At the end of July, I will be leaving Iowa Interfaith Power & Light to pursue work with the National Young Farmers Coalition. I have been blessed to spend time at Iowa IPL throughout the last year, interacting with rural and urban supporters across the state, holding Faith Farms and Climate conversations in my own community and beyond, and meeting many of the movers and shakers in the Iowa climate justice and resilient agriculture movement. Iowa Interfaith Power & Light has given me the opportunity to connect with my own faith more deeply, as well as contextualize the enormity of the climate crisis and the faithful nature of climate action as movement towards a more healed world.
Iowa IPL “envisions a world where we live in right relationship with our neighbors and planet.” As faith communities have welcomed me into their sanctuaries over the past year, I have started to understand what right relationship can mean. Faith offers the practice of reflection and connection to a higher power, which I have learned may mean Gxd, or may also mean thunder and lightning, grief, or joy. Faith offers a container for those mammoth realities like the climate crisis. As Christiana Figueres said in her commencement talk on June 14th at the Laudato Si’ Climate Conference, “Climate action does not have to be a burden. No – as a human species, we are meant to solve problems. Indeed, climate action can and must be an extension of our faiths.”
All of this being said, I urge you to support the good work of Iowa Interfaith Power & Light. Monetary donations support our Called to Climate Action student leadership program, which supports Iowa college students of faith in leadership development. Youth are critical and powerful leaders in the climate movement. Signing up for our newsletter keeps you looped into action alerts and news. Participating in and planning events with Iowa IPL creates a stronger, more interconnected web of interfaith climate action. Visit our website to find out how to get involved.
Thank you so much for your support over the past year. It has been an honor to serve as the Rural Faith Organizer here at Iowa Interfaith Power & Light. I am so excited to see what will come next at Iowa IPL!
Elston’s last day will be Tuesday, July 25th. We invite you to give a gift in their honor.