On December 6, 2015 Northwest members let their feet do the talking – standing in solidarity with demonstrators at the Paris Climate Conference.
After the terrorist attacks in Paris in November, French authorities banned demonstrators from assembling to voice their demands for meaningful action on climate change. So demonstrators instead left their shoes – over 20,000 pairs of them – many with fervent messages written on them, standing silently but eloquently in public witness.
At the Sunday Worship Café, Reverend Terry Davis spoke about the “holiness” of acting for justice. Echoing the Paris shoe demonstration, Northwest members decorated pairs of shoes with earth-related messages and graphics. The shoes were placed along the Mt. Vernon Road frontage for several days, and later donated to the Homeless Shelter Clothing Collection.
As a public statement for the event, Northwest youth changed the marquee to express the commitment of our congregation, stating “We Stand With the Earth”.