July/August 2008: A Selection of What's New and Interesting

New from the Churches

• policy
  
  Climate was a key topic at the July 2008 URC General Assembly, where Mark Dowd's talk focused on environmental refugees.

  The Church of England's General Synod, also in July, debated a paper entitled "Climate Change and Human Security: A Challenging Environment of Injustice," which looked at issues around the impact of climate change globally, and the questions of equity involved. Synod accepted the paper's recommendations that the Church become a corporate member of Stop Climate Chaos and that it continue steps to establish a Church Adaptation Fund for projects in developing countries adversely affected by Climate Change. 

• helping your church "go green"

  The Church of England has released "Don't Stop at the Lights," a guide by Claire Foster and David Shreeve that aims to resource churches to take climate change seriously and act on their concerns.

  The newsletters from "Creation Challenge," a joint project of the URC and the Methodist Church are always packed full of useful information and contacts. The August newsletter can be read here.

• worship materials

  Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and its constituent members are encouraging congregations to take "Time for Creation" between 1 September and 4 October. If you want to plan a service with a "green" theme then or at any other time, you can't do better than to look at the CTBI resources for Creation Time. Prayers, sermon notes, activities for children and young people. . . . Just an extraordinary collection.

  "This advent, we want PROPHETS, not PROFITS!"  Great slogan, isn't it? To engage your church in thinking about a sustainable, Christ-focused Advent, take a look at Operation Noah's "Putting the Waiting back into Wanting" campaign. Op Noah also has a pack for doing a day of prayer and fasting on climate change.

  Download Eco-Congregations latest newsletter to find out more about what churches are doing locally.

  CAFOD has produced a Call of Creation PowerPoint and Call of Creation reflections, available from http://www.cafod.org.uk/worship/live-simply. They link to the Catholic Bishops' Policy Statement, "Call of Creation," available from Progressio.  CAFOD has also produced material for youth groups.

                                                                 Time for Creation

Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and its constituent members are encouraging congregations to take "Time for Creation" between 1 September and 4 October. If you want to plan a service with a "green" theme then or at any other time, you can't do better than to look at the CTBI resources for Creation Time. Prayers, sermon notes, activities for children and young people. . . . Just an extraordinary collection.

Some Resources for Harvest 2008                             

CAFOD

will hold its Harvest Fast Day on 3 October 2008. The day focuses on training HIV activists, who volunteer their own time to stand alongside families struggling to cope with the impact of HIV and AIDS. Resources available for download at the Harvest Fast Day section of the CAFOD website, or in hard copy from your local CAFOD office.

Christian Aid

offers harvest appeal resources with the theme "We will harvest the desert." The material focuses on the story of Ally Ouedraogo and his community: they are using simple farming and water harvesting techniques to reclaim desert land on the edge of the Sahel in Burkina Faso. Materials include a poster with Ally's story on it, a worship sheet,  powerpoint and reflective video. All are available for download from the Harvest Appeal section of the Christian Aid website; posters can be ordered in hard copy from the Christian Aid office, oxford@christian-aid.org, 01865 246818.

Basic Introductions to the MDGs

• Briefing pack on the Millennium Development Goals (Micah UK, 2007)

Worship resources on the MDGs

• Weekly reflections from the Micah campaign
• Millennium prayer (Center of Concern)
• Prayer service (Sisters of Mercy)
• Evening prayer for Advent with prayers for the end of global poverty (Episcopal Public Policy Network)

This is a selective list. More resources can be found via ELDIS and through the Choike "external debt" page as well as from individual agencies and coalitions.

Basic Introductions to Debt Issues

"The World Can't Wait for Debt Cancellation" is an accessible powerpoint presentation that reflects the status quo as of 2007.

Three Books to Read

50 Reasons to Buy Fair Trade. John Madeley and Miles Litvinoff, Pluto Press, 2007. To order, click here.
An accessible journey through some of the reasons why we need Fair Trade -- and how we can support it.

Fair Trade: Market-Driven Ethical Consumption. Alex Nicholls and Charlotte Opal. Sage Publications, 2005. To order, click here.
An academic consideration of Fair Trade's origins, current manifestations and future.

Markets, Fair Trade and the Kingdom of God, ed Peter Johnson and Christopher Catherwood.Traidcraft and Regnum Books, 2001.
Essays combining theological and developmental perspectives, primarily by key figures from Traidcraft.

Copies of these books may be borrowed from CCOW.

Online Resources to Download

If you want to download some resources to help you understand the trade issues and campaigns, here are some suggestions.

General Trade Issues

Rigged Rules and Double Standards: Trade, Globalisation and the Fight against Poverty (Oxfam, 2002) -- the basis for the Make Trade Fair campaign. At times controversial, particularly in its emphasis on market access (read the debates, helpfully provided by Oxfam), but very influential.