The Bishop of London has issued a call for Christians to "walk more lightly upon the earth" and to make lifestyle decisions accordingly - and there is now a big push on for making sure that churches themselves don't duck the environmental impact of their own buildings a practices.
The Sunday Times carried a fairly full report of Bishop Richard's remarks in advance of the publication of a major Church of England report into care for the environment, Treasures on Earth - you can view the website for "Shrinking the Footprint" here:
THE Bishop of London has declared it sinful for people to contribute to
climate change by flying on holiday, driving a “gas-guzzling” car or
failing to use energy-saving measures in the home... Richard Chartres will encourage vicars to preach more green sermons
and warn congregations that it is now a moral obligation for Christians
to lead eco-friendly lifestyles.
Chartres,
who chairs the bishops’ panel on the environment, said: “There is now
an overriding imperative to walk more lightly upon the earth and we
need to make our lifestyle decisions in that light.
“Making selfish choices such as flying on holiday or buying a
large car are a symptom of sin. Sin is not just a restricted list of
moral mistakes. It is living a life turned in on itself where people
ignore the consequences of their actions.”
Chartres, the third most senior bishop in the Church of
England, has declared his views as it prepares to publish Treasures on
Earth, a booklet on environmental matters to be sent to every diocese
for distribution.
Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said: “We stand
before God’s judgment on these matters. In life we have to make moral
choices over our sex life and over our domestic and financial affairs.
We make choices of moral significance and our relation to the
environment is no exception.”
So, apart from our commitment to go on preaching on this and campaigning about climate change and environmental matters, what are we going to do practically as a church?
- Relatively small matters, such as recycling paper (and CD's!), turning off heating where not needed and switching off computers overnight are becoming an increasingly natural part of our office and church environment.
- We are looking very seriously at ways to drastically cut our gas useage for heating - our bill for the church alone is around £5000 per year at the moment: a fearsome amount for a short length of time each week and a clear sign that we could be much more efficient.
- We're currently investigating the change to underfloor heating (with a cost of approx £13k plus a replacement floor cost of that again or more)...
- We're even looking at "geothermal" heat pump technology which uses the difference between underground and surface temperatures to warm the heating water... It may prove beyond us financially or unfeasible technically, but we're taking the possibility seriously.
- We're also going to look at the possibility of installation of domestic size "wind turbines" - newly developed technology that looks like it could, with suitable grants, pay for itself relatively quickly.
What else could/should we be doing? Any ideas?
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