Where is the hope? Report from our Annual Members Meeting
‘Where is the hope? was the theme for Green Christian’s Annual Members Meeting held at St Andrew’s Church, Waterloo on Saturday 11 November. People came from all around to hear about another great year and what lies ahead. Membership continues to grow, we’ve had all kinds of Zoom workshops and been “out on the road,” with day events held in Saltburn, Edinburgh, Earley (Reading), York and Dronfield. Green Christian is recruiting two new part time posts, plus there’s a hybrid retreat on its way in 2024.
Delegates joined break-out groups to discuss and feed back what ‘hope’ means for them in tackling the climate crisis, and how Green Christian has helped them. They said hope is:
– the opposite of denial, necessary for action
– when all seems lost, I ask myself, ‘What would Jesus do?’
– prayer, reflection and action
– linking hands with others
They also told us that Green Christian helps them by offering:
– uniting people with shared values who ‘get it’
– resources to share with churches/leaders
– workshops and courses
– daily prayer guide/reflections.
The meeting included a wonderful bring and share locally grown/sourced and organic feast. A big thank you to our host venue St Andrews!
Picture above: Paul Bodenham describes the new 8 session online course due to start on 9 January designed specially for clergy, lay ministers and spiritual directors, giving a safe space to confront questions such as, “What does my vocation mean in the shadow of catastrophe?” and “What new pastoral responses do people need?”
Picture: Ruth Jarman, Green Christian Information Officer, describes the activities of the Engagement group. For example, Zoom talks and discussion groups enable people to learn new ideas. The next two Zoom workshops are :
Wednesday 15 November 7pm – Faith and the Economy with Professor Steve McMullen, editor of the Magazine “Faith and the Economy” and
7pm Wednesday 6 December 7pm– Climate conversations with Christian Psychologist John Steley on how people can hold two things together in their minds without making connections between them. With over 70% of people in the UK recognising climate disruption is for real how is it they still carry on with climate damaging behaviours?
See the videos of some of the afternoon here.
For more pictures see posts on facebook and instagram
See pdf of the slides shown illustrating the Annual Report
See our Annual Report for 2022-2023
Next: Press Release – “Where IS the hope?” Green Christian looks for hope in our time
Previous: Cloud and Fire – rediscovering ministry for an age of climate breakdown
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