Sunday, October 25, 2009

350 Hamilton



What a tremendous success! The faith community joined community groups in Hamilton to demonstrate their concerns about global climate change.
St James Anglican United Church rang their bells 350 times to summon people to action (in solidarity with 6 other Hamilton churches).
I held a GSS workshop at Christ Church in support of the 350 events; our volunteer screened The Power of Community at Centenary United.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Raffi: Kids for Saving the Earth -Promise Song

Kids for Saving Earth -Promise Song

Kids for saving earth: Promise Song

The Earth is my home.
I promise to keep it healthy and beautiful.
I will love the land, the air, the water and all living creatures.
I will be a defender of my planet.
United with friends. I will save the Earth.

Chorus:
United with friends. I promise to keep it.
United with friends. I will love the land.
United with friends. I'll be a defender.
I will save the Earth.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

eco churches of west hamilton walk!

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ECO WALK-October 18th

Members of the newly formed Eco Churches of West Hamilton (eco-WHAM) met yesterday in down town Dundas for a peaceful walk to raise awareness about the need for immediate action on climate change and global warming. The walk started at Christian Life Assembly,proceeded to St James Anglican Church onto St Augustine's RC church and ended at Knox Presbyterian. At each stop, prayers and messages of stewardship from each faith community's teachings were shared with the participant. Refreshments were served and people had a chance to read pamphlets and sign Kyoto Plus petitions and the Target 350 banner.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Words of Wisdom




Prayers of Meditation

Something new is upon us,
and yet nothing is ever new.

We are alive in a fearsome time,
and we have been given new things to fear.

We've been delivered huge blows but also
huge opportunities to reinforce or reinvent our will,
depending on where we look for honor and how we name our enemies.

The easiest thing is to think of returning the blows.
But there are other things we must think about as well, other dangers we face.

A careless way of sauntering across the earth and breaking open its treasures,
a terrible dependency on sucking out the world's best juices
for ourselves—these may also be our enemies.

The changes we dread most may contain our salvation.
small wonder - barbara kingsolver - 2002

I ended my GSS workshop with these words from Barbara Kingsolver at the Day of Encouragement event at Redeemer University College. It was the Christian Reformed Church's 50th Annual event, pulling in churches from across the nation.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Ring Them Bells!

Gooooooo Hamilton! Who said our city was apathetic when it comes to climate change action? They're wrong. Read the article below by our Don Mclean of Environment Hamilton. Greening Sacred Spaces is proud of the hand we had in helping to mobilize Hamilton faith groups to action for the 24th October;World Climate Day of Action.
All through the planning of this day's events,we've had consistent faith representation-as many as seven leaders at a time. We're proud of you!



Bells of warning for planet

By DON MCLEAN, COMMUNITY COLUMNIST

Columns
Oct 16, 2009
Large Medium Small Print This Article Tell a friend Church bells ringing across Hamilton Mountain this month are calling to more than the Christian faithful. They are warning us all of the growing climatic dangers that confront the world’s governments trying to construct a post-Kyoto agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The ringing is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 24 — the day when Hamiltonians will gather in Gore Park to participate in a global day of action on climate change.

It’s one of over 1,700 actions taking place that day in 140 countries, and will include a 3 p. m. walk to the federal building at Bay and York to deliver a message to Canada’s climate treaty negotiators.

The bells of a half dozen Mountain Anglican churches will ring out 350 times in total to mark the safe level of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere: 350 parts per million. Unfortunately, the level has already exceeded 385 and is climbing by two or three parts per million every year.

That puts us currently about 40 per cent higher than pre-industrial levels. The negative results are already painfully evident in extreme storm events and rapidly melting glaciers and polar ice caps that are disappearing far faster than expected. The two “100-year” storms that flooded over 7,000 Hamilton homes this summer appear to be one small part of a worsening global climatic crisis.

Last month, the United Nations reported that greenhouse gas emissions have been going up, not down. In the 1990s they increased by 1.1 per cent a year, but since 2000 the rate of increase has climbed to 3.5 percent annually — higher than even the worst-case scenario contemplated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that combines the efforts of climate scientists from every UN country.

The Oct. 24 events in Gore Park have a dozen sponsoring organizations, and include musical performances, displays and hands-on activities from noon to 3 p. m. There are also workshops, presentations and film showings starting at 1 p. m. in multiple downtown locations (register between noon and 1 o’clock in Gore Park at King and Hughson). The walk to the federal building starts at 3 p. m. See www.Hamilton350.com for full info.

The city has declared October to be climate change action month. Other activities include a high school environmental conference at Mohawk and an Oct. 18 “Eco-Walk” linking together four Dundas churches.

Mike Nickerson is one of the featured speakers at the Oct. 24 action. The author of “Life, Money and Illusion: Living on Earth as If We Want to Stay,” is also speaking at a school, two churches and a Dundas town hall meeting that weekend.

Don McLean is a director of Environment Hamilton and a volunteer with CATCH (Citizens at City Hall). He teaches environmental studies.

The Community Columnist is a regular feature of the Mountain News. If you would like to write in this space, call editor Gord Bowes at 905-523-5800 ext. 335 to discuss your idea.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Completed Energy Audit: A presentation

October 10th,2009

This Saturday (after a delicious breakfast), Melrose United Church along with GSS Hamilton invited faith group leaders to attend a presentation highlighting the results of the building's complete energy audit.

Participants learned about the auditing process, the cost and the benefits of having an energy audit for their own faith homes.

The audit was conducted by Green Venture with a partial grant from Faith and the Common Good.
About 25 people attended the event.