Go Emilie – #Anglican #Priest takes #Environmental Activism to the streets

New Westminster Anglican Rev. Emilie Smith is making the news these days for her activism in Canada — and Latin America.

The feisty priest was recently in the B.C.media for the colourful way she took on the unknown idiots persistently dumping trash on the grounds of St. Barnaby’s parish in New Westminster.

releasing acid drainage and deadly arsenic into communities’ usable water? – See more at: http://postmediavancouversun.wordpress.com/?p=156817&preview=true#sthash.8OXfgsQx.dpuf

The Vancouver Sun covered the story under this headline: “New Westminster church ‘warns’ people to stop dumping trash on God’s turf.”

But Smith is creating more international waves for her campaign against the mining practices of major gold companies, including Canada’s Goldcorp.

Goldcorp was recently in the B.C. news for making a $500,000 donation to UBC’s Engineering department, to help women advance in engineering. It also donates to the Special Olympics.

But Goldcorp is making a different kind of news for its practices in Latin America, where Smith maintains Goldcorp is hurting communities and the environment.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2014/06/19/vancouver-anglican-priest-confronts-trash-dumpers-and-gold-miners/

 

#Anglican World responds to #fracking

Anglican world article

Auckland challenged on fossil fuels

From AnglicanTaonga.org.nz via Anglican Communion News Service

Revd Mathew Newton of St Paul’s is asking the Auckland Diocesan Synod this week to divest funds from companies whose main business is the extraction or production of fossil fuels.

In an interview with TV3’s Firstline programme, Mathew said, “For us, the science is really clear; we need to keep 80 per cent of the world’s gas, oil and coal reserves within the ground if we are going to have any chance of keeping the rise in climate to within 2ºC.

“So divesting from fossil fuels is very much a pertinent issue of the age, and we need to start acting now.”

The divestment motion to synod follows similar steps by churches in other countries, including the USA , the UK and Australia , and it responds to a call to divest issued by Archbishop Desmond Tutu last April.

“Climate change is a deeply moral issue,” Archbishop Tutu said. “Here in Africa we see the dreadful suffering of people from worsening drought, from rising food prices, from floods, even though they’ve done nothing to cause the situation. [By divesting] once again we can join together as a world and put pressure where it counts.”

If the Auckland motion receives the support of synod this week, the diocese will be the first church body in New Zealand to join the global divestment movement. But it may not be the last.

Fossil fuel divestment is on the agenda for other diocesan synods in September and October, and discussions on the topic are taking place among Catholic, Presbyterian and Baptist leaders.

Topic of grave concern

For several years senior church leaders in New Zealand have been expressing grave concern about climate change. In 2006 the Anglican bishops issued a joint statement acknowledging global warming to be “a real and present danger to the future of this planet and the survival of the species.”

Later that year the Catholic bishops noted warnings from climate scientists and called for serious efforts to limit global warming and to curb its potential impact on the global poor.
“The decisions of this generation over the next 20 years,” the bishops said, “will impact on the future of humanity.”

Ahead of the Copenhagen climate summit in 2009, the heads of the Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Anglican and Catholic Churches and the Salvation Army penned a statement calling for “bold action” by the New Zealand government and all world leaders.

“Scientists warn us that the window of opportunity for change is now very narrow,” the church leaders noted. “They warn us that if we do not grasp this opportunity, future generations will be the ones to bear the cost.”

Climate change is seen as a moral issue by these church leaders, and the reasons are not far to find. Recent reports by the World Bank highlight how climate change will disproportionately affect the poor and vulnerable – not least in the Pacific islands where sea level rise poses an existential threat.

A recent high-profile review in the The Lancet medical journal described climate change as “the biggest global health threat of the 21st century.”

“The scientific view of the severity and extent of the threat posed by climate change may not be well understood by the majority of churchgoers in New Zealand,” says Mathew Newton.

“But it is well understood by senior church leaders, and they take the issue very seriously. Among their ranks there is no longer any debate over the science. The challenge is simply to know what can be done about it.”

The divestment breakthrough

The global divestment movement appears to be opening up a new path of action on climate change.

The divestment strategy relies on fact that businesses require investment. And since investors can freely choose where to invest their money, divestment is a path of action that bypasses the stalled pathways of government policy and international agreements.

Mathew Newton sees good reasons for social responsible investors, including churches, to screen out fossil fuel stocks from their portfolios,“We have grown up accepting fossil fuels as a normal and benign component of everyday life. But when you take account of just how harmful fossil fuels are turning out to be for the planet and all living creatures on it, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that we shouldn’t be financing this industry any longer.

“Of course, fossil fuels have brought and continue to bring many benefits to society. But as the marginal cost of opting for clean alternatives over fossil fuels comes down, it seems more and more unconscionable to impose on the planet the high environmental cost of persisting with fossil fuels.

“From this perspective, excluding fossil fuel companies from church investment portfolios is simply a logical expression of existing commitments to ethical and socially responsible investing.”

Business journalist Rod Oram, who addressed a gathering of Auckland Anglicans at a forum on fossil fuel divestment last weekend, said fossil fuel divestment “is probably the most inspired and practical and powerful idea that anyone has yet come up with about trying to really knock back CO2 emissions.”

The good news, according to Rod, is that investing in fossil fuel companies hasn’t added value to share portfolios over recent years. At the same time, there are good reasons to think fossil fuel stocks will prove a risky investment over the coming years because of the so-called carbon bubble in the market.

“So, yes this is a moral issue, yes this is a science and climate issue. And I’m passionate about all that. “But the plain economics of this is what the most immoral, unscientific, unsocially just person in the world should be able to respond to as well.”

Churches leading from the front

Over the past decade, New Zealand churches have taken some steps to reduce their carbon footprint. Auckland Diocese has been a leader, thanks to the work of its Diocesan Climate Change Action Group and its appointment of a sustainability worker.

Nonetheless, parishes have not shown a great deal of enthusiasm for sustainability efforts.
Mathew Newton believes that with divestment it will be a different story.

“Taking money out of the fossil fuel industry is a bold move. It sends a strong signal about the urgency of tackling climate change and about the church’s commitment to standing with the poor and vulnerable who will be hit first and hardest by climate change.

“Not only that, divestment by churches has the potential to produce a cascade effect in society.”

Mathew said that faithful and resolute action by the church could be just what New Zealand needs to help it regain its focus on tackling climate change.

Canadian Anglican and Lutheran youth lead national prayer event on Water

Article from ANGLICAN JOURNAL (Canada)

http://www.anglicanjournal.com/articles/praying-on-parliament-hill

By Leigh Anne Williams on July, 06 2013

Photo Credit: Art Babych

Hundreds of Anglicans and Lutherans in Ottawa for Joint Assembly converged on Parliament Hill on Saturday morning for a prayer event intended to draw attention to the issue of access to clean water, particularly in aboriginal communities.

Led by Lutheran and Anglican youth, the event gathered people into circles of 12 on the walk in front of the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill.  Volunteers held long ribbons of turquoise cloth that sparkled in the sun and cascaded down the steps like a waterfall. The ribbons were later carried through the crowd after the service .

The prayer service was led by Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, Susan Johnson, national bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, and Lydia Mamakwa, area bishop for northern Ontario. There were prayers for the rivers, for people who make their living from the water and for people who cross oceans. There were also prayers for the responsible use of water in urban and rural settings.

Heather Werboweski, 17, from First Lutheran in Winnipeg, told the Journal that she thinks the event will have an impact. “Now more people are aware that it’s an issue and so I hope they will more consciously think about the water that they use and think about the people who don’t have the resources that we do.”

Deb Roberts, a member from Christ Lutheran Church in Regina who attended with her 14-month-old daughter Rowan, said the event was a great idea. “It shows solidarity working together for the Lutherans and the Anglicans and for everybody with the native people…We all are treaty people…water is an issue for all of us, so we should all have the same rights and the same access to water.

Bishop Adam Halkett of the diocese of Saskatchewan said, “The water is being damaged, so it’s going to affect our grandchildren. It’s affecting us already today, so we need to let the government know that we are the people of this land. We didn’t sell anything…We shared a lot of this land and water is also a part of that.”

Bishop Susan Johnson said the event was “a wonderful opportunity to be on the Hill and to make this really significant gesture and statement right at the foot of our nation’s capital.”

– See more at: http://www.anglicanjournal.com/articles/praying-on-parliament-hill#sthash.0UNXzguk.dpuf

From a Theology of Plunder to a Theology of Wonder

 

‘Guide me, oh thou Great Jehovah… pilgrim through this barren land’’

Most of us have not been raised with a theology of creation. We have been taught that our true spiritual home is heaven – we are pilgrims through this ‘barren land’.

Until the Middle Ages the Church had a strong theology of creation. Science and faith spoke the same language. Their clear understanding of cosmology was based on Genesis. Genesis taught us that humans were called to love God, to be reconciled to one another and to care for Creation.

The discovery that the Earth moved around the sun came as a bombshell – the dethronement of the earth as central to the universe challenged the theology of creation – and Galileo was condemned as a heretic.

Science and religion began to develop on different paths. The theology of creation was lost and the church focussed on the Christian story – on redemption and salvation. As their understanding of the universe was threatened so the Church moved away from a theology embracing creation to a theology focussing on the Fall and Redemption of humankind.
The split between Church and Science widened with Darwin’s further discoveries. In the case of evolution most of the religious world clung to the Genesis account as a document of both faith and science. Religion was unable to enter into creative dialogue with the new scientific view of the cosmos.

During the age of Enlightenment science was impoverished by the lack of spiritual insights. Science could answer the question ‘how’ but not the question ‘why’. God was seen at most as a ‘clockmaker’ leaving this machine for humans to control. Nature was no longer alive or permeated with spiritual presence, it was objectified and lost any rights. It was seen as simply matter to be manipulated to satisfy human need or greed. The industrial revolution primarily took place in Christian countries where the sense of the spiritual value of creation had been lost.

As the church turned inwards and focussed on personal salvation and debates about doctrine, the scientific community developed a parallel salvation story – the power of science and technology to save the world. Some of those dreams have turned into nightmares.

The Christian world had moved from a theology of wonder to a theology of plunder.

So how do we rediscover our theology of creation?

Perhaps it is new developments in science that are enabling us to rediscover parts of our faith that have been lost.

An iconic moment was the first viewing of our Earth from outer space. This picture of the blue planet as a living vital being as opposed to an object to be abused has entered our consciousness…

Scientists  are now discovering more mysteries, and are recovering the sense of wonder at how the world was made – we need to reclaim the theology of why it was made. It is time  to move from a theology of plunder back to a theology of wonder…

I believe in one God the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth..

Rev Dr. Rachel Mash; Environmental Coordinator;Anglican Church of Southern Africa

References:  Sean McDonagh; To care for the Earth

Plant a tree in Africa on Earth Day

The Anglican Church of Southern Africa has initiated a programme to plant trees at Churches, schools and orphanages. This creates a more beautiful space for worship and play , shade in the heat, and contributes to a reduction in greenhouse gases. Please visit our link at
http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/plant-10-000-trees-in-africa/ to find out how you can contribute..

Maundy Thursday – the Archbishop and the toilets?

This foot washing thing is a slightly strange ritual –  before I became a priest on Maundy Thursday  I used to give my feet a quick pre-wash and wear sandals in case I was picked to have my feet wash , to avoid the embarrassment of smelly feet. And part of me is quite glad that as a priest I now do the washing instead of having my feet  washed.

This act has lost the incredible power it had when Jesus did it the first time – he and his friends were sitting having a celebratory meal, wearing their good clothes and suddenly he gets up, puts on a towel and kneels down on the floor, and washes those smelly, dusty, mucky, stinky feet.

It is meaningful that this symbol involves washing. Today one of the greatest challenges we face as a world community is that of clean water and sewerage. At the one extreme we have people who have washing machines, dish washers, tumble dryers, and more bathrooms than people in the house. At the other, we have people who carry water long distances on their heads, and wash their clothes in plastic basins, families who share one outside toilet between several homes. In South Africa  communal toilets are often dirty and dangerous as young women who go outside in the middle of the night to use them are at risk of rape.

So what then does the symbol of foot washing mean for us today?

I think firstly on the level of our churches it is a symbol of community. There is a wonderful poem by a Scottish poet, Maureen Sangster (which I have paraphrased into a much more boring English!)

Oh Christ you’re just a minister
You’re nae bloody use to me
You wouldna come and make
My mother’s cup of tea

You’re a stuck up little mannie
Bawking out yer words of Love
For Gods sake come down tae earth
And wear the oven glove

What is this Messiah for
That I must lose my life
Caring for my mother
While my brother has a wife?

If you’d come round on Sunday
Give me a helping hand
One shot of handling the commode
And you would understand

My life is just a constant round
Of meals and bloody peels
If the hand of God is in this, Christ
Its a mystery not revealed.

Within our church community there are many people who feel burdened by the daily round of caring for the old or the young – days filled with washing commodes, washing clothes and sheets, changing nappies, washing dishes. How can we as a church become a real community to those who need us to offer to assist them with their washing?

I remember meeting a pastor from a wonderful church in Nairobi, which had experienced amazing church growth. When I asked (with a tinge of jealousy) how they had achieved it he said that when AIDS was really bad their numbers dropped off terribly. So  they visited church members and harangued them to come back to church. But they realised that many of them could not come to church, and had to stay at home to look after sick family members or neighbours. So they changed their strategy and instead of   preaching at  people to come back to church, they offered them respite care – they stayed with the family member, and offered to wash some dishes, or change an adult diaper, or rinse out a commode while the exhausted person went to church. It is that community-in – action that made the church grow.

What can we learn – what assistance can we give to single mums, carers of the housebound, those who are too frail to get to church without a lift or can’t afford the bus fare? Can offering a home communion be linked with some practical support? Instead of washing feet, can we rinse out a commode? Can we assist single mums with some child minding, wash some clothes, wash some dishes? How can ‘foot washing’ become part of our life as a church community?

On a second and community level – the story of the foot washing is a symbol of the challenge we face to work for a just society – where all have access to clean water, safe sewerage facilities. A society where all can wash with clean water.

In our local township Khayelitsha part of the community was built with communal toilets . In order to save money these toilets were built with no walls – People had to go to the toilet with a blanket over their heads for privacy.

Our archbishop took up the challenge and helped to mobilise religious leaders against this – for a while he was dubbed the ‘toilet archbishop’ . What a high honour in the Kingdom of God, instead of being given an honorary Phd from an eminent institution , to be called the toilet archbishop. I think Jesus would be proud….

Rev Rachel Mash
Environmental Coordinator
Anglican Church of Southern Africa

(inspired by ‘After Virtue’ by Martyn Percy – in darkness yielding)

Archbishop Thabo visiting toilets

WONDER BOX?

OK, I admit, I haven’t a clue what a ‘wonder box’ is. The suggested activity for Thursday, March 21^st is ‘Consider purchasing or making a wonder box.’

So I guess . . . It must be a cooking device, using renewable energy, something like a solar cooker. Maybe it’s a box of foods produced and distributed locally. Possibly such a box is an assembly of food one would give to a friend or neighbour or a special display to inspire a child.

One of the challenges in producing a global awareness programme is using language everyone can appreciate and understand. Sometimes this is easier said than done.

After investigation http://www.iwillprepare.com/cooking_files/Wonder_Box.htm I have learned that a wonder box is a heat retention cooker. After you bring your food to a boil, (so it is heated throughout) using any number of cooking methods, you remove it from the heat source and quickly place the pot inside the wonder box. The major benefit of the Wonder Box is to reduce the fuel you need to cook your meals. One source stated that you can save up to 80% of your needed fuel by using a Wonder Box because the heat used for simmering is eliminated.

Great idea, good effect, all in an effort to reduce fuel consumption, use less energy produced through fossil fuel extraction, and keep carbon in the ground where it belongs.

Ken+

GET READY FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST OF MARCH (FOCUS ON FORESTS)

OK, it’s not strictly in line with the Carbon Fast Calendar, but this year marks the first International Day of the Forest, ever. An  International Day of Forestry has been around for some 30 years, but this year, we can focus on forests on a single day. I share this a few days prior to the celebration so you can make your own plans.

Forests will play a central role in human attempts to transition towards a sustainable future. The full text of the UN resolution proclaiming the IDOF can be read at http://www.un.org/esa/forests/international-day-of-forests.html . See also the UN forum on Forests at http://www.un.org/esa/forests/ .

It’s purpose is to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forest and of trees outside forests. We are encouraged to undertake local, national and international efforts to organize activities involving forests and trees, such as tree planting campaigns.

For those requiring further information, the third chapter in the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) latest report on the State of the World’s Forests includes suggestions for future strategies in realizing the potential contribution for consideration by leaders inside and outside the forest sector at the local, national and global levels. Goto http://www.fao.org/forestry/sofo/en/

In the Anglican Community, readers of this blog will be interested to learn of the work of Land for Life, a ministry run by Andrew and Maria Leake in Argentina. Specifically they work to preserve forest lands threatened by development and support the people who depend on them for their livelihood. For these folks and their work, our prayers continue. A link to a recent newsletter is at http://www.downanddromore.org/cmsfiles/moved/files/l/Land-for-Life-Feb13.pdf

Otherwise, let’s celebrate our forests. Send us some pictures. Here is a link to some of my own in a forest area close to where I live.

http://grayintheforest.smugmug.com/Landscapes/Turkeyless-Thanksgiving-Day/14151352_fvn9N5#!i=1043961110&k=bgCsNPB

Either add a comment with a link to this post, or email me directly at rector@colwoodanglican.ca with your images and I will put up a gallery.

Ken Gray+

It is time for holy anger

“Don’t give a man a fish, teach him how to fish”…but what if there is no longer any fish?
Rather teach him why the fish is drying up and how he can increase the fish in the pond.

The world has changed, and the role of the Christian Church is also changing. We have always been active in compassion and care, but we are now being called to work for justice in the area of advocacy.

What does advocacy mean?

Traditionally Christians stand by the river of poverty and see babies falling in. They take them out of the river, care for them, feed them, educate them, build houses to look after them. But at what point does the church go upstream to find out why the babies are falling into the river?
As a church we need to identify the causes of this poverty and advocate for change.

One definition of advocacy is the following:

“Transformational advocacy is the process of challenging ourselves and our leaders to change behaviours, policies and attitudes that perpetuate inequality and deny God’s will for human flourishing”.

Here are some tools for transformational advocacy.

Identify the problem and the root causes.
The advocacy should be around the issue that is causing the problem, for instance poverty being caused by pollution in the rivers.

Work with others
“Unusual coalitions of organisations and groups are often the most effective as they demonstrate the broad support for an issue”. Politicians find it harder to ignore your campaign if you come from different communities and groupings. You can then be strengthened by the expertise of other groups.

Utilize the right tools
We need to identify the people we want to influence – are they opponents, undecided or possible allies.
Which tools are most effective: a media release, private letter, research report, public meeting, march, social media campaign or a one on one meeting?
What are the tools we can use? We need the oxygen of publicity and the energy of people. So we need to get organisations or churches behind the campaign.

Motivate others to act
Think about what motivated you and your members to get involved. You need holy anger, empathy for those who are affected but also awareness of the issue. The most important tool is the voices of those most affected- stories, videos of the poor. You need to decide who you are going to target. For example if you want to target the youth you need to use social media.

Here is a helpful video that gives some ideas about advocacy
http://www.thejusticehub.org.au/content/video/25

(Rev Rachel Mash . With thanks to Tom Baker. From a workshop with Tearfund and the Micah challenge on transformation advocacy)