February E-notes

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February 1, 2024

Dear Joan,

Our winter season holds many sacred moments. Our Jewish neighbors celebrated tu bishvat or planting of trees last week. This weekend we celebrate several holy moments around the midpoint between winter solstice and spring equinox or Imbolc.

Feb. 1 celebrates the Celtic feast of St. Brigid Day who is known as patron of hearth, water, dairy and more. Feb. 2 invites Candlemas or Candelaria to end the Christmas season with purification and light in the midst of winter. In winter when sickness troubles many there is the feast of St. Blaise on Feb. 3. He who is remembered with blessed candles blessing throats in the Catholic traidtion. And all of us connect with Valentine's Day Feb. 14 as we remember we are Love and extend Love throughout all we. do even through sacrifice.

May we be reminded this month of the words of the scientist and mystic Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. "Love is the most universal, the most tremendous and the most mysterious of the cosmic forces...the physical structure of the universe is love."

Our calendar reflects the growing activity of spring and movement into brighter and longer days! We hope you can join us for one of our online events or at the Roundhouse. And thank you for all your prayers, work, support and donations, which strengthen our community and witness in the world.

The Legislative session is in full swing—for updates and action alerts, please join our advocacy list by emailing [email protected]

Many blessings,

Hayley Hathaway

Administrative Coordinator

Board & Friend Retreat

IPL board and some invited friends gathered to reflect, eat, share and plan January 21 at First Congregational Church, Albuquerque with on-line hybred attendance from El Paso.

IPL board and friend January retreat at First Congregational in Albuquerque and on-line from El Paso.

Do you love Earth? Like people?

Live in S. NM or El Paso area?

We need you!

NM & El Paso Region IPL is looking to hire a contract organizer who lives in El Paso or Southern NM for 10-15 hours a week.

Responsible for outreach to faith communities, faith leaders, and to work collaboratively to create events, and grow engagement. Spiritual and ecologically motivated. Self starter, work with a great team, and Spanish a plus. Must live in the region. Please contact [email protected]g for job description, and more details and help us spread the word!

We Are Our Children's Future

A Community Conversation with Father John Dear

Monday, February 5, 4-5 PM

Come join us for a prophetic conversation with Father John Dear, Sister Joan Brown, Reverend Andrew Black, and Chaplain Jorge Sayago-Gonzales exploring key questions like: How can embracing a life of nonviolence be one of the biggest ways you can solve the climate crisis and live in solidarity with Mother Earth and her creatures? What is the intersection of social justice, peace, and environmentalism? and more. Hosted by EarthKeepers 360. Register here.

Environmental Legislative Day in Santa Fe

Friday, February 9 All Day

Join us alongside many other groups at the NM Roundhouse next week. We will have a table, gather support on several local and federal initiatives, and visit our leaders on various bills. A great way to be in community for action for Our Common Home and Our Communities. Contact [email protected] for more information or to carpool.

If you are coming as an individual, you can also register here for more details.

9:15 - 10:00am - Lobby training and then Senate and House floors in groups to meet

with legislators, Room 303

10:30am - House Session Starts - Visit legislators on the floor before Session starts

10:30am - Senate Session Starts - Visit legislators on the floor before Session starts

10:45am - Briefing on our Priority Environmental Bills, Room 303 (We don’t always know exactly

when committee sessions will end and floor sessions begin so we’ll hear from advocates as

they become available.)

11am - 12 pm Rally in the Rotunda - Hear from youth, tribal and community partners and

priority bill sponsors.

*If you'd like to help table, please contact Clara ([email protected]). Creative offerings are welcome - prayer cards, poems, earthen elements, artwork, etc.

Agua es Vida: Do Your Part

Water Advocates 2024 Legislature Report Webinar, Cosponsored by IPL

February 15, 6:30 - 8 PM

The Middle Rio Grande Water Advocates are hosting a February virtual webinar to assess what was funded by the 2024 legislature and how much.

Young experts, including New Mexico Wild Rivers and Waters Program Director Tricia Snyder, and activists will discuss what happened at the 2024 legislature. They'll also address the need to simplify legislative complexities for the general public to better engage diverse groups across New Mexico. Register here.

Image of Invitation for Agua es Vida 2024 Legislative Report

Join us Wednesday, February 28 at 6 - 7 PM for our monthly online Earth & Spirit Sharing. Sacred grounding and sharing are so important for the long-haul as we endeavor to bring joy and love into our work. Last month, one participant said: “I was surprised by how restorative and connecting it felt over Zoom.” Look out for an email soon to register.

More Events & Save The Dates

Darkness as Medicine--virtual

Sundays, February 4, 11, & 18 11 AM. - 12:30 PM

Join our friend at the Upaya Zen Center as they explore transforming darkness into medicine as part of a Three Part Dharma Talk Series. Register here.

Come Plant Tress with Tree New Mexico in Albuquerque!

Join one of the three upcoming volunteer opportunities:

Jackson Neighborhood: March 16 (NE Heights). Register here.
Mesa Village Neighborhood: April 6 (NE Heights) Register here.
Tuscany Neighborhood: April 27 (NW Westside) Register here.

Our Sacred Lands: Food, Farming, and Fairness

March 6th at 6 PM--in person at First Congregational, ABQ and virtual

Mark your calendars for a hybrid-event with panelists representing farmers and ranchers in New Mexico locally and beyond. We will hear about the multi-faceted challenges facing farmers - from mental health to national legislation and the important ways we can bring awareness and advocacy to this most sacred vocation of tending our food systems.

IPL Virtual Green Team and Individual leader Gathering coming in April

Tuesday, April 8 Virtual & Online

Thursday, April 11---in person, ABQ. location TBE

Watch for more exciting details!

IPL’s 2024 Faith Climate Action Week: April 19 - 28, 2024

The theme of IPL’s 2024 Faith Climate Action Week is “Common Ground: Cultivating Connections between our Faith, our Food, and our Climate.” We’ll examine our responsibility to use agricultural practices that safeguard our Sacred Earth and how our faiths call us to respond with just solutions for all. Save the date, April 19-28. Join us to engage your congregation and learn more at www.faithclimateactionweek.org. Let us know if you are planning something and feel free to put it on the IPL national map!

We are also encouraging faith communities to plan screenings of the movie Common Ground. Some videos will be available to order. Here is the trailer. You can also join a free screening sponsored by the NM Healthy Soil Working Group on February 14th in Santa Fe, which will feature a short film about our friends at Spirit Farm. Get tickets here.

In the News

Rev. Hendershot's Newsweek op-ed on the importance of clean car standards and why GM and Ford need to work for strong clean car rules.

Resources

2024 Creation Care Lenten Calendar

Created by the New Mexico Conference United Woman in Faith and designed as a Lenten practice to help us all become more aware of how the daily choices we make about how we live our lives impact people both locally and around the world. Download here.

Catholic Climate Covenant’s "God's Creation Needs You

Watch this video series, including the newest video "Inspired by Faith to Protect Their Community," which focuses on the environmental and health issues impacting communities in “Cancer Alley” Louisiana.

Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth Community Worship Resources

This group offers free monthly worship and small group ministry resources focused on Earth care and climate justice: and bonus materials: Spiritual Care for Climate Distress, Anxiety and Grief.

Energy Audits for Houses of Worship

Does your house of worship need an energy audit? Is your house of worship in the Albuquerque area? Our Cool Congregations volunteer team of engineers wants to help you get your building more efficient. To get added to our list of future projects, get in contact with us. The first step is to collect two to three years of gas and electric bills and designate a contact person. Email [email protected] for more.

Money For Your House of Worship or Your Own House

Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, you can get a 30% rebate on your house of worship's solar project, Ground Source Heat Pump, and EV charging station. The IRS just updated its information on how the process works: IRS Elective Pay website. Visit IPL's website for FAQ and contact [email protected] for more information. Also, NM & El IPL has a $10,000 no-interest loan that can be accessed easily for congregational energy projects.

Additional resources that might be helpful:

Cool Congregations website
Denominational sources for financing for energy work/solar are found in IPL’s Solar Financing Guide.

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