UCC Does Lent, JEM Style

The Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ—deep in old Congregationalist territory—has decided to practice a “carbon fast” for the season of Lent, starting in early March. The links on their page didn’t work for me, but I can imagine what might go into the effort. The obvious component is to drive less and drive more wisely when that is an inevitability. I didn’t see anything about refraining from the use of home heating fuel, but that would indeed be a bold statement if I have any clue about the temperature in Massachusetts in the winter. (You gotta forgive me about the weather thing. I have this Ivory Tower called California from which I pontificate!) And it might just be the kind of bold statement that UCC has traditionally liked to make in a long history of progressive action.

This is the kind of stuff that shows a willingness to take Lent seriously as a time to do soul work. In some cases that means giving something up, but moreso, it means acting from a deeper consciousness which in this case is well addressed by such a sacrifice. From my vantage point as a UCC member, it is great to see this as a response to the world situation. As a social institution acting with a Jubilee-informed consciousness, we need to applaud such effort and hope that the UCC, the smallest of the mainline Protestant denominations, is a dose of leaven for more such action among larger and more influential systems.

And, as a person who has grappled with the issues of peak oil and climate change, it is refreshing to know that my conviction—that widespread reduction in demand of hydrocarbon fuels is a central requirement if we are to get anywhere on these issues—is not mine alone. It is refreshing to find UCC embracing the inward-and-downward solution of personal conscience and interrogation of self as the way to move forward.