Will we stand with 40 Presbyteries?

These are the words rev. abby mohaupt spoke in open hearing at the 223rd General Assembly. Because the PCUSA did not vote to divest from fossil fuels, these words are a record of part of what was lost.

Good afternoon, my name is the rev. abby mohaupt and I am the moderator of Fossil Free PCUSA.

For the past five years, we have worked in our beloved denomination to call for divestment from fossil fuels.

In 2014, 13 presbyteries joined us.

In 2016, 31 presbyteries joined us.

Over the last two years, 40 presbyteries have lined up to support the overture that has become 08-01—more presbyteries than have ever supported an overture.

40. It rained and poured for 40 days and nights on Noah. The Israelites wandered for 40 years in the desert. Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness. When the number forty appears in scripture, someone is usually being tested.

I am also a PhD student focused on religious responses to climate change. I have learned from people in front line communities, communities who have already experienced climate change, communities who have asked me to continue to ask for divestment from fossil fuels—people who have become friends, people like Oluwatosin Kolawole, who you heard speak earlier today. He has asked me again and again to listen to the increasingly dangerous impacts that climate change has had on his community and call for divestment from the fossil fuel industry.

Tosin walked with us to St. Louis.

Will we walk with Tosin and others?

Will we stand with 40 presbyteries?

It’s time to do so—it’s time to divest.