of nature’s beauty and wonder) instilled in me a reverence and respect for all members of the community of life (human, animal, plant, waters, air, soil, etc.). My present interest and commitment to environmental (eco) justice can be traced back to this early life experience. Other: After graduation from Yale Divinity School, I served in churches in Connecticut, Virginia, and Massachusetts. In Virginia, I chaired a partnership between the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia and the Anglican Diocese of Christ the King (which encompasses the township churches outside of Johannesburg, South Africa (Sharpeville, Soweto, etc.) I worked with the membership of these churches on social justice issues (of racism, poverty, environmental degradation, etc.) in both South Africa and Virginia. In this role, I was able to attend South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings in Orange Farm Township, and participate in discussions with Desmond Tutu and the other South African clergy and leaders. I also worked in Kenya, where our church supported a rural hospital, and maternal and child health and feeding programs. In Richmond, I served on the board of a children and youth development center, that served the most underserved neighborhood in that city. In 2010 I received a Lily endowed sabbatical grant to study the relationship between Maori spirituality and ecological practices in New Zealand. At present, I enjoy working with the 30-plus faith communities that comprise the Faith Communities Environmental Network as we work to apply our moral and spiritual voices and resources to the climate emergency.