Last Sunday we held a special climate-focused service in Langham to reflect on the scientific and theological basis for creation care and action on climate, to pray and to commit to action, offering our personal pledges.
As part of the service we were delighted to be presented with our Bronze Eco Church award by the High Sheriff, David Wood, which we have been working towards for some time.
A member of our eco group presented us with a ‘call to action’, which we include below, and which we hope will stimulate conversations and action more widely amongst our team community
‘Call to Action’
13.8 billion years ago there was an infinite and terrifying transformation of energy into matter with the Big Bang. From out of that dark and lifeless ocean of the universe came trillions of planets flickering against the eternal night.
We are connected to this universe, we are a remarkable collection of atoms and we have to celebrate our place in this great and cosmic saga.
We inhabit a small blue planet.
It is the Goldilocks planet as it has just the right combination of water, air and atmosphere to sustain human life.
However we have disrupted our earth’s equilibrium.
In 2019 the concentrations of carbon dioxide were higher than any in the last 800,000 years. This means that the planet is warming and our climate is changing at a dramatic rate.
This has lead to an accelerating decline in biodiversity.
Countries are flooding as sea levels rise.
Wild fires are wiping out large areas of land.
Our reliance on fossil fuels has overheated our world.
Now is the time to act. We need to act on all fronts, but as proud participants in our democracy we have to write to our MP. If we do not take immediate and drastic action we will be cursed by future generations, to quote the Archbishop of Canterbury.
At 1 degree, which is where we are now.
The effects of climate change, largely caused by the North are affecting the poorer Southern nations.
Madagascar is at risk from sea level rising.
The Aral Sea (a vast lake) has been drained over 30 years to water and produce cotton crops.
¾ of insects have died over the last 25 years. We remember our windscreens being covered with insects after driving in the summer and cloud of moths at night time. These creatures are part of the biodiversity of our world. We depend on insects to pollinate our crops.
There will be a mass migration of peoples as life in certain areas will be unsustainable.
A young girl in Africa walked 12 miles to fetch water and wept because the water sources were dry.
We have to demand climate justice. We are all interdependent.
And so we each have our part to play:
Write to our MP to ask that we take practical steps to keep our global temperature below 1.5 degrees. Each rise in temperature affects lives and homes.
Talk to people about this.
Repair reuse and recycle. The problem is that this doesn’t feel like changing the world, but it is. Darn socks.
We must celebrate the relentless enthusiasm of the young and answer the call of future generations and act for our children and children’s children.
Darkness was on the face of the deep and God saw the light and it was good.