Everyday Environmentalism - 19th Sunday After Trinity
As we emerge from the season of Creationtide and plunge back into so-called Ordinary Time in the church calendar (which in fact, we never actually left), it is interesting to reflect on the more everyday aspects of Christian environmentalism. As well as enjoying the Creationtide liturgies at Cotham and St Paul’s over the past few weeks, I had an opportunity to preach an ‘Eco Sunday’ service in the Swindon Deanery. One of the points I tried to make there was that environmentalism or ‘creation care’ is not just for Creationtide, but should be a fundamental aspect of our Christian faiths throughout the year.
What does Christian environmentalism look like in Ordinary Time? One answer to this question is that we should be doing more of the same. Members of our two parishes represent a wonderfully wide and diverse range of environmental activity ranging from high level policy work in government and industry, to dedicated work to reduce the carbon footprint and energy costs of our church buildings, to community gardening, to courageous protest activities demanding structural change. The St Paul’s Eco Arts Community Hub (SPEACH) is trying to flip the traditional eco church model and using the church as a hub to promote environmental activities across the parish. We’ve just started a climate café to offer a space to reflect on the realities of the climate emergency as demonstrated by the People’s Emergency Briefing, and our monthly eco-gathering meets once a month to discuss how the church can do more to engage wider environmental issues. We have strong contacts with national organisations that work for the environment and environmental justice including Green Christian, A Rocha, the Greenbelt Festival, and the Hazelnut Community. There can’t be many benefices across the Church of England that have such a commitment to Christian environmentalism as Cotham and St Paul’s.
But as well as doing more to respond to the contemporary environmental crisis and the inextricably linked environmental justice issues, there is also a case, at least at times, for doing less. Doing less does not mean caring less, but it does mean slowing down and giving ourselves an opportunity to reflect on the beauty and wonder of creation and on our place within it. And by doing less we also give ourselves an opportunity to do less harm.
I skipped church last Sunday to go for a run in the Quantocks. Initially I felt a bit guilty, not least because last Sunday was a celebration of the Feast of St Francis and perhaps the most important day of the year for Christian environmentalism. But on further reflection there was something wonderfully appropriate about being outside to celebrate St Francis’s love of creation, and this feeling was enhanced by the fact that was such a beautiful early autumn day. I am not advocating skipping church (at least too often!), but I would encourage all of us to take some time to be fully present in God’s creation and to feel connected to the world beyond ourselves. This sense of connection is a key element of everyday Christian environmentalism. It is the soil from which our other actions can grow and flourish and it is something to be cultivated as we turn our attention back to the day-to-day living of Ordinary Time.
Adrian
