August Village Green Corner 2004
Archbishop speaks out on climate change
This article has been written by Ruth Jarman for her church St John's and refers to The Archbishop of Canterbury's first major environment speech made on this 5th July 2004. You could modify it for your church. (Or if you are a Methodist, make use of the "Notice of Motion" on Global Warming made at the Methodist Conference which has just taken place)
Just 3 weeks after our Operation Noah services at St. John's, our Archbishop has made his first "green speech" where he warned that climate change was "making the human future more and more precarious."
In a lecture entitled "Changing the myths we live by", Dr Williams argued that human justice and flourishing were both dependent on an understanding of creation as an act of self-giving by God - a gift to be shared with joy, not exploited and manipulated for short term and selfish motives. "No response to the world that is not aware of this is either truthful or sustainable," he said.
He added: "Not the least horror of our present circumstances is the prospect of a world of spiralling inequality and a culture that has learned again to assume what Christianity has struggled to persuade humanity against since its beginning - that most human beings are essentially dispensable ." In other words, climate change will make the suffering and death of others inevitable and acceptable - but this should not be tolerable to Christians.
Dr Williams urged the British government to take the lead by promoting a global agreement that averts dangerous climate change while allowing everyone fair access to energy known as "contraction and convergence." This is also what the Operation Noah Climate Covenant demands. There are leaflets at the back of St. John's for anyone who would like to sign the Covenant and add their voice to our Archbishop's call.
These leaflets also give you details of how to change your electricity supplier to one which will help reduce your personal contribution to climate change. The greenest option may be more expensive than your current supplier, but there are two other recommended options, one of which my friend found to be cheaper than what she was paying before.
August Top Tip: Pick up a "The future is in your hands" leaflet from the back of St. John's and
- sign the card!
and
- make the switch!
Operation Noah is a project of Christian Ecology Link, registered charity number 327844, and of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.
