The Australian Quaker Earthcare Committee invites us all to pray, read, act, and celebrate Earthcare. Read the latest Earthcare Invitation here.
Category: Spiritual, Lifestyle and Community
Costing not less than everything – Pam Lunn
Listen to the 2011 Swarthmore Lecture delivered by Pam Lunn on ‘Costing not Less than Everything: sustainability and spirituality in challenging times’. Pam’s lecture addresses the unsustainability of the way we all live in the industrialised west. This can be found here (audio).
Woodbroke’s courses and study packs
Woodbrooke, based in Birmingham UK, runs a number of courses on sustainability and climate change; both onsite and online. You can find the latest courses here – and then search using the ‘Quick Course Finder’ under Adventurous Living. Woodbrooke has also produced a number of study packs for meetings and other Quaker groups. These resources were produced as part of Woodbrooke’s Good Lives project and are available for free online here.
Quaker Council for European Affairs Blog
Take a look at the for the Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA). QCEA brings a vision of just relationships to the European institutions. They are a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation (NGO) working at European level, promoting the values – peace, equality, integrity and simplicity – of the Quakers.
Local Community Engagement: Transition Town Bridport
Local community engagement is key in communicating the realities of climate change and how to take action against its effects. Joe Burlington, a Quaker from Dorset, has made a one-page handout for his local Transition Town group with some useful information on the realities of climate change, important positive developments, what actions to take and some angles to take in conversations with climate change deniers. Click below to download the handout:
Handout: TRANSITION TOWN BRIDPORT – A good place for our children?
Green Advices and Queries
The Green advices and queries paper asks us to “take the time to recognise, respect, appreciate and enjoy the whole miracle of the universe” through providing thirteen simple, yet, thought-provoking questions and reflections about the earth and environmental action in the context of Quaker concern.
Quaker Earthcare Witness May-June 2017 Newsletter
In the latest newsletter of Quaker Earthcare Witness,
The Irish Eco-congregations on Ecumenical Approaches to Climate Change
The Eco-Congregation Ireland (ECI) encourages churches of all denominations, which also include the Quakers to take an eco approach to worship, lifestyle;e, finance and property management, community outreach and contact with the developing world in order to prevent further damage to the environment.
Think Globally, Act Locally … Be the Change!
ECI provides ‘eco tips’ that we can all take at the individual level, but keeping in mind the the impacts that climate change has at the global level. Here are a few of many eco tips that we should all consider:
- Shop intelligently
- Adopt the Live Well Diet and learn to eat sustainably
- Don’t waste food
- Pick up a piece of litter every day
- Walk/cycle or take public transport
- Buy fair trade
The May 2017 edition of the Eco Congregation Ireland newsletter is now available to read online with stories from different congregations, parishes, and meetings, plus much more information on climate action at the spiritual level.
24 Religious Organisations Urge Trump to Remain in Paris Climate Agreement
On June 1st, President Trump announced his decision to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement. This move abdicates the US’s responsibility from taking urgent climate action to protect our shared home- Earth.
A coalition of 24 religious groups, including the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) sent a letter to the White House and key Administration and Congressional leaders, urging that the US remain a signatory to the Paris Agreement.
In the letter, the religious groups state that “It is in keeping with our deeply held religious values that we write to urge that the United States remains a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Paris Agreement and fulfills our commitments under that agreement.”
The letter comes in a timely manner, as the White House is now reviewing the next steps and considering whether to remain in the Agreement.
Read the letter which can be found on the FCNL website.
FWCC Sustainability Minute
A copy of the minute on living sustainably and sustaining life on Earth – drafted at the FWCC World Plenary in Pisac, Peru in January 2016.
IRM 16-20. Sustainability. The Consultation on Sustainability, facilitated by Jonathan Woolley (Mexico City MM/Pacific YM; Staff, QUNO-Geneva), Rachel Madenyika (Staff, QUNO-NY), and Charlotte Gordon (Aotearoa/New Zealand YM) have presented a minute for our consideration:
Living Sustainably and Sustaining Life on Earth
The Light of Christ has inspired Quakers throughout the generations. As we gather together in Pisac, Peru in 2016, we feel this light stronger than ever in our calling to care for the Earth on which we live. It is calling us from all traditions: programmed, unprogrammed, liberal, and evangelical. It calls us to preserve this Earth for our children, our grandchildren and all future generations to come, working as though life were to continue for 10,000 years to come. Be ready for action with your robes hitched up and your lamps alight. (Luke 12:35, Revised English Bible)
Read the whole text below. Continue reading “FWCC Sustainability Minute”
QUAKERS & CLIMATE CHANGE WORLDWIDE 