Church and tree-huggers, unite!

I would like to draw your attention to a great article, 'Church and tree-huggers, unite!' in this week’s The Church Times, by Joe Ware of Christian Aid.

Joe explains that there have been harmful relations between environmentalists and the church in the past,
‘The perceived divide between a gang of godless tree-huggers, on the one side, and an institution that cares only about saving souls at the expense of ecological destruction, on the other, caused a damaging impasse in which both creation care and evangelism suffer.’ 
Thankfully this frostiness between church and the environment is now thawing,
‘Like the arrival of Aslan in Narnia’s perpetual winter … spring is coming.’ 
The result is huge potential for the Kingdom of God. Thousands of churches have responded, by reducing fossil fuel usage through greater energy efficiency and switching energy providers, by greening their investments and divesting from fossil fuels, and by teaching about creation care. As the late evangelist Rob Frost put it:
“When Christians take the earth seriously, people take the gospel seriously.” 
It is encouraging to hear that parishes across Ireland are asking, ‘how can we do more?’. With harvest approaching what better time to consider greening your church? May I suggest a first step to look at the ‘Energy Audit’ on the ‘Parish Resources – Land and Buildings’ section of the Church of Ireland website. We all can do more, ‘Spring is coming’.

A version of this blog post appeared in the Church of Ireland Gazette, 25 August 2017.

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