St. Margaret's News November 2021 | Page 2

Protecting Creation

On Saturday 16 October , a small group from both St Margaret ’ s Uniting and Holy Cross Anglican churches gathered at our church to take some photos and videos for use on social media to promote the Global Day of Climate Action ( 17 & 18 October ). The “ Protect Creation ” banner at the front of the church facing towards the street was a principal focus .

ARRCC had asked for people to look “ visibly religious , engaged and active ”, so Rector Tim Watson wore his big green chasuble , and Joan Smith robed . One of the church crosses was also brought along . And the fortuitous passing by of a family known to Kristy Baker enabled us to add some youngsters to the mix .

The photos needed to be posted on the social media accounts the following morning ( Sunday 17th ) but , as I would not have time then , I actually did it on the Saturday evening . I uploaded three photos to https :// greenfaith . org / as per their instructions . I also put them all on the St Margaret ’ s Facebook page tagging # Faiths4Climate and drawing the posts attention to the Facebook pages of Holy Cross ( https :// www . facebook . com / holycrosshackett ) and ARRCC ( https :// www . facebook . com / ARRCC ).

We were delighted on17 October when SBS News used the photo on the cover of this issue with a story headlined “ Faith communities demand more climate action at protests across Australia ” and a sub-headline reading “ Australia ' s diverse faith communities have held protests around the country calling on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to make stronger emissions reduction targets by 2030 ”.

The story went on to say “ More than 110 faith communities spanning every state and territory protested around Australia on Sunday , with banners calling on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to " Protect Creation " and take " Bold climate action by 2030 , starting now " adorning cathedrals , churches , Buddhist temples and a mosque . The events , organised by the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change , aim to send a message to Mr Morrison that diverse faith communities want him to take a strong climate policy platform to the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow , which will run from 31 October to 12 November . “

St Margaret ’ s News 2 November 2021