Prepared with what they wanted to say and passionate about saying it, 10 young-adult Lutherans spent time in Washington, D.C., and New York City advocating for climate action as part of the Young Adult Climate Immersion program. Opportunities to speak about care for creation at the corporate, federal and international levels built up their advocacy skills and experience.
In December 2024, young people with diverse life experiences and perspectives took part in the most recent immersion trip, co-hosted by ELCA Witness in Society and ELCA Young Adult Ministry. In part one, held in Washington, participants were primed with information about policy impact and message refinement before advancing to Capitol Hill, where they spoke with their representatives about a range of climate policies: international climate finance, clean-energy transition, disaster relief and the Farm Bill, among others.
Gabrielle Irle, who traveled from Washington state, said the experience left her feeling as if she “could do advocacy, because I could talk to people. Despite the importance of the places where we do governance and make decisions, the people doing that are just people!”
The young adults then traveled to New York City for part two of the program. Facilitated by staff of the Lutheran Office for World Community and ELCA Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the group learned about the United Nations (U.N.) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and participated in an exercise on CSR through the lens of stakeholders.
As participants headed home, they unpacked their lessons learned and actions taken so that they might encourage others. “To see the work and community that Lutherans have cultivated through the LWF was inspiring and a gift to communicate to our local churches,” said Emmanuel J. Correa Vázquez. “I also had a meaningful moment when I was able to visit the U.N. building and experience the ‘Room of Quiet,; conceptualized by a fellow Lutheran, Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold. It reminded me of how our spirituality is an asset to advocacy and social justice.”
“I came away from the national and global pieces of the immersion feeling empowered to do direct advocacy work in my local community,” said Hannah Limbong, a college student and Kentucky resident. “I feel immensely proud of my church and all the creative ways that Lutherans are working for the sake of their neighbors at every level of community.”