Earth Day Sermon by Rev. Elizabeth Welch

This Earth Day sermon was written by Rev. Elizabeth Welch. She is a member of the Stewardship of the Environment Committee (Anglican Diocese of Montreal) and the parish priest at St. Andrew and St. Mark Anglican Church in Dorval.
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Why on the 3rd Sunday of Easter are we reading all about sin? It’s almost as if after the first two Sundays of Easter we’re back in Lent. One commentator wrote: “Can’t the Scriptures cut us a break for one Sunday and give us simple ‘God is great’ good news?” It’s the 3rd Sunday of Easter after all! The commentator added: “I feel the same way about the world sometimes [thinking]: can’t the world make joy a little easier?”

The question for us at this time is: How do we be an Easter people; how do we follow the risen Christ when life does not always seem touched by the resurrection?

Earth Day statement by the Primate and Bishop Johnson

Archbishop Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, with the Rev. Susan Johnson, National Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

Earth Day—observed annually on April 22nd—falls this year in the midst of the Festival of Easter in which we celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created.... He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:15–17)

Connect the Blue Dots National Day of Action

On Sunday, April 19 there will be a national day of action in support of environmental rights. This includes fresh air, clean water and healthy food.  As part of the Blue Dot movement people are coming together all across the country.

So far more than 70,000 Canadians have signed up to participate in events that are planned in more than 60 communities from coast to coast (the actual turn out is expected to far exceed this number).

Big and small events will take place in living rooms and community spaces, parks and outdoor places. All of these events are intended to protect the people and places that we love.

The Blue Dot Movement Advocating for a Healthy Environment

Rather than just address individual environmental insults, the Blue Dot movement seeks to entrench a legal framework that will protect Canada's environment from coast to coast. A growing number of Canadians are demanding the right to a healthy environment. Historically Canadians have been at the forefront of environmental issues, but in recent years these issues have been ignored by Canada's federal government. 

Looking for Young People of Faith to be Moral Climate Leaders

Concerned about climate change? Connected to a spiritual or faith community? Fossil Free Faith is looking for young people of faith* to become leaders in strengthening moral and faith-based calls for climate justice and fossil fuel divestment in Canada.

Climate Justice is the defining moral issue of our time, and young people have been leading the movement to address it. As governments stall on taking action, and communities across the globe experience more and more deadly weather events, the fossil fuel divestment movement continues to pick up steam. We're calling other young people of faith to join in. Young people who want their schools and faith institutions to stop investing in companies that destroy the planet.

Anglicans Invited to Eco-Ministry in Costa Rica

Members of the Parish of Glengarry in the Diocese of Ottawa are set to embark on a journey to Costa Rica in February 2016 to learn about ecological ministry—and spots are still available for any Anglicans across Canada who wish to join them.

Clergy and parishioners—in an effort to advance the commitment to eco-justice and eco-spirituality among Christians—have partnered with Creation Matters and Greening Sacred Spaces to plan the Costa Rica trip. Their goal is to create a shared curriculum to educate church members about environmental issues.

What the Climate Movement Must Learn from Religion

Last September 40,000 people attended London’s largest ever climate march. This was a big achievement for an issue that struggles to catch people’s attention. After all, as psychologists point out, it is notoriously hard to mobilise people around issues that are invisible, uncertain, set in the future and require them to make sacrifices.

Or is it? This Easter, more than 2 million people will attend church in Britain to celebrate the Christian resurrection. They will agree to constrain their most primal drives in return for long-term rewards that are not just uncertain but fundamentally unknowable.

Climate Leadership from the Head of the Episcopal Church

Katherine Jefferts Schori is the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, she believes that those who deny the science of climate change are both "blind" and "immoral." Jefferts Schori is not only a religious authority, she also has some serious scientific credentials. She holds a doctorate in oceanography and worked as a marine biologist before becoming a priest.

At a March 24 Episcopal event in Los Angeles called The Climate Change Crisis Forum, Jefferts Schori delivered a speech in which she said, "this planet is overheating, its climate is changing, and the residents are sick, suffering, and dying."

As reported by the Huffington Post, Jefferts Schori said, “We are making war on the integrity of this planet. We were planted in this garden to care for it, literally to have dominion over its creatures. Dominion means caring for our island home.” She went on to say that humanity must make a "life and death" decision and she added that the window of opportunity to do so, "will not last long."

A Good Friday Call for Climate Justice from the Chair of the Anglican Communion Environmental Network

 

A Good Friday call for climate justice from the Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba, Chair of the Anglican Communion Environmental Network.

On this Good Friday, we reflect on the meaning of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Our view of salvation has often focused on our individual souls and journey to heaven. Our responsibility to care for God’s Creation has been overlooked or ignored. We have acted as if Christ only died to save the human race. The truth of the redemption of all things in Christ, which is the message of the life-giving cross, must be reclaimed (Colossians 1:20).

Anglican Bishops: “A Call to Urgent Action for Climate Justice”

A group of 17 Anglican Bishops from all six continents have called for urgent prayer and action on the “unprecedented climate crisis”. Their Declaration The World Is Our Host: A Call to Urgent Action for Climate Justice released on Monday March 30, 2015 sets a new agenda on climate change for the 85 million-strong Anglican Communion.

Archbishop Fred Hiltz Fasts for Climate Change

Archbishop Fred Hiltz fasted for the Climate on Friday, March 6, 2015. The Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada and President of the PWRDF Board of Directors, joined other faith leaders, politicians and environmentalists for the 365 Rolling Fast for the Climate that began on December 1, 2014 at the UN climate conference in Lima, Peru, and will end November 30, the first day of the climate conference in Paris, France.