A small but mighty group of local advocates for climate justice took home a special recognition last month.
On April 25, the United Church of Christ hosted its fourth annual Earth Summit, celebrating the interconnectedness of faith and the fight to stem the effects of climate change. The church launched a Climate Hope Affiliates program in March, 2025, and this year, it awarded a Dollie Burwell Prophetic Action Award to the Concord chapter of the Affiliates. The award included a prize of $1,000.
“This year, the award goes to a Climate Hope Affiliates chapter that took 43 actions this past year, including three sermons, four published op-eds, 10 meetings with congressional staff, 12 published letters to the editor [and] 14 outreach events,” Rev. Brooks Berndt, the church’s environmental justice minister, said while announcing the award. “It’s mind-boggling how much this one chapter was able to accomplish.”
Climate Hope Affiliates encourages its members to advance awareness of the climate crisis through relationships with legislators, the media and their communities.
Rev. Rob Grabill, of Sunapee, serves on the program’s national leadership team and helped jump-start the Concord chapter, one of the first 13 chapters established nationwide. He said his group comprises a little over a dozen members from churches in Concord, Wolfboro, Laconia, Mount Vernon and more.
Grabill said the chapter pushes back in little but meaningful ways, such as having messages posted in local news outlets and maintaining strong relationships with local and federal legislators.
When the Trump administration proposed a 55% cut to the Environmental Protection Agency’s funding, the group’s members sounded the alarm by calling New Hampshire’s congressional delegation. In the end, Congress passed a bipartisan bill restoring $8.8 billion to the EPA’s budget, a measure signed by President Donald Trump in January.
“To be recognized in that company with some fairly impressive advocates for social and climate justice, that was pretty exciting,” Grabill said. “It’s very motivating.”
One of these actions included a Concord Monitor My Turn by Sue Moore, co-chair of Concord’s Climate Hope Affiliates. The Bow resident is no stranger to climate activism: She worked in environmental consulting, interviewed politicians about their stances on climate change and was arrested while protesting the Keystone Pipeline.
Moore said giving digestible and accessible information — along with an emotional and relatable story — helps the public understand the larger climate issues happening in the world.
“I work with people to educate them. If people understand something, then they can go from there,” she said. “The thing about Climate Hope Affiliates is it’s a balance. It’s not Republican or Democrat, it’s just information.”