Lucy Jones
[The Episcopal News] Distinguished seismologist Lucy Jones – a well-known voice for earthquake science and safety – will deliver the morning plenary presentation at the diocesan Climate Change Summit, a hybrid event set for Saturday, Sept. 16, at St. Paul’s Commons, Echo Park.
Registration is here. All are welcome. Coffee and table conversation starting at 9:30 a.m. will precede the program opening at 10 a.m. Sessions will continue until 2:30 p.m. with a 30-minute break for lunch.
Jones, who is a lay leader at St. James Episcopal Church in South Pasadena, will be joined by afternoon presenters Kate Varley and Lisa Markus, also Episcopalians and climate specialists from local congregations.
“The summit is a great opportunity to bring our diocesan community together to do what we can to address this issue which affects our whole world. It’s not easy work, but it is necessary work,” said the Rev. Canon Melissa McCarthy, diocesan canon to the ordinary, who chairs the 30-member commission on behalf of Bishop John Harvey Taylor.
“The church has tremendous potential to make a difference,” McCarthy added. “I firmly believe we can do anything we are called to do when we are working in community and with God’s help. The issue of climate change needs our concerted, intentional, and communal attention.”
The summit has been called in keeping with Diocesan Convention resolutions adopted last November.
The summit program will bring news of Commission partnerships, including the “Climate Connections” disaster resilience plan, now a pilot project, engaging congregations in strategic, collaborative response to crises including earthquakes and heatwaves. Made possible by a grant from Southern California Edison, the program is coordinated by Jones, who co-chairs the Commission’s Disaster Resiliency Subcommittee with Mary Nichols, a lay leader at St. James’, Los Angeles, and former head of the California Air Resources Board.
Box lunches, available for a donation of $12, will be provided during the 9:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. program. St. Paul’s Commons, the diocese’s administrative and ministry hub, is located at 840 Echo Park Avenue, Los Angeles. Free parking is available in the on-site garages.
Further information may be requested from Samantha Wylie, coordinator of Diocesan Convention, by email at swylie@ladiocese.org. For those using the Metrolink or other train lines that go to Union Station, directions for reaching Echo Park are here.