Toledo

“Climate: Great Reckoning, Great Homecoming” is the title of a speech by the Rev. Michael Dowd related to the Great March for Climate Action. Rev. Dowd, a former pastor in the United Church of Christ who is the author, among other books, of Thank God for Evolution: How the Marriage of Science and Religion Will Transform Your Life and Our World, will deliver his address at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Franciscan Center at Lourdes University, 6832 Convent Blvd., Sylvania, the evening before the march is scheduled to arrive in Toledo. Rev. Dowd is speaking at many stops along the march route. The 3,000-mile walk, which is meant to draw attention to the need to address global climate change, began in Los Angeles March 1 and will pass through Toledo Friday and Sept. 27 on the way to arriving in Washington, D.C., Nov. 1. His appearance at Lourdes, sponsored by the Social Justice Subcommittee of the Toledo Chapter of the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests, is free and open to all.

A press conference and rally are scheduled at the Collingwood Garden at Collingwood and Delaware. Local activists and some of the marchers will speak at the press conference. From the Collingwood Garden the marchers will be walking to Helping Hands of St. Louis (443 South St) to eat supper around 6:00 pm.

~ Saturday, Sept 27th events ~

“High Noon” event at BP Refinery — The marchers and some local activists will be assembling in front of the British Petroleum (BP) refinery in Oregon. A press conference and rally with speakers are scheduled shortly after arrival at the refinery. Coalition for Safe Energy member, Terry Lodge, said ” BP is spending hundreds of millions converting its refining capability to handle tar sands, which are the dirtiest form of crude oil on the planet.  After the conversion is complete, BP has told the Ohio EPA they’ll dump over 150,000 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually – 118,000 tons more than presently with the refinement of sour crude. That refinery will catapult to pretty near the top climate change contributor in Ohio as a result. “

After the action at B.P. the assembled will march to Helping Hands (443 South St.) again for supper around 5:00 pm.

For those who choose, a Multi-faith Prayer Service will be held at Sacred Heart Church, 509 Oswald, Toledo 43605. A slot of time is reserved for marchers who wish to speak.

Sacred Heart Church will stay open for the marchers to conduct a “community discussion” if people want to stay.  People of different faiths will talk about how their tradition cares for creation, including Buddhist, Congregational, Muslim, AME, Catholic, and Unitarian.