Meet an innoFaither: Neddy Astudillo
Meet Rev. Dr. Neddy Astudillo, Presbyterian minister, eco-theologian, and Coordinator of the Spanish Climate Justice & Faith online Certification program at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. In addition to teaching eco-theology to people throughout the US and Latin America, Neddy has deployed her passion for faith-rooted environmental justice in a number of ways, including pastoring, community organizing, and co-founding a farm-based organizing and educational non-profit. Originally from Venezuela, Neddy currently lives in Florida.
What faith(s), if any, do you practice? How does your tradition and/or spiritual practice inspire or influence you as an innovator?
I am a Christian, raised in the Presbyterian Church. For 14 years, I was the minister of a Lutheran-Presbyterian ministry. In part, I also feel Lutheran. My eco-justice work, rooted in knowing that God manifests Godself in Creation, has led me to feel more as a spiritual person than religious. The whole Earth and Universe is now a place to know God’s love, God’s wisdom, God’s will. The Bible itself tells me so.
This spiritual journey has opened my heart to working with people of all faith traditions seeking to care and protect what I understand as God’s Creation. These values provide an opportunity to innovate and to work with many others to seek solutions to the climate and environmental crisis, which is my life’s passion. I consider our diversity as a gift and a strength rather than a challenge to overcome.
What are you currently working on?
I coordinate a Spanish online climate justice and faith program at the Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. This is a continuing education, two-semester program for people of faith in the US and Latin America who want to be equipped in climate justice matters and be active in climate justice work.
My work at the seminary allows me to engage with people throughout the Latin America region and with a group of seminaries from Latin America that advise and support the program.
On a volunteer basis, I am also involved in the Latin America Network called Red de Fe por la Justicia Climática. This is a group of grassroots faith leaders working from within their institutions and communities to organize and raise awareness about the climate crisis. We seek to transform our own religious institutions and provide resources for people of faith who want to be part of the climate justice movement.
As an eco-theologian, one who tries to understand God’s work in Creation, I am also part of a group of eco-theologians, “Colectivo Bambú,” who share ideas and create resources together for the network members and beyond, in Spanish.
What can we find you doing when you’re not working?
Last Saturday, we cleared an area of the church’s garden to grow food in the upcoming season, and on Sunday, prior to worship, with a neighborhood group, we planted trees along a park, next to a river that lost many trees during last year’s hurricanes.
As a Latina in the US, today’s migration crisis also has me studying, reflecting and writing to raise awareness and protect the most vulnerable. I am joining a group of pastors that want to know how to protect law abiding immigrants from deportation so that people come back to church and feel safe. I have also been part of interfaith vigils at detention centers, like the one in the Everglades.
Lastly, I keep writing. I dream that my Doctor in Ministry thesis on “Greening the Church” will one day become a book to share with churches.
When I am not doing any of the above, I love to go to the beach to relax, allow my eyes to focus in the distance, feel the sun, the wind and the waves, and let them love me.
What is piquing your curiosity these days?
What is going to happen in our country with regards to climate justice? The US is the country most responsible for climate change, but our government has chosen to defund research, divest from a new green economy, and not participate in the Paris Agreement. How do I best stay active? How do I best use my energy and time? It is always a question before me, which requires spiritual discernment.
What is something you’d like help on?
I want to have a blog to publish my writings and reflections, but I have not been able to find the time or knowledge to do it.
What is something you can offer others in the innoFaith network?
I can share my articles in English and Spanish for others to learn about how the climate crisis affects Latinx people in the US and in Latin America, and its connection with migrant justice.
You can find Neddy via email.
Meet an innoFaither is our series to introduce the inspiring optimists in the innoFaith world and what they’re working on and thinking about. We hope it helps you find and engage with each other across the network to advance faith-rooted social innovation and interfaith collaboration for social impact. Or just meet some cool people. Find the full series at innofaith.org/meet-an-innofaither.