York: major ecumenical day on climate change

Ben Niblett from Tearfund

More than 400 people attended an ecumenical service at York Minster, followed by a series of workshops entitled Mission Earth: A Christian Response to Climate Change.

The Mission Earth event was the culmination of an enquiry conducted among northern Christians called the Christian Census on Climate Change. The aim of the census was to provide a lasting record of Christians' opinions about the issue. Some 700 Christian communities and individuals (a third of whom were under 21) took part in the census, which got people of faith talking about and reflecting on the moral implications of climate change.

As part of its commitment to issues of justice, peace and the integrity of Creation, the Carmelite Order takes seriously the massive threat posed to human life by climate change, and various branches of the Carmelite Family took part in the census and the Mission Earth event.

The service began with a word of welcome and opening prayer led by Rt Rev Terence Drainey, Catholic Bishop of Middlesbrough. Prayers of Penitence were then led by members of the Baptist Church and the Society of Friends (Quakers) confessing shortcomings in humanity's care for the whole of God's creation. The beauty of creation was recalled in the first reading from the Book of Genesis, read by The Reverend Stephen Burgess, Chair of the York and Hull District of the Methodist Church. After a Psalm was sung, the Dean of York Minster, The Very Reverend Keith Jones, read the poem God's Grandeur by Jesuit priest Gerard Manley Hopkins.

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, then gave an address on the topic of climate change and the Christian response to it.

The congregation sang a hymn, and the service closed with Bishop Drainey reading a text attributed to the Carmelite nun Saint Teresa of Avila:

Christ has no body now but yours,
no hands but yours, no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which to look
with Christ's compassion on the world.
Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good,
And yours are his hands with which to bless us now.

The ecumenical service concluded with a blessing by the Archbishop of York.

The service was followed by presentations in York Minster from groups involved in organising the day. To set the scene a reflective video presentation on climate change was shown that had been made by MYMission (the Middlesbrough Diocesan Youth Mission Team).

An introduction to the "Mission Earth" initiative was then given by John Hinman of the Christian Census / Mission Earth Working Group. He explained that the initiative had arisen from projects undertaken in the Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough reflecting on social justice and the common good. He said that "Mission Earth" was the first ecumenical project undertaken from this work, and that no other issue is so vitally important for the well-being of the planet. He explained that the working group sees the event as the first phase of a Christian campaign in the north of England on climate change, and invited people to get involved. He expressed the working party's disappointment that no member or representative of the government had taken part in the event, but reported that the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, will make representation to the Department of Energy & Climate Change.

A presentation on 'What Is Climate Change?' was then given by Martin Hodson of The John Ray Initiative, an educational charity bringing together scientific and Christian understandings on the environment. He explained some of the science surrounding climate change, and the urgency of acting to mitigate humanity's contribution to it. He spoke of the need for action - both adaptation and mitigation - on individual, community and international levels. On the community level, he said that "Churches are ideally placed ... We can put pressure on our government to take firm action and encourage them to persuade other governments to do the same." He said that climate change is a massive problem facing the world, but not an impossible one, if we act together and act quickly.

Tim Niblett, Head of Campaigns for Tearfund (a leading relief and development charity, working in partnership with Christian agencies and churches worldwide to tackle the causes and effects of poverty), then spoke about the impact of climate change already being experienced in different parts of the world, and the ways that those who are economically poorest are often those suffering most from environmental damage.

The final presentation of the morning was given by Ruth Jarman of Operation Noah, a charity which provides leadership, focus and inspiration in response to the growing threat of catastrophic climate change endangering God’s creation. Ruth spoke about "Our Response as Concerned Christians", considering what positive actions we can undertake as individuals, as a nation, and as Church-goers. She called on Christians to lead a low-carbon life, and on the government to invest in infrastructure that will reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. She stated "The Church's job is to be the prophetic voice the world needs. Who best to remind our government and the business community of their responsibilities to the future? The Church must give voice to the climate scientists who are the prophets of our day, speaking uncomfortable truths to our generation. The Church, like us all, is embedded in an economic system that is destroying what God has made. How comfortable do we feel about that?"

Among the Carmelites taking part in the Mission Earth event were the York community of Corpus Christi Carmelite Sisters and other members of York Carmelite Spirituality Group.

Many of those who took part in the ecumenical service then made the short walk to York St John University for an afternoon of talks and workshops on climate change. In the lobby of De Grey Court various charities,
businesses and community groups had stalls offering information and ideas on the matter of climate justice.

The convenor of York Carmelite Spirituality Group, Johan Bergström-Allen, was among those who agreed to be photographed holding a watering can as part of the Waterproof photo petition organised by Catholic development charity Progressio.

After lunch Greg Hoyland of York St John's Faculty of Education and Theology welcomed those gathered for a plenary session. Robert Thorniley-Walker, a Conservation Engineer, then gave a presentation on the initial findings of the Christian Census on Climate Change (to read the original text of the census please click here). The Census was intended to record Christian attitudes to climate change in 2012 as a benchmark for the future, and to awaken the Churches to this important issue. The initial conclusions are that there is a consensus among Christians that because of climate change the livelihoods of billions of people are at stake. Most respondents felt that the moral implications of climate change are not being grasped by fellow Christians. Some felt that the problem is too big to solve, or that action now is too late.

The presentation by Robert Thorniley-Walker presented some suprising results about Christians' attitudes towards climate change.

Isabel Carter, Chair of Operation Noah then gave an address entitled "A Call to the Church: Responding with Hope and Urgency". She spoke of the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which declared in 2007 that "Scientific evidence for warming of the climate system is unequivocal". She called on the Churches to speak out against climate change, which over 97% of scientists agree is increased by human activity.

Participants then had the opportunity of attending workshops offered by different organisations, including Christian Aid, Yorkshire Wildflife Trust, Tearfund, Quaker Living Witness and The John Ray Initiative.

The best-attended workshops was a presentation on the Climate Justice work of CAFOD given by Sarah Whykes, the charity's Lead Analyst on Environment and Climate Change. The CAFOD workshop 'From Durban to Doha' presented the political initiatives being implimented internationally to tackle climate change.

Laurie Michaelis, Coordinator of Quaker Living Witness, facilitated a workshop on "Going green together: Working with difference and conflict". Participants shared their experiences of working with the tensions and challenges encountered in communities when trying to live sustainably.

After the workshops had finished John Hinman, Chair of the Mission Earth / Christian Census Working Group, gave some words of thanks and an invitation for people to continue reflecting and working together on the issue of climate justice.

As the event had grown from work began in Middlesbrough Diocese, Bishop Terence Drainey was asked to give the closing address. He shared some of Pope Benedict XVI's recent thoughts on the importance of addressing climate change, and read St. Francis of Assisi's Canticle of the Creatures.

For more pictures and links to video footage with this report see: www.carmelite.org/index.php?nuc=news&item=771&func=view&id=40