This Advent we have chosen to take Sleepers Wake: Getting Serious about Climate Change by Nicholas Holtam, the Bishop of Salisbury and the former Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, as our Advent book. This is also the Archbishop of York’s Advent Book for 2022. We would like to encourage all of you to get hold of a copy of the book so that you can read the full text. The book is available from me in the central porch after the Sunday service at the special price of £10. It will also be available in the St Martin’s shop, Church House Bookshop or online retailers. To accompany this book I have prepared a short study guide to help you consider some of the questions it raises.
Each day we will reflect upon a different aspect of the climate crisis and our response to it. We explore how each of these aspects interacts with various Advent themes, drawing upon the lives of the saints, the promise of God’s coming kingdom and various aspects of the nativity story. The wonderings in the study guide encourage you to reflect on how the reading from each day applies to your own life, and how you might act in response.
Neil MacGregor writes about Sleepers Wake, ‘Like Bach’s great Wachet auf chorale, this walk through the weeks of Advent is both a carefully constructed meditation and an unsettling call to action. Poetry and music, painting and personal recollections combine in a new version of the Advent call to change our lives – while we still can.’
I look forward to journeying with you this Advent, using Sleepers Wake as our guide.
Revd Angela Sheard
