There are a range of events each year around London about the environment and climate change, which church members can take part in.
The canonical Anglican calendar does not include a celebration of creation as such. It is supplemented by a range of events running in parallel.
World Environment Day is celebrated on 5 June every year. It is the United Nations’ principal vehicle for encouraging awareness and action for the protection of our environment.
World Environment Day 2020 is on Friday 5 June, with the theme ‘Time for Nature’.
Marking World Environment Day, an initiative is launched on this day to provide a focus for churches from across Britain and Ireland committed to action to combat climate change. Climate Sunday has been organised by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland with support from charities including CAFOD, Christian Aid, Tearfund, A Rocha UK, and Operation Noah.
The aim is ‘giving a voice to local churches’, who are encouraged to hold a local Climate Sunday any time during a one-year period starting on 6th September (the first Sunday in the annual season of Creationtide – see below).
Free resources will be supplied to suit every tradition and style of worship. During their local Climate Sunday, every church is invited to do one or more of three things:
The culmination of the campaign will be a national Climate Sunday event on Sunday 5 September 2021, to share church commitments and pray for bold action and courageous leadership ahead of the UN’s COP26 Climate Conference, to be hosted in Glasgow in November 2021.
Environment Sunday is on the Sunday nearest to World Environment Day. Therefore, in 2020, Environment Sunday will be on Sunday 7 June, coinciding with Trinity Sunday.
As is clear from Genesis 1 and from Colossians 1, all three Persons of the Trinity were involved in the Creation of the World, which is our environment, although heavily marred by us.
Each year, Creationtide (or Creation Time, or the Season of Creation) is celebrated from 1 September to 4 October (St Francis Day), with prayers for the protection of creation and the promotion of sustainable lifestyles.
Several Christian denominations in the UK and Ireland and around the world share in this annual event, established in 2007 by the European Ecumenical Assembly in Sibiu, Romania.
Many churches pick one Sunday during the season of Creationtide to focus especially on environmental themes.
Creationtide is now supported by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI).
For 2020, the theme Jubilee for the Earth is proposed.
London Car Free Day is to take place in September 2020 – details to be announced.
Let’s consider how London’s churches can celebrate and participate in this event to keep the air in our capital at least as fresh as it has become during Coronavirus lockdown.
Green Week is supposed to highlight what it means for the UK to reduce its emissions to next zero, including cleaner buildings, transport and waste handling.
Unfortunately, Green Week 2019 was postponed to ‘early 2020’, due to Brexit. However, as of early June, it appears that a date and details remain to be announced.
In 2021, Ash Wednesday will fall on 17 February, with Easter Sunday on 4 April 2021.
There are many customs and traditions associated with Lent.
To show our concern for God’s creation and the impact of global warming and climate change, we can mark Lent with a Carbon Fast, starting on Ash Wednesday.
Earth Hour 2021 is scheduled for 8:30 to 9:30 pm on Saturday 27 March 2021.
Earth Hour is an annual event organised by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), when people and organisations all over the world switch off their lights for one hour.
People and organisations are encouraged to use this opportunity to make a public statement of their concern to challenge those ways our lifestyles and behaviour threaten the wellbeing of God’s earth.
International Earth Day takes place on 22 April each year.
In 2021, Earth Day falls on Thursday 22 April.
Earth Day extends the aims of Earth Hour much wider – inspiring ‘a billion acts of green’.
The actions we take on just one hour or one day each year must of course lead to sustained action all through the year.
World Environment Day 2021 is on Saturday 5 June.
In 2021, Environment Sunday will be on Sunday 6 June.
Earth Hour
International Earth Day
World Environment Day
Liturgy for Environment Sunday 2020
Preaching notes
Season of Creation
Jubilee for the Earth
Churches Together in Britain and Ireland
London Car Free Day.
For the latest news, contact the Head of Environment and Sustainability
Churches Together in Britain and Ireland
Green Anglicans
Green GB
A Rocha UK
Operation Noah
Christian Aid
Tearfund
CAFOD.
Environment and Sustainability, front page.
