Summer 2025 has been a busy one for Operation Noah. Alongside our day-to-day campaigning, we have been touring some of the Christian festivals that regularly take place at this time of the year.
The season kicked off with the New Wine festival in July. For a week, the Bath and West Showground became a festival of praise and worship, where we teamed up with partners Green Christian, Climate Stewards and A Rocha to host a ‘Creation Care Hub’. We’ve only been to New Wine once before so it was good to be part of this popular festival and be able to reach out to new audiences. Two highlights were leading a reflective prayer session on the Biblical call to action, and addressing the Bandstand crowd on the topic of why Christians should care for creation.
Next up was the National Justice and Peace Network conference at Swanwick, Derbyshire. The theme for this year’s conference was aptly focused on peace. Campaign officer, Bokani Tshidzu, was invited to give a workshop on the intersection of peace and the climate crisis – you can read her reflections in this blog post.
For Operation Noah, summer is not complete without Greenbelt. This year our stall was handily located right next to Hot House, the venue for talks particularly focused on the climate crisis. Alongside showcasing the latest resources such as Where Your Treasure Is and the Catholic Social Teaching Toolkit, we promoted our Church Land Use Vision. As part of that promotion, we encouraged people to send a postcard pledge to their regional church or diocese calling on them to take action to use Church-owned land to protect climate and nature. We also welcomed some very dedicated young people to play Greenopoly – some even finished the game having invested in all the climate solutions and gaining a heap of money!
This summer we haven’t just held stalls at events: we have been part of a growing, active movement signposting God’s love for His earth and for all of creation. And the encouraging conversations, inspiring actions and fresh support will sustain us through the months ahead.
And as the summer season draws to a close, we also reflect on some of the events that have shaped recent months, notably the horrific war in Gaza, the heatwaves and wildfires that have devastated southern Europe, and the recent anti-migrant protests. All of these seemingly disparate events are connected by climate change, which weaves a thread through so many of today’s crises. It reminds us of the lived experiences and human stories behind the need to reduce emissions, and that tackling the climate crisis is fundamentally about the pursuit of justice, peace and a liveable future for all.
