I am willing to risk arrest by act of civil disobedience in order to protest and discourage the construction of a pipeline that places local communities at unprecedented and irresponsible risk on behalf of corporate profit. Our federal government’s decision to allow a private corporation (Spectra Energy) to construct dangerously large pipelines through residential areas, and a metering and regulating station across the street from an actively dynamiting quarry, is not just careless, but reckless. In 1850, Theodore Parker - whose namesake church I am minister of today - spoke of “the American idea . . . a democracy, that is, a government of all the people, by all the people, for all the people . . .” That government takes into account the impact of its decisions more thoughtfully and intentionally than anything I have witnessed in this process.

My tradition calls me to understand that revelation is not sealed - we can ALWAYS learn more about how to live in harmony with the holy, we can ALWAYS do better. Natural gas was an improvement on prior forms of less clean energy, but it is not the end of the line in our understanding of how to fill our energy needs, care for the safety and well-being of our communities, AND respect our place on this planet.

This pipeline is dangerous and wrong. We must put the safety of our people and the future of our planet above corporate profits. We can be more creative, more visionary, and more responsible with our energy futures. We should - and we must.

Rev. Anne Bancroft

Minister, Theodore Parker Church