Introduction

Imagine being given a gift by someone who loves you deeply. It is marked delicate & fragile' . You open it gingerly and discover planet earth and the further instructions 'Handle with care.' .............

The fragile and delicate present you have been given is not a plastic globe but the real thing!  With it is a DVD which has glorious images of the mountains, lakes, rivers, glaciers and the dazzling array of fauna and flora from the deepest seas to the highest peaks.  It also comes with a book of instructions from the Maker - The Bible - a manual on caring for the earth and all its creatures.

You browse gently through the images and towards the end you see receding glaciers dated to the 21st c. and animals - scores of them - which are marked up as likely to be extinct by 2050.  You pick up the bible and discover that every reference to the earth, the Creator, natural world, all its creatures, - creation, fall and redemption - have been highlighted, along with plentiful guidance on living lightly and justly with the earth and its people. The book is astonishingly full of highlighted passages and phrases, punctuated throughout by Sabbath rest and renewal.  The handbook has one great consistent theme - God made the world in all its splendour, power and diversity out of love.  The earth and all its creatures and humankind are bound to each other in a web of interrelationship with God. To humans God gave the responsibility to care for His created works. You close the book, gently lay down the planet, fold up the "Handle with care" paper and shut your eyes.  You feel the desolation of the planet, the pain of the natural world, and the danger to every part of the earth for if the planet suffers, we suffer and we have nowhere else to go. You know it has to be different.  You know that you are required to be involved in the change.   

Have we lost sight of ourselves as being a part of nature, part of God's creation? In our eagerness to "progress" and "develop" have we lost sight of the finite and delicate nature of the earth and humanity's place in it?  But Christ is our hope, our light into the darkness of this world.  Following Christ opens new horizons and offers alternative yardsticks to the way we live. So we return to the Instructor's manual to rediscover ways of sustainable living, to restore the balance in God's earth that we might live joyfully and simply in the garden He has lent us.

 

To obtain more information, including some biblical background and theological reflections on Climate Change click on the link below labelled 'The Makers Instructions'; this free download is based on the Introduction to 'Walking More Lightly a Climate-Change Action Kit for Churches' by Anne Martin (former CCOW Trustee).

Praying and Preaching on Climate Change

Father we confess that we have been blind to how our lives impact others, and especially the poorest communities. Father, we confess that we have taken the earth for granted, using fossil fuels without a second thought and failing to recognise our part in the problem of Climate Change. Father, we turn back to you and ask you to help us to live simpler lives and to be much more careful in all the resources we use - because it is your earth.
Lord we trust that you are in charge and you can help us to change and live in a way that allows the earth to sustain life for all. Amen

The churches' calendar offes a rich variety of opportunites to bring our concern for climate change into worship. Covenant services, Rogation Sundays, Lent, Environment Day (around 5th June), Harvest Festival and One World Week are all appropriate occasions. More recently the European Christian Environmental Network -- and as of 2008 Churches Together in Britain and Ireland -- have promoted 'Creation Time' (1 September to 4 October) - as a special season to focus on creation. 

The prayer above (adapted) is part of a Service on the theme of Climate Change which can be downloaded by clicking on the 'Service' link below. Other sources for liturgy on climate change include:

Probably the most comprehensive set of worship resources on climate change currently available are those put together by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland as part of the Creation Time initiative. The available resources include two series of sermon notes, one based around the Lord's prayer and one around the lectionary readings for the period; a complete service and a wonderful 90-page book of prayer materials.

Christian conservation organisation A Rocha has done a great deal to promote Environment Sunday (held near the 5th of June). Their 2008 resource is based on Dave Bookless' Planetwise, and includes service materials, bible studies relating to Planetwise, recorded talks by climate experts, sermon notes, short video clips, powerpoints, and material for children and youth. It costs £10 and can be ordered from the A Rocha website's Environment Resource Packs page. Their 2007 resource, "The Heat is On: Climate Change and Christian Faith" is also very relevant. It contains worship material, sermon notes and powerpoint illustrations, as well as scientific background information and materials for use with children. It is no longer available for order, but can be borrowed from CCOW. The 2005 and earlier packs can be downloaded directly from the website, with a suggested donation of £5.

Christian Ecology Link offers a rich variety of resources for worship and study, including liturgies, prayers, sermon notes and a daily prayer guide. It also has a various useful page with links to worship resources, which refers you to material from many Christian environmental and development organisations.

Eco-Congregation's Module 2 "Celebrating Creation" has a delightful range of prayers and imaginative worship ideas around the theme of creation, including a plan for all-age worship, a list of hymns (from various traditions) with a Creation theme, and reflections on familiar Biblical stories. Module 3 -- "Creation and Christianity" -- looks at some theological underpinnings for environmental concern, while Module 6 -- "Exploring God's Green Word" -- offers material for House Groups and two sets of five multi-part Bible studies. All modules can be downloaded from the Ecocongregation website.

The European Christian Environmental Network has liturgical material, including the new booklet "A Time for God's Creation,"  on its website as part of its invitation to all the churches in Europe to celebrate "creation time" in the Church calendar each year, from 1 September to the second Sunday in October.

Operation Noah, the CTBI climate campaign, has a new resource to enable a day of "prayer, fasting and campaign against climate change." Operation Noah's website also offers an "inspiration" section with theological reflections on climate issues.

 

 

Campaigns

Many christian organisations (ecumenical and denominational) are actively campaigning to raise awareness and promote action on Climate Change

Operation Noah This ecumenical programme of Christian Ecology Link, supported by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI), focuses specifically on campaigning on Climate Change. Its aim is to raise awareness in the churches but also to demonstrate demand among the mainstream British public for UK leadership on climate change.  Ann Pettifor (formerly of Jubilee 2000) has been appointed Director (January 2007). Noah's prophetic actions to protect life on earth is a guide for our times.   The covenant which God signed with Noah and with all creatures after the flood forms the basis of their Climate Covenant in which individuals pledge actions to cut the carbon, switch to renewable supplies of electricity and spread the word. The website includes the 'Ark in a Box' - a package of resources, DVDs, resource sheets (resources which complement those of Eco-congregations) to help create the culture of justice for the poor. www.operationnoah.org/   email: info@operationnoah.org   Tel 0845 233 5399 

Christian Ecology Link (CEL) campaigns for a greener church and a greener world.  It is a multi-denominational UK organisation, to support Christians from all traditions demonstrate their care for the environment. CEL believes that we are responsible for our impact on God's creation as a whole and helps members to understand and relate these responsibilities to their faith.   It offers a range of publications,  ‘Green Christian’ magazine  where spirituality and the environment are key topics;  several topic leaflets eg 'Climate change: What Christians can do? '  'An environmental audit for churches'; 'Energy Use in Church Buildings'; 'Water – why water is important for Christians'; ‘Green’ shopping; 'LOAF – local, organic, animal friendly, and fairly traded' and 'Eight Ways to live gently on the earth'. CEL has an email newsletter which is good way of keeping abreast of news, events and critical issues where your action can make a difference.    www.christian-ecology.org.uk

A Rocha – an international conservation organisation working to care for God’s world.   A Rocha is now a family of projects working across the world, its work identified by five core commitments and to a practical outworking of each:  Christian, Conservation, Community, Cross-cultural and Cooperation in partnership with a wide variety of organisations who share a concern for a sustainable world.   A Rocha promotes Environment Day on 5th June and produces good materials for use on that day.  www.en.arocha.org  Tel 01387 710286  email: international@arocha.org.  www.climatestewards.org.uk - a branch of A Rocha, runs projects managed by their partners to help off-set carbon emissions.

 The John Ray Initiative (JRI) is an educational charity with a vision to bring together scientific and Christian understandings of the environment in a way that can be widely communicated and lead to effective action as responsible stewards.  www.jri.org.uk Denominational ProgrammesThe Methodist/United Reformed Church Creation Challenge Environmental Network. Relatively newly-established, the two churches together seeks to inspire churches and individuals to take direct action against climate change and make a commitment to caring for the environment, building on the environment statements of the churches.  The Creation Challenge Coordinator sends out monthly newsletters to subscribers. www.methodist.org.uk/static/econetwork. 

 

Shrinking the Footprint www.shrinkingthefootprint.cofe.anglican.org/   Shrinking the Footprint, the Church of England’s national environment campaign, was launched in June 2006, the first of a series of strategic initiatives aimed at creating "The 40% Church".  Churches are encouraged to carry out a simple environmental audit to help plan how to reduce their emissions.  Shrinking the Footprint offers information, links resources for churches, including "Sharing God's Planet: a Christian vision for a sustainable future" a report from the Church of England. Live Simply (www.livesimply.org.uk)Launched in November 2006, Live Simply is an initiative of the Catholic Church in England. It is based on the radical idea: that God calls us to live a new kind of life, in solidarity with the community, motivated by faith.  People are asked to look hard at their lifestyles, and to choose to live simply, sustainably and in solidarity with the poor; to work for justice and share.  Support is growing also from both Catholics and non Catholic. 

Living Witness .     (www.livingwitness.org.uk)The Living Witness Project is a growing network of Quaker meetings and groups in Britain, exploring their corporate witness to sustainable living and practice equality, simplicity, justice and peace which are at the heart of Quaker spiritual practice.  Tearfund (www.tearfund.org) have focused on climate as a key priority for some years, and offers major reports, stories and other resources as the effects of climate change bite into the lives of vulnerable communities across the globe. Tearfund's "For Tomorrow Too" is provided in the pack, along with its pledge card.  In February 2007 it launched its challenge "Don't be a Derek". 

Christian Aid (www.christian-aid.org) is now making climate change a key campaign priority, its partners increasingly telling of the impact on the lives of the poor communities they serve. Following its "Climate of poverty" report 2006 came 'It's time to change the climate" highlighting key facts reflection, prayers, a carbon calculator, news from their partners, and practical actions and a statement of belief.  In February it launched its new campaign, backed by commercial advertising and strong political campaign on its pressureworks website. 

World Development Movement, (www.wdm.org) created originally by the churches, WDM has launched its °C Change Campaign to emphasise the responsibility of rich countries like the UK for climate change, while poor countries bear the brunt of the impact.  WDM's campaign is calling on the UK government to act now and transform our economy to reduce our carbon emissions.  Stop Climate Chaos - www.stopclimatechaos.org   is a new and growing coalition of UK environmental and international development organisations as well as women's organisations, activist groups and faith-based campaigns. It aims to build irresistible popular pressure on politicians to act to halt climate change. Combining with like-minded bodies in other countries it will work to ensure that other Governments do the same.  www.icount.org.uk

Resources on Climate Change

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Some Books to Read

Policy, Science, Lifestyle Change and Theology: Books with a Christian Perspective

A Moral Climate: The Ethics of Global Warming. Michael Northcott, Christian Aid/DLT, 2007. 

Caring for Creation: Biblical and theological perspectives. Edited by Sarah Tillett, forward by John Stott - contributors include: Eugene Peterson, John Houghton, Sam Berry, Chris Wright. A valuable contribution that links theology and practical work.

Cherishing the Earth: How to Care for God's Creation. Margot and Martin Hodson, Lion 2008.  An engaging look at the theology and practice of creation care.

Christianity, Climate Change and Sustainable Living. Nick Spencer and Robert White, SPCK 2007.  A thorough look by two experts at the realities of climate change, Biblical teaching on sustainability, and how Christians might implement those teachings in a time of global warming.

Eggs and Ashes. Ruth Burgess and Chris Polhill, Wild Goose Publications 2004. Focuses on the environment over the weeks of Lent, with beautiful prayers, hymns and ideas.

Global Warming: The challenge to all of us. Sean McDonagh, Columbia Press, 2007. A good description of climate change and its predicted impacts, together with a call for leadership from the Catholic Church in response to the impending crisis.

How Many Lightbulbs Does It Take to Change a Christian? and Don't Stop at the Lights! Leading Your Church through a Changing Climate. Claire Foster and David Shreeve, Church House Publishing, 2007 and 2008.  "Lightbulbs" offers hints for small changes that can make a difference;"Don't Stop" takes the message further and encourages churches to engage wholeheartedly in response to climate change.

Jesus and the Earth. James Jones, SPCK 2003. James Jones scans the New Testament for new insights on the links between Jesus and Creation.

Planetwise: Dare to Care for God's World. Dave Bookless, IVP, 2008.

When Enough Is Enough: A Christian Framework for Environmental Sustainability. Ed R J Berry, IVP, 2007. Experts from a wide range of fields examine the concept of sustainability. Contributors include Sir John Houghton, Donald Hay, Sir Ghillean Prance, Dave Bookless, Margot Hodson, John Wibberley, Sir Brian Heap and Flavio Comin.

Policy, Science and Lifestyle Change

The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review. Sir Nicholas Stern, CUP, 2007. "Costs" the impact of taking action -- or not doing so -- on climate change. Highly influential.

Heat: How We Can Stop the Planet Burning. George Monbiot, Penguin, 2007. How could we cut emissions by 90% by 2030? Monbiot offers some potential answers. Passionate and principled.

How to Live a Low-Carbon Life: The Individuals Guide to Stopping Climate Change. Chris Goodall, Earthscan, 2007. Practical, challenging, thorough . . . and fun. A very useful guide to lifestyle change.

Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet. Mark Lynas, Fourth Estate, 2007 or HarperPerennial, 2008. We've all heard of potential global warming of 1 to 6 degrees celsius. But what do those temperature increases actually mean for life on earth? Lynas offers a picture, degree by degree. . . .  

 

 

 

 

What Can I / My Church Do

God made the world in all its splendour, power and diversity out of love. The Earth and all its creatures and humankind are bound to each other in a web of interrelationship with God, who gave the responsibility to care for His created works to humans.

In our eagerness to "progress" and "develop" have we lost sight of the finite and delicate nature of the Earth and humanity's place in it? Do we recognise that we are but part of God's great plan. You can reduce your own carbon footprint by:

• Switching to renewable energy
• Eliminating waste
• Rethinking your transport
• Considering your Air travel requirements
• Adapting your lifestyle (eg food choices, water usage ,and waste recycling)

Testing Your Footprint

The following websites offer information on your carbon footprint:

www.imeasure.org.uk is a tool designed by the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University which enables you to monitor and learn about your domestic energy use and carbon emissions.

www.carboncalculator.org enables you to calculate the impact of your flight, and your car journeys by adding the carbon cost and the price if offsetting.

www.coinet.org.uk is the Climate Outreach and Information Network (COIN), based at Oxford University. In particular, COIN invites you to accept the carbon challenge to live within the personal limit of 2.5 tonnes of CO² at www.coinet.org.uk/projects/challenge/measure

Select the link labelled 'Church Action' to download information on lighting, heating and church transport as well as 'green' energy suppliers which you may use to help reduce your church's carbon footprint.

More Information

This page gives suggested links to help you  access authoritative information on Climate Change

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - www.ipcc.ch - assesses the scientific, technical and socio-economic information relevent to an understanding of the risks of human-induced climate change.

The DEFRA website www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climate change is authoritative and has useful links to the Climate Challenge Programme.

The UK Met Office www.met-office.gov.uk has its research centre for climate change (Hadley Centre)

The BBC also considers climate change to be a 'hot topic' There is much general information on the BBC site www.bbc.co.uk and you can use the website search engine to find climate change issues or go directly to www.bbc.co.uk/sn/hottopics/climate change