PART 4: The body of Christ

4.1 United as Christ’s body

As participants in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, enacted in the sacrament of Holy Communion, the Church is united in its Saviour Jesus Christ and nourished to live in holiness as Christ’s body on earth. In responding to Jesus’ command to eat bread and drink wine as his body and blood in remembrance of him, the material stuff of creation, in the form of grain and grapes, becomes a sign and sacrament of God’s presence with us. Through participation in Christ, we are made capable of lives we could not otherwise live. We are transformed from individual disciples into members of his one body, no longer dependent on ourselves but bound together in the life of our Lord. Together we are equipped and enabled to act as God’s people in the world, witnessing to what God is doing and serving God and neighbour. Just as the humble bread and wine become sacraments of God’s presence with us, so our small acts in response to God’s call become signs of God’s presence in the world.

4.2 Judging what repentance requires

Before we can identify what actions are necessary at ecclesial, individual and national levels, we must determine what reductions in our greenhouse gas emissions are necessary in order to avoid the worst effects of climate change. The IPCC 6th Assessment Report notes that: “Without a strengthening of policies, global warming of 3.2 [2.2 to 3.5]°C is projected by 2100”(1) and that even with the implementation of pathways set out in countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions global warming of between 2.1 and 3.4°C is predicted.(2) In common with many other interpreters of the IPCC report, the UK Committee on Climate Change judges that ‘in the best case scenario, of warming limited to 1.5 to 2°C’, there are likely to be significant national as well as global impacts beyond those already observed’(3).

The UK has committed to reducing emissions in 2030 by 68% compared to 1990 levels, but it is currently not on track to meet this target. The Climate Change committee estimates that ‘only a third of the emissions reduction required to achieve the 2030 target are currently covered by credible plans. Action is needed across all sectors of the economy, with low-carbon technologies becoming the norm’.(4) A 2°C rise in global temperatures will make areas uninhabitable by humans, lead to droughts, food shortages and large numbers of environmental refugees, as well as the probable extinction of a third of species on earth. While it would be good to do more than this we cannot aim to do less, even if other nations are not yet ready to take similar action. In recognition of the damage we have already done, and in response to our encounter with God’s word and with the voiced and unvoiced claims of our neighbours, we must reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to levels that the earth can sustain. It is incumbent on those who have generated the most greenhouse gas emissions and derived the greatest benefit from relatively cheap and accessible fossil fuels to pioneer the path towards alternative energy futures.

4.3 Enabling repentance and redeemed living in the Church

In the remainder of this section we set out some practical initiatives at the ecclesial, individual and national level that would be both signs of repentance and first steps toward the forgiven and redeemed lives to which we are called. As noted in 2.6, above, churches in the UK have a particular responsibility to acknowledge their location in a country that has profited from slavery, colonialism, and the industrialisation that has caused the climate crisis. These legacies give our churches particular responsibilities to repent and take practical steps that follow from that repentance. We have argued that confession is the first step towards repentance and changed life and that that is only possible alongside the hope of a good and God-given future in which we can live forgiven lives before God. As churches we must first seek to enable and equip this change of heart, mind and will through prayer, preaching, bible study, discussion and reflection, leading to corporate liturgical acts of confession. On this change of heart all else depends. These actions are the Church’s preparation for joining in the redemptive mission of God in this area of life. They lead the Church to where its members may hear God’s universal call to changed lives in response to the threat of climate change.(5) They are a precondition to the Church recognising that a commitment to living within sustainable levels of greenhouse gas emissions is central to Christian discipleship in our days. Through our common worship and common life we are transformed, and become a people capable of transforming the life of our local communities and our nation. In this way we participate with joy in nothing less than God’s redeeming of the world.

4.4 Reducing the carbon footprint(6) of the Church

As churches, we must address the carbon footprint of our own activities. We must first move quickly to discover the current level of our greenhouse gas emissions and identify a strategy to enable an audit of greenhouse gas emissions at all levels of the Church, so that local churches, regional structures, and national Church institutions become aware of the starting point for action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Alongside this we must establish a way of supporting Church structures at all levels in making reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Methodist Conference’s aspirational target of becoming a net zero Church by 2030, with the urgent and immediate interim steps this requires. National churches will need to provide support and incentives for local and regional structures to meet this challenge. We do not underestimate the magnitude of this task but consider it the minimum adequate response to the situation we face, as well as the only morally authentic basis for calling on Church members and the nation at large to make similar changes. We recognise the structural factors, internal and external to the churches that impede progress towards these goals, and the need for churches to work in partnership with local and national government to overcome the barriers to change. Church policy in many areas will need to be reviewed in the light of this commitment. This has begun through the Action for Hope process, notably through ‘Faith Consistent Use of Assets’.

4.5 Helping members of congregations to reduce emissions

Alongside actions to address the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the corporate life of our churches, we need to identify ways of enabling members of congregations to make changes in their carbon footprint, to move towards net zero, together with appropriate interim goals. Again, the first task is to encourage and facilitate an audit of current greenhouse gas emissions, followed by supporting individuals in church or small group contexts to commit to reducing their carbon footprint and identifying strategies to do so. We believe that many will respond to the offer of exchanging a general consciousness of guilt for addressing the topic responsibly and realistically in a group context. The early Church began as a movement of small groups of Christians who agreed to be accountable to one another. It may be that, if we can recover this sense of accountability which small groups can foster, many may be enabled to make changes that seemed impossible in isolation. If congregations were able to see the net impact of both corporate and individual commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, this might be a significant encouragement and motivation for further action. The Action for Hope Faith Plan includes an aim to reduce the average carbon footprint of Methodist members and adherents, and guidance and support for low-carbon lifestyles are currently being produced.

4.6 Engaging politically to work for national and international change

Finally, alongside movement towards these changes in the corporate life of the Church, we need, as churches, to be prepared to contribute to public political debate about appropriate responses to climate change. Our churches supported the UK government in setting a national target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions before 2050, and should be impressing upon the government the urgency of this task, and challenging it to develop credible and transformative plans to enable all parts of society to play their role in reaching it. Churches in the devolved nations and at regional and local levels need to work towards action with devolved and local governments. It is crucial that this transition – which will encompass significant changes to our economy, energy, infrastructure, housing, agriculture and transport systems – is managed in a just way. As debates occur about the different routes to net zero, the churches must speak prophetically to challenge politics bound by party interest and the horizon of the election cycle, and economic orthodoxies; they must also act to build grassroots coalitions so that politicians offering wise and responsible long-term action in response to climate change will find electoral support. Cuts must come from real reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from the UK: while support to assist poorer nations in sustainable energy development is crucial, it would be irresponsible for the UK to buy out its responsibility to reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions. High on the list of political priorities must be advocacy in support of those poorer nations most exposed to the threats of climate change through no fault of their own, where help is owed not only on grounds of charity but also justice, through restitution and reparation for loss and damage caused by the activities of industrialised nations. At every level, the corporate commitments of our churches to act in relation to their own greenhouse gas emissions will significantly enhance their contribution to this public debate. Effective political initiatives will often come from joint projects with other churches, other faith groups or non-religious groups sharing similar goals, and action to improve understanding between such potential allies and networks is important.

4.7 Alertness to disproportionate impact on the vulnerable and poor

In making these proposals for the kinds of action churches should engage in as signs of repentance and sacramental living, we recognise that, for many members of Church communities, action in response to these issues will seem confusing, threatening and unwelcome. Alongside making the case for substantial change, our churches must keep alert to the pastoral implications of the proposed changes for Church members. In particular, we must avoid strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions that have a disproportionate impact on the poor and vulnerable.

The importance of Climate Justice within our environmental considerations was highlighted as a priority area within the Justice Seeking Church report. Work within the priority area ‘Enabling a flourishing environment: right relationship between people, planet and God’ seeks to alert the Church to the disproportionate impact of climate change.

4.8 The need for action in relation to other environmental issues

In addressing the issue of climate change, we must also recognise that it is only one of many environmental issues requiring attention by our churches. Related issues include concern for:

• threats to biodiversity;
• deforestation;
• water shortages;
• impacts of exporting plastic, waste and other forms of pollution;
• depletion of non-renewable resources

Climate change is but one manifestation of the impact of a global industrialised economy. Action in response to climate change will ameliorate the impact of some of these environmental challenges, but it is also required in these other areas. Appreciation of the complex interrelationships of environmental issues and other justice concerns is also necessary, such as balancing the economic advantages to poor communities of fairly traded goods from overseas against the carbon costs of such imports. Attention to the challenge of climate change should not be at the expense of concern for other justice issues affecting the poor.