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Caring for God's Creation

The Chaplaincy joins the Eglise Verte - a seed growing...

eglise verteA bit of background : COP 26 has for all of us, made us aware of the current desperate situation that our world has found itself in. It has also mobilised many groups of Christians around the world who want to take action.

In France this movement was started by a group of 2000 young Christians following a celebration in the commune of Notre Dame de Paris, which resulted in the mobilisation of a number of churches around France to start this movement Eglise Verte, well before COP26 last November.

Back to our own chaplaincy: Following a meeting of the Mission and Outreach group, our Chaplain Tony, along with members of the environmental advocates, decided that if we, as a Chaplaincy are going to be serious about ‘Caring for Creation’ it is important that we are supported along the journey. Eglise Verte is the French version of Eco-Church. It is a label which can be used to identify to others that we, as a Chaplaincy, care enough to start and try to make a difference, firstly within our churches and secondly amongst our congregations. It gives the Chaplaincy a destination to achieve objectives which will make a difference to our environmental impact.

The image for the first step of this process is a seed. We are this seed which can start to grow and hopefully produce a harvest.

The first step of this process; which in French is called ‘Graine de Senévé’ represents the seed starting to germinate and involves filling in an ‘eco-diagnostic survey’ online. Within the Chaplaincy many of our centres completed the ‘Eco-survey’ last year so we are well on the way to completing this first step.

We hope that all our centres will want to get involved with this initiative as we have registered our Chaplaincy as a parish. All we need is one person from each centre to want to be involved in this initiative, one person who wants to make a difference. If your centre does not as yet have an environmental advocate and you would like to be involved please contact David Albrecht by email (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

To start on this journey is the most difficult part as the issues surrounding the climate are immense and the solutions complex. This is why we have decided to join forces with Eglise Verte as it will help keep us motivated. There is a step by step methodology and support from the community behind the group who are ready to accompany us on this journey of discovery. This is just the start - are we ready to get involved?

 

Be a Resolutionary!

environmentIn our constant quest as individuals and as a Chaplaincy to preserve God's beautiful creation, check out the "366solutions.com" website which offers a solution each day so that we can all do our part...

A groovy and upbeat "Resolutionary Anthem" by Sophia Dady is on-line (audio version and pdfs to download to make your own recording). Join the movement, and learn the song, which ends:

Find solutions, that’s the key
Join your voice and sing with me
The World deserves our respect

Solutions come so easily, when you focus on these three: Clean, Repair, Protect - Our World

Check it out by clicking here or on the video image

 

caring for creation

'Caring for Creation' presentation at 2021 Chaplaincy AGM

Click here to watch the presentation given by Tina Marshall, outlining recent discussions about the Environment, and the Chaplaincy's intention to strive towards achieving 'Eco-church' status.

 

 

Our aims and core suggestions:

Caring for God’s Creation, our collective home planet earth, is part of our Christian calling. Our aim is to minimise the impact of our activities on the environment and encourage others to do so too. Many of you have contributed to developing our strategy to achieve this aim through the lent study, ‘Caring for Creation’, and the Environment survey sent to all sectors, thank you.

Thus, as a Chaplaincy we aim to:

covenant1.MINIMISE WASTE.

2. MINIMISE CO2 PRODUCING EMISSIONS.

3. PROMOTE RECYCLING.

4. ONLY WHERE NO OTHER OPTION IS AVAILABLE, OFFSET EMISSIONS GENERATED BY OUR ACTIVITIES

5. MONITOR PROGRESS AND HOLD OURSELVES TO ACCOUNT, ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER AND SHARE WHAT WE ARE DOING, KEEP THE ENVIRONMENT ON THE AGENDA AND THE CONVERSATION ALIVE.

Click here to view the core suggestions made by chaplaincy members to help achieve our aims.

Download the Personal Environmental Covenant Here

If would like to get involved or if you have questions, please contact Kathryn Carr This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Caring for Creation: The Chaplain writes:

Dear Friends,

What comes into your mind when you hear the following words?

Environment, Climate Change, Ecology, Biodiversity

If these words invoke an emotional response, I suspect that it could go one of two ways. For some they will be exciting and invigorating, spurring them on to act and make changes that will help to improve our relationship with our planet. However, if we’re honest, we must acknowledge that there will be others who will heave a world-weary sigh and feel that they are once again being brow-beaten by the latest socio-political band-wagon.

As a Christian church, we clearly have a role to play in the God-given responsibility to care for the world that He has given us. The question we face today, perhaps more than ever before, is what that responsibility looks like in everyday life? How can we approach the very real challenges in a way that addresses the issues without burdening us all with almost impossible ideals?

save the environmentThe well-known environmental activists are certainly, on one level, providing the prophetic voices of our day, but they also have the luxury of being able to concentrate on this single issue rather on the more universal challenge of how that one issue fits into the global society. I think that we are all aware that there is no simple, universal answer to the problems that we are addressing and that it is the inherent complexity that makes the subject both so fascinating and exhilarating and also so confusing and apparently hopeless.

This, I believe, is where we, as Christians, have a vital part to play. If we look at climate change as a purely scientific, political and/or social problem, we are inevitably going to get bogged down in the sheer complexity of any potential solution. However, we believe in a Creator God who didn’t just create the world, press the ‘on’ switch and then sit back and passively watch what happens. We believe in God as a constantly creative God who is present and working in the world though his Holy Spirit as much today as he was at the very beginning of Creation. The Spirit brought order out of chaos then, do we honestly believe that he can’t or won’t do it now? The difference in the equation is us. This time round, the Spirit is working in and through us to help bring about the new heaven and new earth that is foreseen in the Bible.

season of creationFor many years now, in the Church of England, the period between 1st September and 4th October (the day on which we commemorate St Francis of Assisi) has been designated as the season of “Creationtide”. It is a time when many churches will be preparing for, or celebrating their Harvest Festival and is an opportunity for us to focus on God as Creator and Sustainer of all life. Whilst it is not something in which we, in Aquitaine, have engaged very greatly over recent years, I very much hope that this year we can use this season as a time to reflect together on our relationship with our environment. Consequently, I will be encouraging all my ministerial colleagues to engage, in their leading of worship and their preaching, with this particular subject. The particular theme for the Season of Creation 2021 is ‘A Home for All’, renewing the oikos of God. Oikos is a Greek word that means 'home' or 'family' and is the root of our words starting with 'eco' like 'ecology' and 'economics'.  The last year has been a wake up call to the need to restore our relationships with God, creation and each other and in so doing to get a clearer insight into the way forward for us and our environment.

caring for creationWe will also be arranging for some online discussions (not, I hasten to add, a training course!) for those of you who wish to explore further some of the subjects that will be raised during this time.

We all live in a particularly beautiful part of God’s amazing creation and I am sure that we all want to ensure that it remains equally beautiful for future generations. I hope that you will all feel encouraged as we spend September considering how we fit into God’s amazing plan for his Creation.

God bless,

Tony

 

 

 

 

 

Resources

Rev'd Liz Morris writes:

Environmental issues are increasingly in the news around the world and it is hoped that as a Chaplaincy, as churches within the Chaplaincy and as individuals, we will be finding ways to reduce our carbon footprint and taking our role as stewards of creation seriously. The Zoom Lent Course ‘Caring for creation’ has got many of us thinking about how to do that. Local committees and core teams have been given a questionnaire to fill in which will enable us to review what we do at the present and how we can improve on it.

caring for creationOver the coming months we will be developing an action plan and introducing ways to reduce our impact on the environment.

One thing we can all do is to work out our own carbon footprint by using one of the online websites (see below) and then make improvements to our own lifestyles.

www.footprint.wwf.org.uk/ 

www.worldlandtrust.org/carbon-calculator

https://360carbon.org (Church carbon footprint calculator)  

https://www.planete-energies.com/en/medias/close/greenhouse-gas-emissions-france

https://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx

Caring for creation is one of the things we need to be doing as Christians; God gave us a role in looking after his world; it is not there for us to exploit. We are all becoming aware of melting ice caps and rising water levels, shrinking rainforests and rising temperatures.

We have a beautiful world, but we are in danger of destroying so much of that beauty. Take a look around you at our amazing part of planet Earth and consider what kind of a world you want to pass on to future generations.

At this time of year, around here, we are especially aware of new life in creation. From seemingly bare ground spring cereals, plants, grasses and bracken; the trees are beginning to show green buds and frothy blossom and on a recent walk we spotted cowslip, false oxslip, marsh marigold, speedwell, dandelion, violet, snakehead fritillary, and several others flowers we were unable to name. The birdsong is amazing and I even heard an early hoopoe the other day!

In the northern hemisphere we are lucky to be able to use many of the metaphors of Spring when we speak of Easter and Jesus’ resurrection to new life. It brings to my mind the words of that Easter hymn: ‘Now the green blade riseth from the buried grain’. The third verse reads:

‘Forth he came at Easter, like the risen grain, he that for three days in the grave had lain; quick from the dead, my risen Lord is seen: Love is come again like wheat that springeth green.’

As the ancient Easter greeting goes ‘The Lord is risen’; ‘He is risen indeed’ Alleluia!

Without the resurrection, the cross would have been an unmitigated disaster. If Christ did not rise from death then the Christian faith is in vain.

Christ, who rose from the dead, is still alive today. Christians are risen with Christ. We can still walk with Christ on the road, we can still know him in the breaking of the bread. The resurrection is the guarantee that nothing can separate us from his love.

We have Jesus’ commandment ringing in our ears ‘Love God and love your neighbour as you love yourself’. If we love God we will want to love and care for our environment. The way we live affects the lives of people on the other side of the world whom we will never meet. Since our effect on the planet is global, our concerns also need to be global. If we are genuinely trying to follow Jesus, we cannot ignore the plight of those already severely affected by climate change for they are those neighbours that we are called to love.

May God bless you this Easter.

Elizabeth Morris

 

Green Christian monthly Prayer Guide

green christianOrdinary Christians, extraordinary times!

Click here to visit the Green Christian website, and check out their very useful and informative Prayer Guide.

 

 

'A Rocha France' centre for environmental study courses

creation courseA Rocha France is part of A Rocha (see www.arocha.org), a worldwide environmental Christian organisation. One of their two sites is the Domaine des Courmettes, which is a private property of 600 hectares situated in the commune of Tourrettes-sur-Loup in the Alpes-Maritimes.

At over 800m and including the Pic de Courmettes (1248 m), the whole site is a nature reserve and provides outstanding views of the Côte d’Azur below. The heart of the estate is the old chateau which can welcome different sized groups for varied activities including raising awareness of environmental questions.

The courses aim to explore scientific and theological questions about creation in the stunning scenery of Les Courmettes. It’s a partnership between The Faraday Institute and A Rocha France, and will include lectures, study sessions, practical activities and guided excursions, plus plenty of time for relaxation and solitude.

For more details about future courses, visit their website here.

 

Reduce plastic consumption during Lent!

plasticJoin the 'Lent plastics challenge' - and help make a positive change!

Over 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic have produced since the 1950s. If you are looking for ways to reduce your environmental impact why not join us in the Lent plastics challenge. Download it here.

There is also a Facebook group - Plastic-less Lent 2018 where you can share your journey, tips, tools etc. with others trying to live more lightly.

 

Fasting for Climate Change: 1st day of each month

fast for climateIt's been inspiring to read about the recent progress made during the Climate Change Conference in Paris, historic negotiations which have the potential to be a new dawn for the international effort to address climate change. From the pilgrimages, to worldwide marches and community level action, churches have been and continue to be a huge part in this movement. So inspiring!

People of faith have been fasting together on the first of every month. During the climate talks faith leaders and fasters gathered around a table set with empty plates. “It’s lunchtime, but we’re not eating! We’re fasting for climate justice, and for all countries to play their fair part in tackling climate change.”

Perhaps an idea for an additional Lent Challenge, to join with others to give one day per month for the climate?

Visit the Fast for the Climate website.

Visit the Green Christian website, which features prayer guides, worship materials, and suggestions on how to learn more and get involved.


ecumenical statement

Ecumenical Statement on the climate crisis

Religious leaders of France have spoken out together in support of the environment, stating that "the climate crisis is a spiritual and moral crisis." They make an appeal for "an upsurge of awareness so as to act consistently in favour of the climate and to question our values and our attitudes."

Click here to read the full Statement.

 

 

 

 

 

Creationtide Season

Creationtide in Aquitaine - what can we do to make a difference?

creationtide season...‘Creationtide’. In this period leading up to our Harvest Festivals at the end of the month or early in October, this now gives us an opportunity to take a renewed look at how we individually and as a church relate to the world around us...

View Tony's presentation video here

 

 

'Time for Creation' resources available

For Creationtide resources, visit the Church of England Creationtide website here.

creationCreationtide, 'Time for Creation' is very much an ecumenical celebration, taking place each year from 1st September - 4th October. Resources are avaialble here from the World Council of Churches website.

The Eco-Congregation Scotland website features an interesting 4-week study:

Week 1 – Pilgrimage: God’s invitation to get moving (Matthew 16: 21-28)

Week 2 –  Guide for the journey: God’s commandments (Matthew 18: 15-20)

Week 3 – God’s companionship on the journey (Matthew 18: 21-35)

Week 4 – Food for the journey: God’s provision (Matthew 20: 1-16)

The beginning and the end date of Time for Creation are linked with the concern for creation in the Eastern and the Western traditions of Christianity, respectively.

September 1st was proclaimed as  a day of prayer for the environment by the late Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I in 1989. The Orthodox church year starts that day with a commemoration of how God created the world. On 4 October, Roman Catholics and other churches from the Western traditions commemorate Francis of Assisi, known to many as the author of the Canticle of the Creatures.

Prayer during Creationtide: God, of the living earth You have called people to care for your world - you asked Noah to save creatures from destruction. May we now understand how to sustain your world – Not over-fishing, not over-hunting, Not destroying trees, precious rainforest Not farming soil into useless dust. Help us to find ways to use resources wisely to find a path to good, sustainable living in peace and harmony with creatures around us. Amen.

 

Prayers during the Creationtide season: Sept - Oct

God of wisdom, showing us your love in the rising sun and waning tide, you grace Earth with life in all its variety.
Every thing has meaning, is blessing; every one is charged with care for the smallest creature to the ocean’s depth.
Grant us wisdom to know your ways of love and gentle kindness. Give us the mind to learn what we do not know but long to understand so that we may honour and nurture all that makes us one with you. Amen.

God of Heaven and earth, you have blessed us with the works of your hands,
The tall mountains and deep blue seas, even wonderful creatures to adorn it and have given us dominion over all of them.
Help us to preserve and appreciate this gifts that others may benefit, even generations to come, this we pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord and the Holy Spirit
one God now and for ever. Amen.