We are currently near the beginning of the church’s annual season of creation (1 Sept – 4 Oct) in which we focus on God as creator and sustainer, giving thanks for all that God has made and remembering our interdependence with the web of life that surrounds us. This year’s theme is ‘Listen to the Voice of Creation’, which emphasizes voices which are so often unheard in our public discourse around the climate emergency. The muting of these voices was magnified during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has brought them to wider public attention: the voices of those whose homes and livelihoods have been destroyed by fires, drought or flooding; the voices of those who hold generational wisdom around interdependence or earth-keeping; the voices of more-than-human species whose diversity is under threat.
All these are part of a constellation or symphony, which is the voice of the earth. The task we have as a church is one of attentiveness to these voices, but also one of empowerment: how can we better enable these muted voices to be heard?
One approach to this is to aim to reduce our own muting of these voices, and in this regard the Church of England has set a bold target of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2030. At St Martin’s we have already begun this journey and have achieved an Eco Church Bronze Award. This target from the national church is a gift in that it creates a timetable for the way ahead;- to aim for a Silver level by 2026 (our tri-centennial year) then a Gold target for 2029.
Thank you for your help in achieving the Bronze award in completing the recent church survey via the Pipeline. As you are all eco-friendly the results were encouraging in showing how much recycling, reducing and re-using you are doing. The invitation to contribute ideas about what we could best do to reduce our carbon footprint resulted in these suggestions – turning lights off, installing solar panels and agreeing a net zero target. Our efforts as individuals and as a church are part of the collective response that will be required to enable the symphony of the earth to be heard once again as a song of diversity, beauty and joy.
Revd Angela Sheard and Steve Adams
