Around 150 people attended Operation Noah’s 20 Year Anniversary Service at St John’s Waterloo in Central London on the evening of Monday 18 October.

The cold and rain didn’t dampen a celebratory and inspiring event, which included an introduction and welcome from the vicar of St John’s Waterloo, Revd Giles Goddard – a former Operation Noah trustee – and prayers and scripture readings from a variety of current and former Operation Noah trustees and staff members, including the author and economist Ann Pettifor who is associated with a number of significant social and environmental movements, including the Green New Deal. 

The service featured praise songs as well as more traditional hymns, and included a short film produced by Operation Noah Campaign Officer David Britton which explored the origins of Operation Noah and its impact in inspiring the Church to take action on the climate crisis. 

Led by Revd Dr Darrell Hannah – Operation Noah’s Chair of Trustees – the service also included an address from the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams. In his address, Rowan recounted the story of Noah and the nature of God’s covenant in the story, concluding that we have a ‘trustworthy God’ but ‘the covenant asks of us a faithful response’: 

‘We are to live – when God’s purposes are revealed and fulfilled – in an environment that we can trust, and when we look around us, what we see is a sign of a trustworthy God.’ 

‘So far, so good we might say.’ 

‘But the covenant asks of us a faithfulness of response.’ 

‘It seems that the rest of creation doesn’t have quite the same problems we do with the faithfulness of response. Creation knows its business; creation around us is a stable environment. Time passes, things change and yet this world goes on giving, nourishing itself, nourishing us as part of itself. And we, it seems, have the unique gift within creation of betrayal. We are the ones gifted with the possibility of breaking covenant. The world that is around us doesn’t break covenant in that way. The world around us doesn’t collapse in competition, aggression and acquisition. It takes human genius to achieve that.’ 

Rowan then praised the work of Operation Noah in challenging the Church to be a faithful, promise-keeping Church, saying, ‘For twenty years, Operation Noah has been urging us to be in that sense a “rainbow Church”. A Church that is a sign of promise-keeping and stability, a sign of commitment to the world in which we’re placed.’ 

‘It’s challenged the Church to risk its security for the sake of that vision. It’s challenged each one of us. The Church, like each one of us, has responded, let’s say, unevenly, so far. The work remains, to put it mildly. And yet Operation Noah has continued to hold the collective feet of the Church to the fire. In this case to a fire of faithful love, which is the heart of God.’ 

After the service, all were invited to stay for drinks and refreshments, including for the ceremonial cutting of our Anniversary Cake, which was done by Operation Noah co-founders Ruth Jarman and Paul Bodenham alongside Dr Rowan Williams and Revd Dr Darrell Hannah.