In his guest sermon, Reverend George Taylor will explore the use of the courts in advancing environmental justice.  Through the lens of his grassroots climate organizing, including his 2016 arrest for blocking an oil train in Spokane, Rev. Taylor will discuss his legal battle to allow the climate necessity defense at his trial – a battle that culminated in a historic victory for climate justice when on July 15, 2021, the Washington State Supreme Court allowed the defense in a 7-0 vote, the first time a State Supreme Court has recognized the climate necessity defense.   

Reverend George Taylor is a retired Presbyterian church pastor who was minister at 4 Presbyterian churches in Washington, DC, for over 36 years.  Before that, he was in the US Navy for 4 years and graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary.  Rev. Taylor retired to British Columbia, Canada, but returned to Spokane when his daughter became a single mother raising two small children.  He currently serves as Vice President of Veterans for Peace, Chapter 35, in Spokane, and is a volunteer pastor at All Saints Lutheran Church in Browne’s Addition.  He is a member of the Peace and Justice Alliance of Spokane.  In September 2016, he was arrested with the Raging Grannies and three other veterans for blocking an oil train in Spokane.