Rev. Lauren Levwood Will Serve as Acting Director of UU Ministry for Earth
Dear UU Ministry for Earth CommUUnity,
It is with great joy that I share with you an important leadership update from UU Ministry for Earth. I'm thrilled to relay that I have accepted the invitation to serve as Acting Director of UUMFE in the year ahead.
Over the last few years, I have had the honor of serving on UUMFE's Board of Directors, first as a Member at Large, then as Vice Chair, and most recently as Chair. My promotion has sparked changes to our Board as well, which you can anticipate learning more about in next month's newsletter.
UUMFE has long been a source of inspiration for me, and I'm honored to deepen my service to an organization that I believe in. I am ready to focus on the next phase and am eager to help us find momentum. If you'd like to connect with me to share in this endeavor, the door is always open to connect. Email me anytime at laurenlevwood@uumfe.org.
UU Ministry for Earth has had many incarnations and meant many things to many different people over the years. However UUMFE has touched your life, thank you for being part of our story. Know that I am excited to continue planting seeds for UUMFE's future and for the shared future of the Climate Justice movement within Unitarian Universalism and beyond.
With kindness, Rev. Lauren Spivey Levwood
UUMFE Response to Hurricane Melissa
Our hearts are with the people of Haiti, the Bahamas, Cuba, and Jamaica in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa. We are grateful for organized disaster relief efforts, such as the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee’s much needed response. This is what love looks like in action. Read Rev. Lauren's full statement here.
Jane Goodall's Memorial Service
It has been announced that Dr. Jane Goodall's funeral will be held on Wednesday, November 12, at the Washington National Cathedral at 11 AM EST. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, will be the preacher for the memorial service. The public will be able to watch the service at this link.
COP 30 is Here!
As always for the past 30 years, the UN sponsored Climate Change Conference is happening. This year it is November 10-21 in Belem, Brazil. Click here to read more on the UN COP 30 website. Exciting bonus: Indigenous Amazonian food will be served at COP 30!
Here is the compelling October 21 call-to-action (excerpted) from Simon Stiell, the UN Climate Change Executive Secretary:
So let me boil it right down. Before this report, we faced two climate adaptation challenges – direction and speed. Now it's largely just one: the direction is right – but we have a serious need for speed.
So we must pick up the pace. Which brings us to COP30, where nations must respond.
Adaptation will be a central issue. Parties are expected to agree on adaptation indicators, and work to close the adaptation finance gap. The roadmap to mobilize 1.3 trillion dollars in climate finance will clearly be key at COP30.
Let's be very clear: climate finance is not charity. It is vital for protecting every population and economy, and the global supply chains that every nation depends on for low-inflationary growth, and food and energy security. On adaptation issues, but also more broadly, COP30 will be a key test of global solidarity. So it must do three things:
It must show nations are fully on board for climate cooperation because it works, with stronger outcomes in all key issues.
It must spur faster and wider implementation, leaving no one behind.
And it must connect climate action to real lives everywhere, to spread the vast benefits.
Meeting that test is how we turn plans into protection, prosperity and progress.
This section includes events hosted or co-hosted by UUMFE.
REGISTER NOW! UUMFE Community Read
The UU Ministry for Earth 2025-26 Community Read is “What if We Get it Right?” by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. We will continue meeting on the last Tuesday of every month at 4:45 PM PT / 7:45 PM ET for a total of 9 sessions. We can’t wait to look toward an imaginative future for climate justice with you!
The next discussion is set for the evening of November 25th, which will focus on the third section, “If We Build It….” You only need to register once to attend all remaining sessions. Click here to print a poster for your congregation’s bulletin board.
Save the Date! UUMFE Winter Solstice Worship Service
Please mark your calendars for our annual Winter Solstice Worship Service! We will gather on Sunday, December 21st at 4pm PT / 7pm ET. You can expect a separate email from us with more details later this month.
This section includes contributions from organizations who are partners with UUMFE in the intersectional work of climate justice in Unitarian Universalism or interfaith work, such as the UU Climate Justice Coalition.
Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic Community (UUJEC):
The Naked Profiteering that’s Destroying Our Medicare and Healthcare System in America
November 13, 2025 8pm ET / 5pm PT
Rose Roach is the National Coordinator for the Labor Campaign for Single Payer and Chair of Healthcare for All Minnesota. Ms. Roach retired in 2023 as the Executive Director of the MN Nurses Association after working in the labor movement for 34 years. For more than two decades, Ms. Roach has been involved in the healthcare justice movement, both as a national speaker and trainer. She has served on MN Governor Mark Dayton’s Healthcare Financing Task Force as well as MN Attorney General, Keith Ellison’s, Lowering Pharmaceutical Costs Task Force. Read more here.
Side With Love/Unitarian Universalist Association (SWL/UUA):
Carbon Neutral by 2050 - Green Sanctuary 2030 Community Meeting
November 19, 2025 7pm ET / 4pm PT
The Boise UU Fellowship has committed to become Carbon Neutral by 2050 as part of their Green Sanctuary 2030 commitments. Engaging the entire congregation in a 2023 special appeal “Imagining A Carbon Neutral World,” BUUF launched their carbon neutral campaign which will focus on reducing the BUUF carbon footprint and supporting members to reduce their individual emissions while also building strong relations with community groups doing mitigation work. Come together for shared learning and mutual supports with other UUs transforming our congregations through climate justice. Green Sanctuary 2030 community meetings take place on the third Wednesday of the month at 4PT - 5MT - 6CT - 7ET for 90 minutes.
Climate Resilience through Disaster Response and Community Care
How can we center the inherent worth and dignity of every person in climate disasters?
Every community is different, and climate impacts will vary at the hyper-local level. Some neighborhoods may be devastated by a hurricane while others experience only minor impacts. Adequate preparation and response for climate disasters must center the lived experiences and impacts of climate disasters on those most at risk. Learn more, download our toolkit, and take action.
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Save the Dates: 2026 Green Sanctuary 2030 Meetings
Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice (UUSJ):
SNAP Funding Maneuvers: Have They Been Legal?
November 13, 2025 8pm ET / 5pm PT
David A. Super, Georgetown Law Professor, will provide a clear-eyed and experienced assessment of the lawless actions by the Trump administration regarding SNAP benefits. He will offer UUSJ chapter and verse on the maneuvers the administration has been deploying, and suggest what we all need to be aware of as this policy circumstance continues to unfold.
Even if the government shutdown ends, policy experts, analysts, and legislative actors expect to see lots of SNAP funding maneuvers of one kind or another for the foreseeable future.
UUSC Invites UU’s to Support our Partner-led Delegation to COP30
This November, the 30th UN Climate Change Conference will be held in Belém, Brazil. Also known as COP 30, the convening offers member countries and attendees the opportunity to discuss and negotiate action on climate change. Grassroots leaders can share their firsthand experience and advocate for sustainable solutions. UUSC is supporting eight of our partners in attending COP 30. Champion their efforts by showing your support on social media by clicking here.
UUSC Blog: Diligent Hope: From the Pacific Islands to New York
“We are not drowning, we are fighting!” proclaim the grassroots leaders of the Pacific Islands. At September’s Pacific Rising conference in Fiji, UUSC partners from across the region reconnected for the fourth convening. They are united by their experience confronting the impacts of climate change, and they gather to exchange bold, local solutions to address the crisis. I witnessed firsthand their shared fears, unique challenges, rigorous care, and unwavering ambition.
UUSC’s rapid response hub mobilizes people of faith and conscience to defend freedoms and protect communities facing injustice. Whether resisting civil society crackdowns, defending trans and non-binary communities, supporting people in migration, or countering climate regression, our network acts with urgency and solidarity.
This facilitated, structured conversation among attendees uses "Embracing Interdependence," UUAM's new small-group-ministry-style curriculum, to foster discussion about the implications of new language recently adopted by the UUA in its bylaws: "We covenant to protect Earth and all beings from exploitation." [emphasis added] Come experience it for yourself, and then consider bringing it to your congregation.
“Embracing Interdependence” will be facilitated by the Rev. Stacey Mitchell, UUAM Treasurer and Interim Senior Minister, First Unitarian Church of Albuquerque. Rev. Stacey was ordained in 2023 after completing her Master of Divinity at Union Theological Seminary in New York in 2021, along with an Eco-Chaplain Certification from Sati Buddhist Center. She is a Buddhist UU who has extensive experience in meditation work, and she came to ministry with over 15 years of experience in nonprofit leadership and financial management.
This section includes events and news UUMFE wants to share from the greater climate justice advocacy community.
Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative
After decades of climate negotiations, fossil fuels have finally been dragged centre stage. Despite this, many governments are still approving new coal, oil and gas projects — threatening our chances of limiting warming to 1.5ºC. It's crystal clear: we now need a concrete, binding plan to end the expansion of new coal, oil and gas projects and manage a global transition away from fossil fuels.
To protect people from the threat fossil fuels pose to our climate, our health and our future, a growing bloc of 17 countries are seeking a negotiating mandate for a Fossil Fuel Treaty. The proposed treaty would complement the Paris Agreement by providing the global roadmap needed to halt the expansion of fossil fuel, manage an equitable phase-out of coal, oil and gas, and lay the foundations for a true just energy transition in which no worker, community or country is left behind.
Join the growing coalition pledging to keep 1.5° alive by endorsing the #FossilFuelTreaty today.
This section includes ways to treat yourself for your commitment to climate justice work!
This month's recipe is for Indian Style Chickpeas from our very own Rashid Shaikh, UUMFE Board Member At-Large. Click here to read the recipe.
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