For many Americans, anxiety and fear are running high. Some are on the streets protesting. Others are turning off the news, considering escape routes, or at their wits’ end, wondering what to do. A smaller group is engaged in transformational advocacy, a form of advocacy where you work to change an issue and you are changed in the process. Here’s what that looks like in communities.
In January, I began training a United Church of Christ national team in launching their Climate Hope Affiliates. One piece of the methodology is recruitment, bringing new people in and forming them into local chapters so they aren’t working alone. The first chapter started in March 2025, with seven more by June. Another ingredient is building community, which includes a monthly webinar with guest speakers, Q&A, and other components that aim to inspire. Every webinar includes a “grassroots victory,” where one of the activists tells about a recent success—being sure to include the challenges faced, so listeners won’t think it happens effortlessly for others.
I asked the lead organizer, Rev. Brooks Berndt, to send me the upcoming “grassroots victory,” expecting I’d need to do lots of editing to help lift up the heart of the story. Boy, was I wrong. Here is part of what I read:
“Hi everyone! I'm Laurie Manning, pastor at Skyline Community Church in Oakland, CA. Three weeks ago, if you'd told me I'd be speaking to you about meeting with my Senator’s office, I would have laughed nervously and changed the subject.”
Then Laurie thanked Brooks for building the chapter and delivering its initial four-part new group training. Laurie continued:
“…I'd met with our county supervisors and Oakland City Council before—but always as part of a team, with weeks to prepare, and talking about local issues I knew inside and out. This was completely different.
When we got 72 hours’ notice for a 30-minute meeting with [our] Senator's legislative aide, shortly before [the Senate vote on key climate sections of the Inflation Reduction Act], I panicked. I'd never organized an agenda with people from other churches—some of us barely knew each other! I'd never had to coordinate talking points across multiple congregations in three days while the news kept changing. Seriously, 20 minutes before our meeting, one team member was texting updates about breaking Senate Finance Committee news we needed to include.
My first instinct was to over-prepare everything. I created detailed scripts, assigned exact time slots, organized a prep run-through meeting, and made bullet points for bullet points. Classic pastor move, right? But here's what I learned: authenticity trumps perfection every single time.
When we actually got into the meeting, our carefully scripted presentations could have felt wooden. But the moment we started sharing real stories—Catherine talking about Oakland's climate impacts, Barbara describing rebuilding after wildfires—that's when [the] legislative aide…really engaged. He didn't care about our policy expertise. He wanted to hear how climate change affects real people in real communities.
The game-changer was something completely unexpected. Instead of jumping straight into our presentation, we spent the first 10 minutes asking [the aide] questions about what's actually happening in the Senate. Suddenly, we weren't just talking at him—we were having a real conversation. He told us which advocacy strategies actually work, encouraged us to coordinate with purple states, and shared insider perspectives we never could have googled.
What went wrong? I read from my script too much and at times sounded like a robot…I stressed about everyone being able to log into the Senator's Microsoft Teams account.
What went right? We showed up authentically, shared our communities' real concerns, and built a genuine partnership, not only as a Climate Hope Affiliate team, but with someone from [our] Senator’s office who wants to help us be effective advocates.
Here's what surprised me most: [The aide] went over his scheduled time with us because he was interested in what we had to say. These congressional offices want to hear from faith communities. They need our voices.
To chapters who haven't done this yet—three things: First, you don't need to be policy experts. Your community's stories are your expertise. Second, imperfect coordination is better than perfect inaction. Yes, organizing multiple churches in 72 hours is chaotic—but that's why you need each other. Third, take advantage of training opportunities…they're invaluable preparation for moments like these.
Bottom line: If this anxious Oakland pastor can lead and coordinate four churches, as they learn federal legislation and meeting protocols, track breaking Senate news, and build a real advocacy relationship in three days—thanks to solid training and amazing teammates—you absolutely can too. Your senators' offices are waiting to hear from you.
Request that meeting. Figure it out together. Show up authentically. Our democracy—and our planet—need your faithful witness right now…
Amen. We need protests, but we need people going inside too. As Pastor Laurie said, “Imperfect coordination is better than perfect inaction…Our democracy and our planet need you.”
Rev. Laurie Manning is Senior Minister at Skyline Community Church in Oakland, CA.
Sam Daley Harris founded the anti-poverty lobby RESULTS and is author of Reclaiming Our Democracy.
