As of March 30 of this year, 123 parishes, or 64 per cent of the diocese, had reported passing this year’s motion. Information was still pending from an additional 27 parishes, as well as from a number of parishes with vestries in the fall, so the final number of supporting parishes might still rise.

Several parishes supporting the motion indicated additional follow-up actions they planned to take as a parish. The parishes of St. Paul, Midhurst and St. John, Craighurst committed themselves to exploring participation in the Anglican Communion Forest initiative, in partnership with local conservancy groups. St. Augustine of Canterbury added a clause to the motion urging parishioners to prioritize reducing their own hydro-carbon fuel consumption. St. James the Apostle, Sharon has formed a parish “Flower and Garden Guild” to integrate environmental stewardship into the beautification of worship and support of the community. They hope to prioritize sustainable, locally sourced and seasonally appropriate materials, reduce waste, provide space to attract and propagate endangered insects and adopt practices that lessen the parish’s environmental footprint. St. Timothy, Agincourt is embarking on a letter-writing campaign and forming a Green Team to look at ways to reduce energy consumption and waste in the parish, while St. Andrew by-the-Lake has offered to host an event or education series related to climate change.

Responding to the climate crisis requires both kinds of actions: local, individual and communal efforts to reduce one’s carbon footprint, but also increased advocacy, including individual and public conversations about the climate change impacts already being felt by our communities and our planet. More than 40 per cent of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions are from industrial sources, which means individual lifestyle choices can only go so far without public regulation, which takes political will. Taking the time to send a message to one’s MP, or to convene a local conversation, perhaps using the excellent Faithful Climate Conversations guide from For the Love of Creation, helps to show both decision-makers and our neighbours that climate is still an important concern, which in turn creates greater impetus to action. A recent article from Carleton University’s Centre for Climate Communication and Engagement found that most Canadians believe their fellow Canadians have “given up” on the climate, which can “put a chill on climate conversations and action.” The more we believe that others care, and the more we believe our actions will make a difference, the more likely we are to take action.

Unfortunately, despite the increased impacts we are already seeing here in Ontario in the form of extreme weather events, heatwaves and wildfires, climate change still feels like a distant threat, especially compared with more immediate-seeming challenges such as war, trade negotiations and the high cost of living. As a result, climate action tends to be pushed to the periphery.

Some parishes considering the motion explicitly mentioned our current economic and physical context, pointing out that climate action must also take account of concerns about affordability, employment, food and housing security, and physical and mental health. Ultimately, however, a warming climate will exacerbate those issues as well. As climate scientist and committed Christian Katharine Hayhoe puts it, climate change is not separate from other global issues, but the “hole in the bottom of the bucket” of our efforts to address poverty, inequity, disease and other concerns. We cannot overcome these challenges without also taking action to “fix the hole,” i.e. to address climate change.

To be sure, there are different ways to address climate change, and each in the short term will have different impacts on people of lower and moderate incomes. As well, different measures will be more or less effective in different communities: smaller and more remote communities are perforce more car-dependent than large urban centres, for example, while those on lower incomes are less likely to be able to switch over to heat pumps or electric vehicles. One of the reasons the Social Justice & Advocacy Committee focused on holding Canada to its emissions reduction commitments, rather than to any particular measures designed to achieve them, is that we did not want parishes to get bogged down in debating the merits and demerits of any particular climate policy, but rather signal our concern in more general terms.

The challenge before us is to find measures to address the polycrisis of climate, political and economic conflict, food and housing insecurity and physical and mental health that will put the least burden on those who are least able to afford it and those who have contributed least to the problems. It is an opportunity for further conversation – with our friends, neighbours, fellow parishioners and elected representatives – so that together we can find ways to care for both the Earth and each other, as our Lord calls us to do.

Resources for follow-up action can be found at www.toronto.anglican.ca/vestry-motion.

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The online and newer printed editions of the BAS include this question as part of the baptismal covenant, to which all baptized members of the congregation make assent along with the newly baptized. Some parishes may include the online version in the leaflet given to the congregation. It’s also possible to print stickers containing the sixth baptismal promise that can be affixed to the bottom of page 159 of the BAS (see www.toronto.anglican.ca/creationcare). But there are many parishes in our diocese that haven’t updated their BAS baptismal rite, and others who use the Book of Common Prayer. It would be safe to say that most Anglicans in our diocese were baptized before 2013. So, does it still make sense to describe creation care as rooted in our baptismal covenant?

I would argue that it does.

Christian baptism, whatever the rite, involves a commitment to turn away from sin and to live according to God’s commandments. In the Book of Common Prayer, the person being baptized (or their sponsors) renounces “the devil and all his works, the vain pomp and glory of the world, with all covetous desires of the same, and the sinful desires of the flesh.” They go on to acknowledge “the duty to keep God’s holy will and commandments, walking steadfastly in the way of Christ.”

The threats to the integrity of God’s creation, including a liveable climate for all of Earth’s inhabitants, are directly tied to the things that we as Christians renounce through our baptism. The temptation of the devil, from Adam and Eve in Eden to Jesus in the wilderness, is always to profess to know better than God, to seek manipulation and misuse of what God has ordained, for the furtherance of one’s own ends. We can see this in human activities that overwhelm the carrying capacity of our Earth and its atmosphere, from overharvesting wildlife, fisheries and forests to exhausting the fertility of the soil to burning fuels that contribute more greenhouse gases than are compatible with a liveable climate. Persisting in such activities despite increasing warnings about the impacts is an example of prideful disdain at the limits God has woven into the created order. Grasping after power and wealth for ourselves at the expense of others shows our covetous and sinful desires. Our continual greed for more – whether it be fast fashion, the latest technology, fruits out of season, AI-generated images or same-day shipping – is a major contributor to climate change, as well as pollution, waste, overconsumption of the Earth’s resources and exploitation of other human beings.

Likewise, when we think about keeping God’s will and commandments, we recall that God’s first commandments to humankind concern our relationship with the Earth. In Genesis 1:26-28, God gives human beings authority to exercise dominion over the Earth as image-bearers of God, an implication that has all too often been lost when we exchange dominion in the image of a loving Creator for rapacious domination. In Genesis 2:15, human beings are set in the garden to “till and keep it,” or as a closer translation of the Hebrew says, “to serve and observe it.” Taken together, these original commandments invite us into a relationship with the land marked by humility – learning God’s ways and the physical laws God has embedded within the created universe – as well as responsibility – being intentional in our use of creation and accountable for our actions. How do our actions toward the Earth mark us as image-bearers of the One who creates, sustains, loves and redeems it?

We might also consider the greatest commandment. Loving God, and loving one’s neighbour as oneself, calls us to treat God’s creation with attention and care, rather than with a rapaciousness and greed that dishonours God’s handiwork and causes others to suffer.

The Apostle Paul says, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? … If we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him into a resurrection like his.” (Romans 6:3, 5) Baptism makes us dead to sin – the things that corrupt and destroy us and all God’s creatures – and brings us into the new life of Christ, the one who was sent in order that the whole world, all things in heaven and earth, might be saved and reconciled to God. (John 3:17, Colossians 1:20) As Romans 8:19 reminds us, all creation “waits with eager longing for the children of God to be revealed.”

The addition of the fifth Mark of Mission to the baptismal covenant in the BAS thus makes explicit something that was implicit in older rites. Through scripture and through our baptism, we are called ever deeper into following Jesus Christ. We are brought closer to the heart of God, who “hates nothing that he has made,” whose desire is that we, and all creation, be redeemed.

Whether you were baptized using the BCP or the BAS before 2013, or in another Christian denomination altogether, the call “to safeguard the integrity of God’s creation and respect, sustain and renew the life of the Earth” is part of your calling, too. As we move from Lent to Easter, let us live more deeply into this baptismal covenant, that all creation may praise God’s name.

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The service was put together by St. Paul’s incumbent, the Rev. Andrew Kuhl, in consultation with members of the bishop’s committee. The liturgy drew on diverse sources from around the Anglican Communion. There was a litany for the preservation of the environment from the Anglican Church of Kenya, a prayer of confession from The Episcopal Church, an absolution from Alongside Hope’s Season of Creation liturgy, and a Eucharistic prayer from the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil.

Continuing with the Communion-wide theme, Mr. Kuhl’s sermon was organized around the three mission statements of the Communion Forest initiative: “To plant is to hope; to restore is to heal; to protect is to love.” For each statement, he gave examples of forest regeneration, restoration and ecosystem protection in Ontario, some of which were within the parish itself. One of these examples was the work of the local Copeland Forest Friends Association, which helps to manage the largest tract of forest in Ontario south of Algonquin Park, removing invasive species, restoring the natural flow of streams, and clearing debris from this spring’s devastating ice storm. Members of the association were in the congregation

“A forest is not just a collection of trees in a certain geographical space, but a complex web of interdependent relationships for mutual flourishing – a web which includes us,” Mr. Kuhl remarked. He noted that the Bible recognizes the agency of the non-human creation. Not only do we care for forests and other ecosystems, but they also care for us in their turn, providing fresh air, clean water, food, medicine, shelter, and, not least, places of recreation and contemplation.

In Isaiah 32:14-18, this year’s text for the global Season of Creation, the judgement that comes upon Israel is a “re-wilding”: the palace is forsaken, the populous city deserted, and the hill and watchtower become dens for wildlife, the joy of wild asses and a pasture for flocks. When God’s spirit is poured out, “the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest” where justice and righteousness dwell.

“Through the Spirit of God, people learn to live in right relationship with all creation,” observed Mr. Kuhl, recalling that God’s love and salvation in Christ is for the entire cosmos. Challenging us to take up the call of the Communion Forest initiative, he noted that “hope begins here and now with the actions of our lives. What is God calling you and your parish to do, to participate in God’s great love for the world?”

The theme of a “forest web” was illustrated in the service as participants brought leaves, branches, flowers and acorns from forested areas near their homes and hung them on a large fishnet suspended on the wall of the church. The fishnet also evoked the imagery of our diocese’s Cast the Net vision. Just like an ecosystem, our diocese itself is a complex web of relationships for mutual flourishing, and care for creation, along with spiritual renewal and reimagining ministry, is part of that vision for our Church’s flourishing.

The image of a web, rather than a wheel with spokes emanating from a central hub, also reminds us of how churches in the various parts of our diocese have much to offer and learn from each other in many respects, including in terms of creation care.

“Last year we were invited by some clergy to consider celebrating the Season of Creation outside downtown Toronto,” said the Rev. Paige Souter, co-chair of the Bishop’s Committee on Creation Care. “While we wanted to have our inaugural service at St. James’ Cathedral, we wanted to invite other parishes to host the diocesan celebration going forward. It was a delight to have Fr. Andrew Kuhl welcome us to Midhurst for this year’s celebration.”

The service concluded with announcements about other deanery events and the diocesan outreach conference, which included a workshop on the Communion Forest initiative. Participants also had an opportunity to enjoy refreshments and conversation in the hall after the service.

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The Magi fix their gaze on the star illuminating the night sky and they are led to Jesus. In my heart, that star is an agent of the divine, an active participant urging the Magi forward through the darkness. I can imagine that as they travelled, these men experienced a range of emotions – excitement and anticipation, and perhaps anxiety.

When they arrive in Bethlehem, the Magi pay homage to Jesus, and they are filled with peace and joy and gratitude. They give tribute to an infant whose life and ministry would offer the world an alternative way of life. As an agent of God, the star illuminates the way to new life.

This Epiphany season is the perfect time for us to reflect on the followers of Jesus serving as the star, as agents of God illuminating a different path for the world to follow, an alternative path that the world desperately needs.

We are living in a difficult and challenging time in history. Our communities are facing a complex web of interconnected crises: homelessness, addictions, food insecurity and poor access to healthcare, to name just a few. Layered on top of these crises are decreasing environmental protections, extreme weather and the climate crisis. And add an additional layer of war, increasing hate and the largest refugee crisis and displacement of people the world has ever faced.

In his recent article “Calling a Different World into Being,” Walter Brueggemann describes this moment as a world living in “fear, scarcity, hostility, revenge and violence” that leaves us exhausted and always needing to be on alert and on guard.

Many people are afraid of what the future holds. Many people have lost confidence in the ability and willingness of political and government institutions to enact policies and programs that will make people’s lives better and heal the planet. You may be one of those people. And while Christians are not immune to fear, we are called not to let it control us. As Jesus commands us – be not afraid.

Be not afraid because we know there is an alternative way. Be not afraid so that we can be the star that leads the world to the way – to a culture of care grounded in Christ. A culture in which we care for people who are marginalized, for victims of violence and hatred, and for a planet in peril. A culture in which it is safe to bring one’s worries and lamentations. A culture in which hope, real hope, is the cornerstone.

Real hope, Christian hope, deep and abiding hope, is grounded in our relationship with Jesus. It is hard and gritty and it does not make the hard stuff go away, but it gives us courage, as followers of Jesus, to persevere as we do the work we are called to do – to live in communion with creation, to feed the hungry, to give water to the thirsty, to welcome the stranger, to give clothing to the naked, to heal the sick and visit those in prison, to love our neighbours and our enemies. This is the alternative way that Jesus commands us to choose.

This is our daily choice – a choice to live in God’s reality in which all of creation is loved and cared for and in which abundant hope is real. It is a choice not to be complicit in a culture of destruction, exploitation, violence and hatred. It is the choice the Magi make after their time with Jesus. Rather than follow the path home offered by Herod, they heed the warning and choose a different path. They choose to not be complicit and used as instruments of Herod’s destruction.

The planet needs the followers of Jesus to be the star. As you place your Christmas tree in a box or at the curb, commit to being a star and an agent of God’s care in the world.

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The creation narratives give no hint that humanity should plunder or endlessly aim to consume as much as possible. The achievement of creation is celebrated by God’s desire to share its abundance. After giving over the birds of the air, fish of the sea, creatures of the earth and livestock, God blesses humanity and gives them care of all that is good. In the New Testament, we read in 1 Peter that there is great responsibility in having dominion, as it does not give license to domineer, but rather to be “examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:3).

For most of my time as the director of Stewardship Development, the focus of my effort has been on assisting parishes to create an atmosphere of generosity among their membership to enable the resourcing of ministry. This means helping people understand their own giftedness and how those gifts can be shared among the church community and beyond. Unfortunately, this has been interpreted by some to mean fundraising for the Church. Or, more inaccurately, to make people feel uncomfortable that they are not giving enough. This is an unfortunate interpretation of what I try to impart. After all, what is a steward? They are the managers of the household, tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that adequate provision is made for the various routines necessary to run day-to-day operations.

The Church is not interested just in your time, talent and treasure – the oft repeated chorus of stewardship educators. These common elements are important in helping members of the Church understand their own giftedness and how that relates to supporting ministry. There is a fourth, however, that I have only just begun thinking about in earnest: terrain. Perhaps it’s because of the climate crisis or the relentless clutter in my own house, but the care of God’s creation needs to be at the top of our stewardship list for the others to matter.

I am reminded of the Marks of Mission as adopted by the Anglican Communion, in which the fifth states: “to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the Earth.” There needs to be some acknowledgement that human beings, including Christians, have not been particularly good at living up to this standard. We were given care of the Earth’s bounty, and we have done a remarkable job of mucking things up.

This lack of regard for creation is symptomatic of our fallen nature. There is a reason we confess our shortcomings at church. We have indeed failed, and there is too much that we have done and left undone. But there is hope.

Climate scientists tell us that there is still time to reverse the centuries of neglect we have imposed on creation and avoid the worst that climate change might mean for humanity. Next month I will review some of the ways the Church can step up and demonstrate our stewardship of terrain.

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Acclaimed science journalist, author and playwright Alanna Mitchell pulled no punches as she spelled out the impact of rising carbon emissions at a Church of the Redeemer, Bloor St. “EarthSong” celebration of the natural world, held on Oct. 1. The event was the first in a month-long Season of Creation series held at the Toronto parish and was organized by its Creation Matters team. It attracted 75 people in person as well as others who watched it on YouTube.

The event wove together a creative blend of scripture readings, poetry and music ranging from traditional hymns to songs by musicians such as Marvin Gaye and the band Tears for Fears, all of it focused around the Earth and its elements.

Ms. Mitchell is a Christian and veteran journalist who has written for The New York Times and The Globe and Mail. Her book about the alarming state of the world’s oceans, Sea Sick: The Global Ocean in Crisis, became an international bestseller, then was transformed into a play performed by Ms. Mitchell to audiences around the world.

“We are at an unusual moment in our history,” she warned. “We’re putting carbon into the atmosphere faster than at any known time in the planet’s history. That carbon is throwing things out of sync. It’s not just that it’s gotten hotter. Or that the seasons have slid into forgetfulness about what they’re supposed to do. It’s not just the floods and the wildfires and the weird rains that flow down from the heavens like rivers. The real story is that all these disruptions are just the start of what’s to come if we don’t rein in our carbon emissions. I hear people talk about this ‘new normal’ that we’re in. This is not the new normal. Earth is just giving us a little taste of what’s to come. This is one little step on the way to a much more anarchic future whose rules we can’t even imagine, except that it will be unlikely to support life as we know it. I wish I were exaggerating. I am not.”

Ms. Mitchell’s talk was sobering at times, as she laid out basic facts about what she called the greatest challenge in human history. Yet she firmly rejected the idea that that it’s too late for us to heal our ailing planet. She noted that Canada has pledged to reduce its carbon emissions by 40 to 45 per cent, from the 2005 levels, by 2030. So far, a 6.4 per cent reduction has been reached, showing that some progress has been made, albeit not nearly enough. Emissions from producing electricity have dropped by more than half since 2005. However, oil and gas emissions are up more than 15 per cent.

We can listen to the voice of creation around four key elements, she noted, reflecting an ancient script familiar to people of faith: delighting in what the Earth offers us; lamenting what has gone wrong; moving beyond grief to heed the Earth’s call for healing; and finally, dedicating ourselves to act for the creation.

She recalled that at a recent gathering she attended of leading artists and activists from around the world, acclaimed Indian novelist Amitav Ghosh was asked if there was a shortcut to bring humanity back from the brink of climate chaos. His answer shocked the audience: “Plug into the communities of faith all around the world. They are already organized. They communicate with others. They tend to be interested in thinking about things bigger than their own lives.”

Ms. Mitchell told the Redeemer gathering, “He was talking about people like you. He was urging you not to give up, to believe in your own power. We people of faith know the power of story. We can write a new ending to this story. We can write a new narrative – a parable – to tell us what’s going on, based on love, joy, hope, possibility, success. It’s the one Moses’ people must have written thousands of years ago to let them follow him out of Egypt and out of the desert and into the promised land.”

In response to a question she’s often asked after performing her play – what should I do? – Ms. Mitchell says she flips the question around, challenging people to think about the gifts they have that can be put into action in response to the climate crisis.

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There is a deepening awareness that there is more to the Incarnation than a focus on the historical Jesus. There are a plethora of theologians and clerics from across Christian denominations (Niels Gregersen, Elizabeth A. Johnson, Sallie McFague and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, to name just a few) who invite us to ponder how creation itself is enfolded into the Incarnation.

In the Word made flesh, we see the embodied expression of creation. Elizabeth A. Johnson puts it this way: “the Word of God’s embodied self became a creature of Earth, a complex unit of minerals and fluids, an item in the carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen cycles, a moment in the biological evolution of this planet. Jesus carried within himself ‘the signature of the supernovas and the geology and life history of the Earth.’”

In the Incarnation, science and faith intersect. The Gospel of John invites us into the deep mystery of the Incarnation in which creation is embedded into Christ’s nature. Creation emerges through him, “all things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being” (John 1:3). In addition, Christ is made of the material of creation, “and the Word became flesh and lived among us” (John 1:14a).

Can this understanding of the Incarnation can help us to see and experience the Earth as sacred? Can it help us to respond differently to the challenges facing the planet? Can it foster the emergence of an ecological ethic that transforms us into a voice of the planet and into good stewards of the Earth?

Advent is the perfect season to ponder these questions as we prepare to celebrate the inbreaking of God into the world over 2,000 years ago, and as we wait for Christ to break into our lives and the world in new ways.

One of our travelling companions during Advent is the prophet Isaiah. Speaking to the Israelites who have lost their way and are on the brink of catastrophe, he reminds them that idolatry is a path that leads only to self-destruction. Isaiah attempts to redirect them to the alternative path of hope and justice promised by God. For him, God is a God of hope, compassion, justice, peace, mercy, consolation and comfort.

During the second Sunday of Advent, we hear Isaiah say, “Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins” (Isaiah 40:1-2).

Isaiah calls out to us to turn to God and all will be well, because God who comforts us is with us.

Does God’s comfort include the Earth and its burning forests, its drying lakes, its endangered species, its flooded communities, its arid soil, its rising sea levels, its warming climate, its marginalized and vulnerable people?

What if the mystery unfolding for us in Advent is a new awareness that creation is enfolded into the Incarnation? What if this Advent we prepared our hearts to enter into the mystery of a deepening incarnation in which God’s breaking into the world extends into material existence?

What if in the Incarnation we see God’s love imprinted in nature? Might we begin to see that we are called to be a consoling and comforting presence to the Earth as Jesus is to us?

This Advent, may we awaken to a new awareness of the sacredness of the Earth.

Creation Matters is a new column in The Anglican.

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Between Sunday, April 16 and Sunday, April 23, churches are encouraged to participate in some form of climate justice activity that reflects and challenges their communities. This could take the form of prayer or worship, an educational event, or an action like visiting an elected official or participating in a community clean-up.

The For the Love of Creation coalition, which launched on Earth Day 2020, includes many national church and other religious bodies, including the Anglican Church of Canada, the Primate, the National Indigenous Archbishop and the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund, as well as the ecumenical organizations Citizens for Public Justice, KAIROS, and Faith & the Common Good.

One of the initiatives promoted by FLC is the Lenten “Give it Up for the Earth” campaign originally developed by Citizens for Public Justice. As part of this campaign, individuals pledge their own personal commitment to reduce their carbon footprint and combine it with advocacy by sending a letter to the federal environment minister calling for stronger federal emissions targets and supporting climate justice legislation. You can learn more about the Give It Up for the Earth campaign and send your letter at www.cpj.ca/fortheearth.

Together with KAIROS, For the Love of Creation sent youth and Indigenous delegates to the UN climate change conference (COP27) in Egypt last November. The coalition has also created a range of resources for use by faith communities, including guides for discussions on climate change called Faithful Climate Conversations. You can find all these resources at www.fortheloveofcreation.ca/resources.

There are three guides, suitable for parishes or small groups at different stages of engagement with the climate crisis. “Creation, Climate and You” is a basic, introductory look at creation care and climate change from the perspective of people of faith, for those with limited knowledge or previous engagement with the topic. The second guide, “From Concern to Action,” as the title implies, is for people who are already concerned about the changing climate but who wonder what they personally can do to address it. The last guide, “Building a Better Future,” focuses on the larger-scale systemic and policy changes needed. It is recommended for those already involved in local action who are looking to take their engagement to the next level.

Kylah Lohnes, currently a parishioner at Trinity, Streetsville, sits on the local engagement committee for the FLC coalition. While pursuing her Master of Theological Studies in Development at Wycliffe College in 2020, she did an internship with KAIROS, during which she was directly involved in drafting and launching the Faithful Climate Conversation resources. Most churches, in Ms. Lohnes’ view, are at the second stage.

“At this point, there are not that many people who still need convincing,” she says. “What people most need is to know what they can do about the situation.” She likes that the “From Concern to Action” guide is very practical, leading a small group to discern together what actions make the most sense. “Ideally, you have a small group of about eight to 12 people. They don’t necessarily all have to be from your parish, but it’s most helpful if you’re with people you already know or have some shared experience with, people you meet with regularly, so you can hold each other accountable.”

Ms. Lohnes has personally facilitated about eight such discussions, both in person and online, but stresses that a trained facilitator is not required. “The guides are meant to be user-friendly. Anyone can pick them up and use them, and adapt them to their local context.”

What she likes most about the Faithful Climate Conversations is the sense of community that’s created. “It is easy to be overwhelmed by a big thing like climate change. But through these conversations, people find that they are not alone in their concern. They can provide encouragement and accountability to each other.” As other climate activists have noted, she finds taking action is a real antidote to climate anxiety.

For Ms. Lohnes, it is also crucial that these conversations are grounded in our shared faith. “The faith piece is so important. We know that we ourselves cannot save the whole world. But that’s not what we are called to do. Rather, we are called to act faithfully, to care for creation and for those who share the Earth with us, wherever we are.”

Could your parish host a Faithful Climate Conversation as part of Earth Week? Or perhaps you could host a special prayer service, invite a speaker, organize a visit to your local elected representative, or join a local community cleanup. For the Love of Creation would love to hear from any churches or faith-based organizations that are planning events during Earth Week 2023 so that these events can be promoted more broadly and help to create a network of solidarity and support across Canada. You can post your events at www.fortheloveofcreation.ca/earth-week.

Whatever you choose to do, do so in faithful response to God’s creating, redeeming and sustaining love for all creation!

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“Once you pave it over, you never get it back,” says the Rev. Barbara Russell, deacon at St. George, Grafton, a member of the Diocesan Social Justice & Advocacy Committee, and a retired farmer. She sees the loss of prime agricultural land as a direct threat to rural communities and a weakening of Ontario’s ability to feed its people.

According to the 2016 Census of Agriculture, Ontario was losing 175 acres of farmland every day. By 2021, this figure had jumped to 319 acres a day. Peggy Brekveld, president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, calls this rate of farmland loss “simply not sustainable if we hope to have any kind of food sovereignty or independence in Ontario.” Meanwhile, Ontario has already lost over 70 per cent of its wetlands, 80 per cent of its forests, and 98 per cent of its grasslands. More than 200 plant and animal species are at risk in Ontario, largely due to loss of habitat. Yet the passage of Bill 23 and the provincial government’s highway building plans mean that the loss of farmland and wildlife habitat in southern Ontario is just ramping up.

Called to care

The call to care for the earth is one of the earliest commandments given by God to humanity in scripture. While for much of our history humankind has done a spectacularly bad job of honoring this command, more recently, Christians and others have been reawakened to the need to respect and sustain the life of the earth. It has been enshrined as the Fifth Mark of Mission of the Anglican Communion and, since 2013, incorporated into the baptismal vows of the Anglican Church of Canada. Our diocese has also recognized creation care as one of our leading justice priorities.

That’s why our diocese has been vocal in advocating for the preservation of the Greenbelt from development, including speaking out against the proposed Highway 413 and Bradford Bypass. We have incorporated our concerns into our provincial pre-budget submissions, official submissions on Bill 23, and advocacy letters. We were among 50 faith leaders and organizations who signed an open letter from the David Suzuki Foundation protesting the construction of Highway 413. At the local level, Anglicans across our diocese have joined protests against Greenbelt development, and written, called, and visited with their MPPs to express their concerns.

Another dimension of concern is that local First Nations have not been adequately consulted about the impacts of Greenbelt development. Days before Bill 23 became law, the Chiefs of Ontario released a statement calling it “unacceptable and an abuse of power” for the Ford government to change how development projects in Ontario are approved, without engaging First Nations. Individual chiefs, including Chief Kelly LaRocca of the Mississaugas of the Scugog First Nation and Chief Stacey LaForme of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, have also raised their concerns. “We are trying to build right relations with our neighbours, the Mississaugas of Scugog Island,” says the Rev. Ruthanne Ward, incumbent of Ascension, Port Perry. “If we as Anglicans are truly committed to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, that means recognizing their inherent, treaty, and legislative rights to be properly consulted about development within their territories. The actions of this government take us in the opposite direction.”

Stress on environment

The Greenbelt protects 721,000 acres of wildlife habitat (including habitat for 78 species at risk) and 750,000 acres of farmland. The health of its watersheds also affects the drinking water of over seven million Canadians. More than that, it helps mitigate the effects of climate change.  Wetlands absorb rainwater, mitigate flooding during extreme weather events, and help to filter out pollutants. Trees and other vegetation lower ambient temperatures and absorb carbon dioxide. These “ecosystem services” have an estimated value of $3.2 billion per year and could become even more valuable as the effects of climate change continue to grow.

Paving over the Greenbelt to create mega-highways not only does away with those benefits but multiplies the environmental stressors. Highway 413 alone is estimated to add more than 17 tonnes of carbon emissions by 2050 – when Canada will already be hard-pressed to reach the goal of carbon neutrality by the same date. It is also estimated to add at least $1 billion in costs related to air pollution. Ontario members of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) have spoken out against the highway proposal, citing the greater risk of respiratory illness and mortality in communities along major highways due to air pollution. Paved surfaces, unlike those covered by vegetation, increase runoff, leading to increased flooding and water pollution. Moreover, the creation of a new highway is associated with increased urban sprawl along its route, creating yet another wave of pressure on the threatened Greenbelt.

Urban and transportation planners have found that the long-term impact of highway building on reducing traffic congestion is minimal. Indeed, studies have found the opposite is true: traffic numbers tend to increase as more lanes of highway are created, following a phenomenon called “induced demand.” Thus, while the positive impacts of creating new mega-highways are short-lived, the negative ones – reduced farmland and wildlife habitat, increased air and water pollution, increased carbon emissions and greater vulnerability to climate change impacts – will continue to be felt for generations to come.

Our welfare as the people of this province – our food, our water, our health and our resiliency in the face of climate change – is inextricably bound up with the health of the land on which we live and the creatures with whom we share it. As Romans 8:19 reminds us, “the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God.” As children of God, charged to care for God’s creation, let us continue to make our voices heard.

To learn more about advocacy to protect the Greenbelt, visit the Creation Care webpage on the diocese’s website, www.toronto.anglican.ca.

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“Our goal is to stimulate a sustained conversation about the climate crisis and reflect on ways to engage at a meaningful level. It is too easy to feel helpless in the face of the daily news,” says Grant Jahnke, chair the committee. He says the focus of the series was engagement with the wider body of the Church. “That’s why, fully aware of the heroic challenge of coming together to make significant change, our theme for this year’s Season of Creation is ‘What if the Christian churches, particularly the Diocese of Toronto, were to take the climate crisis seriously and come together to take collective action?  What would change?’”

The first event on Oct. 2 offered a varied service of scripture readings, poetry, music, prayer and an address by Elizabeth May, member of Parliament for the Green Party, an Anglican and veteran environmental activist. “We planned EarthSong, the opening service of our Season of Creation, to appeal to people’s souls and emotions, as well as present key facts. We hope that a wide range of engagement will result,” says Mr. Jahnke.

In a darkened church, solemn drumbeats and the sounds of birds and chainsaws were interspersed with stark comments about the fate of the Earth to open the service. “In a time of climate chaos, humans are starting to feel the sting of ignoring the rights of the Earth,” warned parishioner Jean Bubba, calling for balance with the “beautiful, astonishing natural world.”

In an impassioned address, Ms. May reviewed climate developments since 1986, when she began working on the climate issue. She recalled warnings from that time of what would happen if fossil fuel reduction targets were not met. “We still had time to avoid everything we are experiencing now,” she said. Instead, since 1992 the world has emitted more greenhouse gases than it had since the start of the industrial revolution.

She recalled a sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury at a United Nations climate conference in which he highlighted that in Genesis 9, God commits to Noah never again to destroy the Earth. God made a covenant with all of creation. “We’ve declared war on Mother Earth,” said Ms. May. “We’re in a dangerous time.” She noted the fire in Lytton, B.C., the more than 700 deaths from Vancouver’s heat dome in 2021, and more recently, Hurricane Fiona’s destruction in Atlantic Canada, as well as floods in Pakistan disrupting the lives of millions of people.

She challenged the churches to move from despair and grief about the climate crisis to action. “We still have time to save ourselves. Where’s the belief we can do more than what we see before us?” She urged her listeners to draw strength from the well-known passage in Ephesians 3:20, affirming that God’s power working in us can do far more than we can ask or imagine.

A recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a respected UN authority, warned that fossil fuel emissions must stop rising by 2025. Yet Canada recently approved a major new offshore oil development and approved expansion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline in western Canada.

“This is a time to kick ass, to be seriously radical,” said Ms. May. “The churches can offer something no one else can: faith. And not allow greed and political realities to allow us to give up on hope for our grandchildren. Miracles happen—but not without us.” As Ms. May wrapped up her talk, the audience gave her a standing ovation.

As a follow-up to EarthSong, Bishop Andrew Asbil chaired a panel discussion on Oct. 4, also held in-person at Redeemer, Bloor St. and live-streamed, focusing on the question: what if churches in the Diocese of Toronto took the climate crisis seriously? Panelists included Adrienne Clarkson, former governor general of Canada; Paige Souter, a member of the Bishop’s Committee for Creation Care; the Rev. Alison Hari-Singh, a lecturer at Trinity College; and Dr. Brian Walsh, an environmental activist and biblical author. Creative ideas and bold prescriptions for action based on faith marked the event.

Bishop Asbil noted the idea from theologian Walter Brueggemann that God and the world are intrinsically linked in a world of fidelity. God will not act arbitrarily, but the world must act within the order of the Creator.

Ms. Clarkson, an active Anglican, focused on specific practical actions Anglicans and their parishes could take: stop driving to church; garden, because contact with the Earth is important; appoint an environmental point person in every parish; stop using plastic; and develop prayers about the environment and how God can guide us. “If we did things like this, non-Christian people would take us seriously. Young people would admire us,” she said. Steps such as these would be criticized by some people, she said, but “it would be good for us to take risks and be seen as non-establishment.”

Referring to the call in Ephesians 6:10-18 to put on the armour of God, Ms. Souter urged the creation of “climate warriors.” She suggested the Church needs to respond to the needs of climate refugees in our own communities, noting that marginalized people are hardest hit by extreme weather. “The cry of the Earth is the cry of the poor. It should break our hearts that people on the streets are dying because of heat,” she said.

Ms. Hari-Singh zeroed in our economic system, with its relentless push for growth as the chief cause of the climate crisis. “The climate crisis emergency is wrapped up with how capitalism functions. The disease is capitalism, and Anglicans think of it as normal. Capitalism as we know it needs to come to an end, and I know that is not going to happen overnight,” she said, adding that churches need to study economics through the lens of faith.

Our society has the technology to sustain the planet, she said, but we need a “metanoia,” referring to a biblical term for a change of mind brought about by repentance. “This is our moment of conversion,” she said.

Mr. Walsh named the climate crisis as the defining issue of our age. “There can be no business as normal, because the trouble with normal is it only gets worse,” he said. He called for a radical shift in our thinking about heaven and said we need a theology of transformational renewal. Climate concerns should be a central focus in our formation processes for church missioners, he said.

Noting that acknowledgements affirming Indigenous peoples as the original inhabitants of our land have become common in churches, Mr. Walsh suggested the custom should be extended to mention the land itself, its birds, trees and creatures that have been lost. “That could shape us in our character,” he said.

Nothing that the Church no longer has the authority it once had in society, Ms. Clarkson encouraged Bishop Asbil to seek regular meetings with Premier Doug Ford to present concrete solutions. Bishop Asbil replied that he has met the premier six or seven times.

Participants both in person and online put forth a range of suggestions and questions for panellists during a lively question period. They called for climate literacy programs in parishes, asked how we can “break open the Christian imagination,” proposed a hard look at how we use our buildings and perhaps giving some of them back to Indigenous people, and asked whether diocesan investment funds are involved with fossil fuel companies.

“How we use our properties is a big issue we are wrestling with,” said Bishop Asbil, reminding the audience that St. James Park, next to the cathedral, was given to the city of Toronto for a token one dollar so that all citizens could enjoy green space.

The Church’s willingness to take bold action in its response to the climate emergency came up repeatedly during the discussion. “Isaiah invites us to let go out of the past and to see that there’s new life in the wilderness,” said Ms. Souter.

“It will take the tenacity of Anglicans on the ground to make the changes that are necessary,” said Bishop Asbil in closing remarks. “The creativity needs to be filtered up.”

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