Operation Noah trustee, Mick Oliver, reviews this powerful new teaching series from Revd Jon Swales and Alice Brencher.
In a world of news and stories, truth and lies, it’s hard to navigate how, as a Christian, I should respond to climate change. It’s also hard to navigate my own feelings of despair, worry, guilt and hope.
The Revd John Swales with Alice Brencher leads a series of six in-depth studies into climate justice, explaining and exploring how we should respond as Christians. This is done in a truth-filled, gentle manner through facts, Bible verses, prayers and personal reflective poems.
This teaching series from Swales and Brencher is good follow-on to Operation Noah’s Tenants of the King Bible study, which I highly recommend. The sessions are:
Climate justice – the story we find ourselves in
Climate justice – just Jesus – enacting the kingdom in a world of climate injustice
Climate justice – discipleship – re-evaluating what we prize
Protest and activism – driving a spoke into the wheel of climate injustice
Lament – a spiritual resource for a hurting world
Cruciform adaptation – living faithfully and dying well
The course can be used in many ways:
Listen to it while getting in those 10k steps (that’s what I did!)
Watch at home with a few friends, chatting about it at various points over tea and cake or glass of wine
Churches have a vital role to play in accelerating the transition to net zero emissions, according to ‘Church Investment in Climate Solutions: Financing a Liveable Future’ – a new report from Operation Noah relevant to climate campaigners and faith investors.
Since launching ‘Tenants of the King’ in 2018 – our four-part study guide on what the Bible has to say about caring for the environment – the climate and ecological crisis has become even more urgent. That’s why we’ve recently updated ‘Tenants’, both to reflect this deepening crisis, and also to highlight the opportunities for missional activity as Christians engage with environmental issues.
Operation Noah has released a report that makes recommendations on ways to reduce and store carbon emissions to one of the country’s largest landowners, the Church of England, which owns approximately 0.5% of the UK’s land. The report is also relevant to other UK Churches and Christian groups, estimated to own another 0.5% of the UK’s land.
Operation Noah board member, Rachie Ross, recently spoke to church leaders in her local area about how they could best tackle the climate crisis. Watch her talk here.
Operation Noah has board members available to talk to your church or church leaders. Get in touch to find out more.
In October 2020 Rev Helen Burnett held two Climate Sunday services at St Peter and St Paul’s Chaldon, in the Diocese of Southwark where she is Vicar. She has kindly shard her service sheets, prayers and sermons for anyone who finds them of use in planning their own Climate Sunday service.
Operation Noah has launched a thought-provoking animated film, Sālote, to help Christians around the world recognise the human cost of climate change, and its particular impact on women and children. An accompanying activity pack is also available to order or download.