London Calling

According to Christian Today, London's Chrisians are receiving a call to combat climate change in the form of a booklet "For Creed and Creation: A simple guidebook for running a greener church. " The book offers priests and pastors practical tips on energy efficiency and advising them on preaching the green message.

"Working together, London's churches have a pivotal role to play in tackling the stark reality of climate change," said the Bishop of London, Dr Richard Chartres, as he launched the guide on Wednesday.
"London's churches reach out to hundreds of thousands of people every week and, according to the last census, 58 per cent of the capital's population is Christian. We should be making our presence felt on the crucial issue of the environment," he said.
The guide, which will be distributed free to over 4000 of the capital's churches, proposes car-sharing schemes for the Sunday service and recycling programmes.
Christian church leaders hope to expand its scope to other religions and set up a green church telephone advice line to support the faithful in their green endeavours.
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Bishop Gives Up Flying to Reduce Emissions

Anglican Bishop Richard Chartres of London has pledged to refrain from air travel for a year, as a sign of his commitment to the environment. "Travel takes rather longer," Chartres told Ecumenical News International.

Chartres signed a pledge to refrain from all air travel for 12 months during a Stop Climate Change demonstration in London in October. "I shall not flinch," Chartres insisted, although he acknowledged the effects of his decision were, at times, "very inconvenient". Still, "One useful result is slowing down a bit," he noted. "I think it also focuses the mind on going to things that are really valuable."

In 2006, Chartres was criticised by Michael O'Leary, chief executive of low-cost airline Ryanair, after the bishop was reported saying it was sinful to pollute the planet by catching a plane for a holiday. But, the 59-year-old cleric said in Wittenberg: "I'm not preaching to other people. If one is saying 'cut the carbon' … one has to be very alert to one's own footprint. This is a new way of being faithful, of walking lightly on the earth."

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