May 2008

Dear Friends

 

“ When it comes to climate change, there is no Planet B!”

 

Whilst we may be looking forward to the warmer days of summer ahead, nonetheless the impact of issues such as climate change is rather less welcomed.  We may be happy that the sunshine entices us out to enjoy its warmth, but when global warming threatens for instance to raise the planet’s sea-level (by melting the polar icecap), the lives of millions are significantly jeopardised.  Carbon dioxide emissions, which are created by the ways we use energy, consume resources and travel, are a major contributor to global warming, and it’s worth noting that on average in UK every year we each put 9.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.  Operation Noah, a joint initiative of Christian Ecology Link and Churches Together in Britain and Ireland , calls on us all to change our attitudes and our lifestyles and to aim for an annual carbon footprint of just 1 tonne within 25 years.

 

At the Church Meeting in March, we began to consider how environmentally-minded our church is, and there was much to report, but there is so much more we can do individually and together.  In April we shared with Tilehouse Street friends in a joint service with a definite eco-theme, but it left us with a distinct challenge to act on what we now know for the sake of our world (especially the poor), and as an expression of the Christian faith and the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

 

We are hoping to establish a Green Team at WRBC to help us work through some of the issues, to point us in the right direction of practical actions, and to keep us on our toes (so that then we can “Live Lightly”, as Christian eco-agency A Rocha puts it).

 

Earth Hour, observed in lots of cities around the world (if not in London, it seems) and by lots of individuals at the end of March, was another moment to stop and think, as we were encouraged to turn off our electric lights for an hour; and there really was no harm done as our family talked by the light of a single candle – indeed the suggestion has been made that we do it again!

 

Christian Aid Week will be celebrated this month as ever with the door-to-door distribution and collection of the familiar red envelopes, and Christian Aid Week has become a almost natural dimension to our commitment to the poor of our world, and we wouldn’t question the fact that lots of individual gifts can add up to an enormous sum which Christian Aid can use in their relief of poverty and campaigning for justice around the world.

 

So by the same token, don’t underestimate the actions which you choose to do, the commitment that you opt to make, for when we work together we truly can make a difference.  It may require us to change our actions, and our attitudes, indeed to allow God’s Spirit to change us until such changes become a natural aspect of our living as God’s people, but how else will we bring about change for the good of the planet?  So by one and all let the Pentecost prayer be offered once more: “Come, Holy Spirit!”

 

With my prayers and greetings during the coming month,

 

Andrew