Welcome to Exeter GreenSpirit!
We’re a small and friendly group who meet for the eight Festivals and we’d be delighted to meet you! During the Winter months we usually meet indoors, but are planning to meet outdoors when the weather is better.
For more details please contact Adrian:
Email: adrian@gn.apc.org
Mobile: 07974 427 419
We’re also on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/exetergreenspirit/?ref=group_browse_new
We post details of each of our events on our Facebook group page as soon as they’re confirmed. See you there!
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Faith and Climate Change
Exeter GreenSpirit are working on a Faith and Climate Crisis exhibition which will consist of a series of A1 laminated panels. Each panel will present a personal response to the question of how our faith inspires and supports us to meet the challenge of climate crisis (about 350 – 400 words). The full text of the introductory panel is below (subject to minor revisions).
“We live in extraordinary times. Our home – the planet – is in danger. Ten thousand year-old ice sheets are melting, and across the world millions of people have already lost their homes due to the effects of climate change. Closer to home, extreme weather events are becoming common place. Species are becoming extinct at one thousand times the natural rate, and the eco-systems which are crucial to regulating the weather, providing our resources, as well as precious natural beauty, are showing signs of imminent collapse. Unless industrialized countries cut their carbon emissions within the next 18 months, we could have runaway climate change – making large parts of the globe uninhabitable and threatening death for millions of people across the world. Everyone living today faces this challenge. Can we turn the situation around? Scientists and environmentalists say we can. But meanwhile governments are reluctant to act. And the facts are terrifying. Sometimes it’s easier to try to shut them out than think about them. As individuals we can sometimes feel powerless. How can our faith help us meet this challenge? And what are we, as individuals doing about the problem? This exhibition brings together the thoughts of people from across our community who are worried abut these issues and look to their faith as an inspiration for action.”
We envisage that an individual’s response to those questions would include:
- How my faith inspires and supports me. They might include specific sacred stories or other texts. E.g. “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it.“ Psalm 24.1; “If the Resurrection were established upon one of you while he has in his hand a sapling, then let him plant it.” From the Hadiths). Are there any practices that help (prayer, meditation, ritual, etc.)? How does is your faith community help?
- What that means in practice. What are they doing or not doing in response to the climate crisis? Campaigning, flying less, driving less, eating less meat, changing buying habits, going vegan, etc.
Each panel will have an image or two and contributors are welcome to provide something suitable. I have a selection of my own local nature images and can use those if need be. We might organize an interfaith discussion to launch the exhibition.
The exhibition will tour around Exeter – and perhaps some towns nearby – showing in as wide variety of venues as we can manage. We very much hope it will be welcomed into many faith community spaces as well as secular venues like the local libraries. There will be an opportunity for visitors to make a personal response to the exhibition.
Objectives (draft):
- Learning about how someone who shares your spiritual beliefs is engaging with the climate crisis will hopefully inspire people to do more.
- Learning about how someone who has a different spiritual belief will stimulate discussion around diversity and our common concerns.
- By encouraging greater engagement with climate crisis, we hope that faith leaders will be encouraged to do more.
Email me if you’d like to be involved: adrian@gn.apc.org