Hundreds to fast, pray and focus on climate change (7 Feb 2007)

^{Picture: St Barnabas Woodside Park, Edmonton area}

PRESS RELEASE 6 FEBRUARY 2008

For immediate release; photos and interviews possible on the day or by prior appointment (1)

Communities linked to one hundred churches in the Episcopal Area of Edmonton are preparing a day of fasting and prayer – as a way of intensifying their own awareness of Creation and of the impact of over-consumption on rising greenhouse emissions and climate change.

The day of fasting was triggered by Operation Noah, the Christian climate change campaign, and will take place throughout the area on Saturday, 9th February. Christians from the Edmonton area (boroughs of Barnet, Camden, Enfield and Haringay in London, representing one hundred churches) will take part. The day is organised by the Edmonton Area Social Justice Committee, with support from the Bishop of Edmonton and Operation Noah (2).

The timing of the fast coincides with the beginning of Lent.

The Bishop of Edmonton asked: "How do we live the Gospel more profoundly? This is a simple and necessary question. Attention to climate change we now know is a prerequisite of care for some of the poorest of the world who bear the consequences of our affluence".

Revd Oliver Osmond, chair of the Edmonton Area Social Justice Committee said: “Climate Change poses an enormous challenge and it is easy to feel there is absolutely nothing we can do that will make any real difference. Jesus encourages us, when faced with an apparently impossible situation, to regard prayer as a positive way forward (see, for instance, Mark 9.14-29). We hope that this Day of Prayer and Fasting may help each Christians in the area to see how they can contribute to the alleviation of this great threat, as well as being in itself a powerful spiritual resource that may directly contribute to the healing of our increasingly stricken climate”.

Rev. Osmond thanked Operation Noah: "I am immensely grateful to Operation Noah, both with help in planning this day and for making available so much valuable and thought-provoking material on this crucial issue." (3)

ENDS

NOTES FOR EDITORS

(1) Contact for more information Jean-Francois Mouhot, Campaigns and Communication Officer, Operation Noah. Tel: 020 7324 4761 mob. 07858 157839 (email)

(2) Operation Noah was founded in 2001 by Christian Ecology Link (CEL) and later became a joint project of CEL and the Environmental Issues Network of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI). It was the first Christian campaign to focus exclusively on the issue of Climate Change and this continues to be its mission.

(3) Resources for similar days of fasting and prayer can be found on the Operation Noah website at http://www.operationnoah.org/node/256

 

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