St John the Divine Gives up Carbon for Lent.

(Well, we couldn't actually give it up completely because we are made of carbon and we eat carbon, but we did give up 5%)

Lent is a time when Anglicans often take time to reflect on what is really essential in our lives. We have a tradition of cutting back or doing without something we may have grown to depend on, like coffee or alcohol or chocolate. Giving it up reminds us that life can be rich and full without it and that we may depend on God to provide plentifully for our every real need. When we experience living full lives without this “small” dependency, we become more active participants in creating our worlds based on true mindfully chosen priorities rather than mere habituated ones. Acting in this tradition, on February 10, 2008 the congregation of St John the Divine made pledges as a faith community to accelerate their caring for Creation by pledging to cut their carbon emissions by 5% in 2008. We are reminding ourselves throughout Lent and into 2008 that so much of our contribution to global warming, at both the individual and societal level, is the result of careless habit, and not the result of direct necessity at all.

Two years ago the congregation made a parish wide faith commitment as a special Eucharistic prayer to, where possible, prefer the purchase of local produce over imported. We sought a frequent reminder of the reality of greenhouse gases embedded in food (transportation and packaging) that comes to us from far away.  It was not that we never eat pineapples or dates; rather that we become conscious of the impact of the choices we make.

We formed a “Care for Creation” committee and began exploring ways to work together to make our efforts to care for our planetary home more explicit. In the Spring of 2007 we held seminars with guest speakers from the community to teach us about global warming. At Pentecost, committee members purchased compact florescent bulbs as gifts for the whole congregation and exchanged them for incandescents. In November 2007 we published an information sheet in a Sunday leaflet which showed how simple decisions like using a bus or bike instead of your car for your regular commute one day a week could cut your carbon by 20%. We used publicly available data from the CRD to educate ourselves about the impacts of our choices and discovered that we do not have to do it all. There is a menu of options which can mean most people can make fairly easy reductions just by being mindful. For a look at the list go http://www.stjohnthedivine.bc.ca/careforcreation/index.asp. In January and February we asked individual parishioners to speak for a few minutes at the beginning of services about efforts they had made the previous year and how much fun it had all been. (One person talked about how much she is enjoying getting to know people now that she carpools to church!). We were helped with thoughtful sermons from our clergy about mindfulness and the impacts of decision making and making connections with the way Christ would have approached this issue were he with us in body today.

On February 10 (the First Sunday in Lent) we were given sticky notes in the shape of a flower petal and asked to write what we had done in 2007 on the top half and what we pledged to do for 2008. We all processed to the front during collection and put the flower-stickers on posters of a “Seed Sower”.  The symbolism -- each small act of caring for creation is a seed that grows by inspiring others to follow.

Part of what we must do is find a way to appreciate our individual efforts in our communities without necessarily turning it into a trumpet blowing session. Knowing that others could see what we did last year (anonymously of course) made us feel appreciated for our individual efforts by the collective. Making community wide pledges (again anonymously) brings a measure of satisfaction to know that we are part of a community and working with others to know that the entire Parish shares this goal. We invited people to measure their proposed reductions to allow us to see when we had done “enough”. It is possible to become overwhelmed. It turns out we do not have to do it all – and hopefully and faithfully by doing some measured things (which are in line with the scientific targets) we will have the courage to remind politicians and other decision makers that they will be applauded if they support their constituents and stakeholders with making changes at a wider level.

For more information go to the http://www.stjohnthedivine.bc.ca/careforcreation/index.asp.

Sierra Club BC also has lots of help available for communities wanting to form carbon emissions reduction counting groups (CERCLES) or “Housecooling parties” and is happy to supply materials and guest speakers. http://www.sierraclub.bc.ca/campaign-spotlights/sierra-cercles