5.1 A call to action
We call on our churches to respond to the challenge of climate change:
- as those affirming the hope of God’s continued faithfulness to creation;
- as those who have received the call to show love and justice to neighbours present and future, human and other than human; and
- as those who have heard the warning of God’s judgement of those who hear and do not act.
We call on our churches to confess their guilt in relation to the causes of climate change, to show signs of repentance and redeemed living and to be a prophetic voice in the life of our communities, through promoting a change of heart among congregations; urgently reducing Church carbon footprints at every level in line with the Methodist Conference target of net zero by 2030; enabling members of our congregations to make similar changes towards sustainable lifestyles; and engaging politically with local and national governments.
5.2 The way ahead
We are aware that the responses to the challenge of climate change we call for in this report require our churches to make a considerable journey from where we find ourselves at the moment. This is a journey unlike any other that most of us have taken, and which has a destination only future generations will reach and benefit from. The destination is a promise rather than a recognisable place and the route has not been mapped out. The costs of the journey are to be borne now but the benefits will not be felt in our time. While we live in an age of individuality and immediacy, this is a journey not of individuals but of a community: the people of God and the people of the earth, which requires us to build for the future rather than for immediate returns. Such a journey changed the children of Israel from a disorganised group of refugees into a nation. The beginning of their journey involved giving up the comfort and apparent security of one lifestyle and moving to a more dangerous and uncomfortable way of living. But they gained freedom. The most difficult part of such a journey is the exodus, the leaving without looking back. The Israelites’ guide was a God who loved justice and hated oppression, who cared for the humble and opposed exploitation: we believe in the same God who loves those who are exploited and oppressed today. We too set out on a journey of freedom in response to the challenge of climate change, blessed by God’s peace, sent by our Saviour and going our way in the company of the Holy Spirit (John 20.21–22).