Dear Friends,

I am writing to urge you to join your neighbors who will be gathering outside Barrett Hall on Friday, September 20th from 7:30 to 9:30 AM to participate in the Global Climate Strike. You can read more about it by clicking here.

This is not a church activity, but as a pastor and parent I know that many of our children are scared, and that prompts me to write. They feel hopeless about their future because of the inescapable truth that they hear in the media, on the internet and from their peers: their future is threatened by a climate that adults continue to destabilize despite the suffering it is already causing and the threat of far worse to come.

This Friday, September 20th, the children of the world are asking adults to join them in a Global Climate Strike to send a powerful message calling all governments and leaders to respond immediately with the swiftness and scale of the “Greatest Generation” at the outbreak of World War II.

Nothing could calm our children’s fears more than seeing adults rise up with courage and a spirit of commitment and sacrifice equal to the threat.

Nonviolent strikes have proven to be one of the most effective ways to change a society. The more people who participate the more impact strikes have.  Every person who does not go to work or do any business on the 20th will cause a ripple of disruption, and together those ripples can turn into waves powerful enough to change the political landscape.

This strike was initiated by student leaders like Greta Thunberg and dozens of prominent adults as diverse as author Margaret Atwood, Native American activist Winona LaDuke, Incredible Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo, and Strafford’s Gus Speth.

The United Church of Strafford’s Fulfilling Our Vision Committee endorses the Strike and urges everyone to participate.  Our Deacons Fund helps Strafford residents pay bills when they are having financial difficulties, and the Deacons encourage anyone to apply for assistance who has trouble paying a bill because they stay home from work to participate in the Strike.  (Contact me at this email address.)

We also urge you to increase your support of local businesses.  We save an enormous amount of carbon that way and we keep Strafford resilient in the face of whatever changes may come.

If not for your own sake, then to protect the children, please set this one day aside to make your voice heard in the halls of governments around the world, and please encourage your workplace and friends to join the strike as well.  You can find links to more information on our website at https://unitedchurchofstrafford.com/

Thank you,

Pastor Tom Kinder