Chair's Report, June 2011

Chair’s Report for Operation Noah Annual Supporter’s Meeting 2011, presented by Rev Chris Brice, Friends Meeting House, June 6th 2011.

There is no doubt that this has been a challenging year for Operation Noah – but so it was for the Israelites of the Exodus making their way from slavery to freedom – through the wilderness.

The wilderness is not a bad place to be, spiritually speaking – out of it came St John of the Cross, Jesus, John the Baptist and Nelson Mandela – cleared of all the clutter, and shaped for the work in hand.

Operation Noah is currently living from hand to mouth – so were the Israelites; we have to depend on each other – so did the Israelites; the only reason for going forward in faith is because it seems the only way to go if we want to honour our mandate – the Israelites also.

Our team

But we’re a great team. Natalie our administrator – prepared to work two days a week in an uncertain climate, knowing the money could run out in a month or two but never quite seems to – and now if the HMRC give us the gift aid we are owed we could go on relatively securely until Christmas. If they don’t then the end of September is the limit – unless we get more £10-a-monthers giving by gift aid and standing order.

We are extremely grateful to Natalie for her invariable cheerfulness and efficiency – always positive about the future – very patient of the board’s foibles – and carrying on working despite a broken shoulder; managing our transition from a four-desk office to the single desk we currently rent from LCRN in the Grayston Centre; and always available on the end of a phone if needed, including on her days off.

And what a Board we have – so different from each other with our differing gifts and personality profiles but covering between us everything from web management and internet skills, accounting, budgeting, and financial expertise, spirituality, prophetic passion, knowledge of climate change, ecumenical links, theology, liturgy, editing and writing, organisational vision, realism, HR advice and much much more.

We have become a self supporting, entirely hands on/engaged board – in order to survive – and thrive – and I think we’re beginning to enjoy it, and believe that we can make it through the night of doubt and uncertainty; learning as we do so to have faith in God we can’t always see, feel, or touch very well, if at all – the absent God whose promise we rely on when we can’t feel Him. The god of St John of the Cross – nada, nada, nada, nada, nada, (nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing) – crossing the desert of His absence.

Which is how it seems to so many of us caught up in the climate crisis – why is nothing happening? Why can no one do anything – why when the stakes couldn’t be higher – the very future of civilisation at stake, no less – can no one see what needs to be done and do it? Well Lynn McDonald is going to help us wrestle with that one later – over to you Lynn!

But God sends us his angels to march in front, behind, and above: Katie Hill, giving us free of charge her skills as an Oxford MBA 1st Class with expertise with social enterprises, and small businesses; helping us to see how to run a highly successful awayday for the board drawing up the basis of a business plan based on her coaching and template; Graham Raw – way ahead of the game in building his own home 20 years ago with green in mind, a Baptist, architect, and friend agreeing to take over the secretary of the board on Terry Thake’s retirement, stepping in and giving his time free of charge; and Virginia, a chartered accountant, generously preparing our Company financial statements for the year, pro bono.

Objectives for the future

The big objectives that emerged from our Board Away Day were:
1. To develop a theological response to the threat of climate change and to develop training for clergy and church leaders.
2. To recover our prophetic edge in communicating the injustice of the global situation through website, lectures, activism etc with a target audience of churches, supporters, society/nation, politicians, business leaders etc, including through campaigning, lobbying and letter-writing.
3. Promoting key climate issues through controversy and via partnerships and agents of the church and thereby to encourage, urge, nudge, pursue church leaders and agents of the church to exhibit leadership on climate change issues.
4(a) Bring in new supporters through regional initiatives.
4(b) Growing the supporter base and increasing the giving commitment of the existing supporter base with an immediate target of making Operation Noah self-funding by covering the costs of one full time member of staff by the end of 2011: 100 people giving £10 a month each, plus gift aid, would do it.
4(c) Raising the public profile of Operation Noah, not least through the good offices and eminence of Ann Pettifor our strategic adviser, and also through inviting senior very high profile Christian leaders – ordained and lay – to become our patrons and promote our work.

Our achievements

Our achievements include:

• This supporters meeting and Operation Noah Seminar led by a distinguished Canadian academic and climate change activist – fellow Anglican Professor Lynn McDonald.

• Establishing, under Bishop David Atkinson, an Operation Noah Theology Group whose membership includes university professors of theology, lecturers and leaders from Anglican theological colleges, a social justice activist, a parish priest, a member of a religious order, a writer and editor to name whose first meeting, as we shall hear, some cutting edge, Barmen-style, responses to the climate crisis – prophetic and practical.

• We have established and sustained and developed through a web expert on our board what is a first class web site packed with resources to meet all needs including sermon outlines; a programme for a day of prayer and fasting; technical and scientific information; the carbon exodus project; theological reflection; campaigning ideas; and latest news and links.

• In partnership with CEL we organised a highly successful service at the Church of the Annunciation in Bryanston Square to coincide with the Campaign Against Climate Change march providing speaker Edward Echlin and leading the worship – as featured in the church press.

• Provided speakers for ‘London Inter Faith Week Eco Festival; a showing of God is Green at another interfaith event in Camden (Operation Noah resources displayed); speakers at a city centre church in Winchester, Hereford Diocese (two occasions); York, Andover and elsewhere.

• Produced and distributed widely an attractive and popular “Operation Noah Business Card” generously paid for by one of our Board and designed by a leading designer company (the kind of thing that can be handed out by the score at climate events) highlighting our work, our mission, and our website to which it immediately directs people.

• Securing regular standing orders of £350 a month in small amounts from supporters with Gift Aid.

• Rationalising our office space to secure maximum benefit of size, costs, and visibility to match our ‘travelling light’ style of operation – well suited to an organisation on the move.

• Developed and launched a compelling Carbon Exodus project and associated Oil Fast initiative packed with web based resources and ideas for churches and individuals.

• A centre page feature in the Church Times by a Board member pushing our theological ideas and promoting Operation Noah’s work – and rooted in the Covenant and Exodus theology that inspires and informs us.

• Secured a very significant venue, St Mary le Bow, in the centre of the City of London for our Annual Lecture.

Looking ahead

And we have fresh nominations to invigorate our Board and increase our capacity following the sad, but understandable resignations for personal reasons of Professor Michael Northcott (who finds travel from Edinburgh to London for board meetings prohibitive); Ruth Conway (to whom we owe a particular debt of gratitude for her incredibly generous and dedicated contributions to the work of Operation Noah since its foundation, and through whom we send our very best wishes to husband Martin for a speedy and complete recovery from illness); and Colette Annesley-Gamester (who has commenced full-time ordination training).

Please help us to press onwards and upwards.

Now, if we are to press on with energy, faith, strength and skill we need YOUR help, YOUR prayers, YOUR commitment, and YOUR resources – including 65 more “£10 a month givers” by standing order to ensure a guaranteed and sustainable income of approximately £12,000 a year (please visit our web site to set up your monthly giving); and we need tons of God’s grace to help us press onwards and upwards.

I’m not sure if I’m the right person to lead the Board through the next stage of our development – I’m more of a helper and an irritant than a leader – so we need to pray and discern the right pattern of positions in the board and we need constantly to recall “ not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord” through Zechariah. Words which inspired the following thoughts in a Friends Justice and Peace pamphlet which I have paraphrased to align with our priorities in Operation Noah as we strive to avert catastrophic, civilisation-ending climate change before its too late – using the resources God gave us in Christ and in each other.

“Our work and our struggle in seeking to avert catastrophic climate change may bring us into conflict with human authorities, be they Church or State. This may be less obvious in the so-called democracies of the West. However, I believe that we are not sufficiently aware of our involvement with the forces of materialism, the principalities and powers of our age, or the subtle erosion of human rights owing to the overriding preoccupation of governments with financial priorities rather than welfare, and with national security rather than the good of international community. We are implicated in such systems by our lives as consumers and our involvement with institutions and industries that do not work for the common good. In our efforts to improve conditions, do we go along with our systems rather than distance ourselves from them? Do we fear the loss of our good name or that we may invite persecution? I have heard it said that the dynamic of early Friends was their being a persecuted people. They did not invite persecution, but they could do no other. No one wants to give up freedom and security, but if we are led and commanded by Christ, we know that he will not leave us without his Spirit to see us through. We have to take the risk of the first step. If the result should be suffering, we know that we are in good company. 'If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.' (John 15:18)”

And to get us underway today Isabel Carter has prepared for us a way of working out our carbon footprint – one step, one way, to join us on our operation Noah Carbon Exodus – no one’s going to arrest us yet for doing that…

As Gandhi said when asked by a mother to help her persuade her daughter to give up sweets: “give me a couple of weeks first” – “why?” the mother asked. “Because I have to give them up first!” Gandhi replied.

So let’s get going and accept the challenge of measuring our own footprint…..and join us in the Carbon Exodus!