Why are we doing this?
Many members of the congregation of St Margaret’s and the Parish of
Holy Cross are concerned about climate change. And we should be. Ac-
cording to the latest research (Mark Howden, Climate Change Institute,
ANU), even if countries achieve the emission reductions promised in the
“Paris Agreement” the average global temperature rise is predicted to
reach nearly 3°C. (He compares that to a total of 5°C that historically
made the difference between an ice age and what we think of as
“normal” conditions.) For Australia this means more days above 40°C,
more drought, more heat stress, more fires and importantly, less water
for everyone.
This is truly a climate emergency. And as in many an emergency before,
all over the nation and the world, church communities like ours will re-
spond by helping out those in need: the people that are affected by
drought, those losing their homes to fires, to flood and rising sea levels.
But let’s not wait until more disasters happen. We need to take up our
role as stewards of God’s creation.
The motivation for our action in this area is because we believe in God,
the source of all that is good, true and beautiful, who made our world
and continually sustains and renews it. We believe that our love for God
should be shown by loving and respectful relationships with all of God’s
creation and with each other. Our very life and creativity is grounded in
these relationships.
We grieve that our world has been damaged because humanity has re-
lated out of selfishness rather than love towards creation and each oth-
er. In acting to restore our beautiful world, we follow in the footsteps of
our Lord Jesus Christ who has “reconciled all things in heaven and earth
to God” (Colossians 1.20), and calls us to the transformation of our
minds and hearts so that we may be effective signs of God’s love in, and
for the world.
As Christian churches in North Canberra, both St Margaret’s Uniting
Church and Holy Cross Anglican Church share a common calling to em-
body and enact God’s Kingdom of justice and peace (including justice
for creation) at the heart of our local community.
This calling finds its expression in our shared commitment:
- To transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence
Carbon Action Project
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1 March 2020