Ekklesia blogs from Ann and Mark
12/01/2009
Week 9: My worms are escaping! "Just because you have a small roof terrace and scant time to cultivate an allotment doesn't mean you can't use up your food waste, " said my sister in law. "You urban types have a simple option - get a wormery." It is now available on ekklesia, click here for it!
Mark Dowd, 14th July 2009 At a time when respect for MPs is at an all time low, you'd be forgiven for taking a cynical view on any politician who is seen in public kissing babies. Yet I tip my hat off to Ed Miliband MP, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary. Last weekend, Operation Noah engaged him in a climate rally in his Doncaster constituency... It is now available on ekklesia, click here for it! Week 7: Something unpleasant fell into my inbox. Mark Dowd, 8th July, 2009. As an eye-catching way of drawing attention to the huge importance of the looming Copenhagen Climate Summit and the threat to God's creation, it was right on up there. Two hundred and fifty children dressed as animals on a boat - the Bishop of London with five Carmelite friars - a brass quintet and Afro-Caribbean drummers and finally real alpacas, sheep, goats, rabbits and geese parading outside the Palace of Westminster (more on the event here). And when the message behind our Operation Noah spectacle featured prominently on BBC Radio 4's "Sunday" programme three days later, we were delighted. But then, as if sent to guard against any temptation to smugness, in popped the following email message in my inbox: "You're only doing this climate change crap for its political advantage. There is not a damn thing to worry about and not a damned thing you can do about it anyways. You people are such fools and are doing a fine job making Christians look foolish." Dissecting this, I offer a couple of observations... It is now available on ekklesia, click here for it!
by Ann Pettifor, 2nd July 2009. The week started for me on Saturday in the glorious setting of Cathedral Green, Exeter. Together with at least 5,000 others, I celebrated the 1100th birthday of the cathedral, and took Holy Communion in the open air. It was a deeply moving occasion. The choir singing was heavenly. There was an excellent, sassy saxophonist. The Archbishop preached of glory. Children played happily, while the bees buzzed sleepily in the heat. Alongside me an elderly man supported his wife, who appeared to be suffering from Alzheimerís. The gentle but firm way in which he helped her hold the communion cup, and guided her tenderly back to her spot on the grass, brought tears to my eyes. The dignity of his selflessness, and the depth of it, filled me with awe for the human spirit... It is now available on ekklesia, click here for it!
by Professor Michael Northcott, 4th June 2009. As I left St Maryís Putney, where we held the Operation Noah AGM, I noticed that this was the place where Cromwell convened the Putney debates that presaged the English Revolution when parliament was reconstituted as the peoplesí parliament. And for a few glorious years the stifling Norman-imposed tyranny of warring barons and princes was replaced with a congregation of peoplesí peers. According to poll data the majority of people in Britain today think climate change is an urgent moral challenge. But when their politicians are not cleaning their moats, or watching energy-hungry Plasma screens, they are using the powers of the state to shore up and subsidize the continuing fossil-fuelled accumulation of wealth by private corporations and the rich. It is now available on ekklesia, click here for it!
by Ann Pettifor, 27th May 2009. Iíve done it at last. It took courage, a stiffening of the spine (and of a range of other joints!) and a couple of hundred quid... but I have finally joined that wonderfully reckless crowd, the London cycling community... It is now available on ekklesia, click here for it!
by Ann Pettifor, 7th May 2009 Its been another roller-coaster week. I am writing this from a volcanic island that is at once the most energy-sustainable place on earth and at the same time the most financially unsustainable. The place is Iceland, and I am here to talk about the financial crisis, the role played by Britainís economics profession in the crisis, and the Green New Deal... It is now available on ekklesia, click here for it!
Week Two: The Budget, Climate and Faith, by Ann Pettifor, 23rd April 2009. 'How hard is it for them that trust in riches, to enter the kingdom of God; But many that are first shall be last.' St. Mark 10. It is now available on ekklesia, click here for it! Week One: Revelation is Revelation, by Mark Dowd. Days after the G20 protests, Mark was inspired to write this piece: Some weeks ago, at a meeting of Stop Climate Chaos, we were discussing strategies ñ an appropriate moment I thought, to get in a mention of our ìArk Campaign.î In our group discussion, there was a warm reception, with the exception of one seasoned campaigner who was not the kind of guy who keeps his cards close to his chest. It is now available on ekklesia, click here for it! |
