Ecological journalist and founder of the international environmental movement 350.org Bill McKibben tweeted recently, “The existential threat to our civilization is just treated as a kind of bothersome add-on to their real work by the powers-that-be.” He was talking about government, but in church circles, the situation isn’t much different. The existential threat to our civilization – and in fact to much of life on Earth – is seen as just one concern among many.
This is not how it should be. We should be treating the climate crisis the way some churches are treating Ukraine – with a prayer at the beginning of our service. With a dedicated icon. With special fundraising. With a special notice, front and centre on our websites and our Facebook pages. With the explicit outspoken support of both clergy and of lay leadership. With a support group for those wrestling with climate anxiety and climate grief.
The ecological crisis is not the kind of situation we face once in a decade, or a century or lifetime. This crisis that is upon us is unique in the history of the planet. After many false alarms, we are now indeed living in the End Times, unless there is a miracle. We need to be willing to be part of that miracle.
Our whole focus needs to be on the meaning of this moment, unique in human and even in geological time. We should be wearing sackcloth and ashes. We should be repenting, not just for the mess we have made, but for our lack of hope, our lack of determination, our reluctance to join fully in humanity’s last battle.
It is not just a matter of survival – though it is that. It is not just a matter of social justice, though it is that as well. It is a matter of learning to see the whole of creation in a new way, as an interdependent, interconnected web of life through which the love of God is revealed in its numinous fullness. Within this delicate web every creature has a place, has rights of its own, and makes a unique and irreplaceable contribution to the well-being of the whole. We need to understand that Jesus on the cross was pleading for the whole creation, not only the human, and that the whole Earth is the sacred body of Christ.
For our entire lifetime, and in fact, throughout the whole history of the Christianity, Christians have sung beautiful hymns about offering all that we have, all our treasure, time, and talents, to work for the coming of the kingdom. But now, when the willingness to sacrifice “all the vain things that charm us most” is required more urgently and literally than ever before, we are worrying about not overdoing it, keeping a balance, being realistic, not getting carried away.
We do need to sing (Heb.12.1). But we need to do more than sing. We need to share reasons for hope – news of concrete action and progress. We also need to share accurate information about reasons for panic. We need to be reminded that love is expressed in every tree planted, every wetland saved, every indigenous community protected from the violence of the extraction industry. We need to be reminded that every time we put on an extra sweater, or choose to take the bus, we are actively living out our faith, and expressing our own love for our Creator, our fellow creatures, and our common home.
At the same time, we need to be reminded that these little gestures are not enough – not nearly enough. We should sign every single worthwhile petition that appears in our inbox. We should write to our PMs, our MLAs, our mayors. We should, if we are able, show up at protests and rallies. We should, as a church, support the international Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, which has been signed by 1,300 institutions including the cities of Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, London England and the Vatican, as well as thousands of individuals around the globe.
To be effective in the Climate War, and the war against extinctions, we need to strengthen our ties with other Christians and people of other faiths who are walking on the same path. We need to accept in gratitude and humility the resources that are being offered to us by the wider church, the National Anglican church, the world-wide Anglican communions. We need to be inspired by the Lambeth calls on the environment, which are being discussed as I write. We need to draw upon the shared resources of our sister denominations, and the many ecological and social justice organisations with whom we are affiliated. There is comfort in the knowledge that we belong to a mighty company of all faithful people, and that, working together, with God’s help, we are strong.
“We” here means everybody – people of all backgrounds, people of all ages. But “we” especially needs to include younger people, who will bear the brunt of what their elders have unleashed.
“We” in this context also means people of all races, cultures, classes, abilities, genders, and sexual orientations. Inclusion and equity are not separate issues competing with the issue of climate change. Particularly but not only, in the developing worlds, it is women who struggle to till the parched land, transgender people who are turned away from shelters, indigenous people whose water has been poisoned. Cradle Christians have heard all their lives that they are called to serve. Are we ready to put ourselves at the service of those on the front lines, who see clearly what needs to be done but struggle to find the means to do it on their own?
Our baptismal vows call us to resist “the evil powers of this world, which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God.” This is a phrase that we also need to start taking literally, as this BBC article on the discrediting of science makes horrifyingly clear. But if we are to stand up to the forces of evil and the forces of oil, we need to strengthen and deepen ties witin our own local church communities. We cannot and will not get through this on our own. (“If “evil “ sounds like too
strong a word, you may want to have a look at Jane McMullen’s article, “The Audacious PR Plot that seeded doubt about climate change”, published by BBC News online, on July 23rd, www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-62225696.)”
St Paul writes of “building each other up” (1 Thess. 5.11), although all too often he has been quoted in a way that puts people down. It is crucial in this crisis that we do not put each other down, or judge each other, but rather that we encourage each other in authentic friendship, trust and caring.
We are all children of God, and all children as well of a mother who is critically ill. We all need special consideration and love. But we need to be careful about focusing on grief. The patient isn’t dead yet. We need to direct our energy towards healing her, not resign ourselves to her passing.
We need urgently to think about ways we can support one another and help each other fight against denial and despair. In each of our parishes, we need to provide opportunity for discussion, for questions, for study, for prayer. We might even think about working with artists in our communities to make a Way of the Cross for the Earth. We might participate in the world-wide Communion Forest initiative launched this week at Lambeth.
Through it all, we need to take literally St Paul’s warning that the time is short (1 Cor 7:29) and that we are called, all of us, to respond to the crisis to the full extent of our ability. And beyond. Each of us needs to remind ourselves, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil.4.13).
