For the Love of Creation releases plans for local discussion groups and nation-wide online forum

Canadian churches and faith-based organizations under For the Love of Creation have launched two programs to increase dialogue on climate change as part of its faith-based campaign to help Canada transition to net zero by 2050.

“This invitation to deeper conversations is so important because we need both our faith and the people around us  to keep us moving forward in working for ecological justice and taking action for the love of creation,” says The Rev. Susan C. Johnson, National Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.

For the Love of Creation’s Faithful Climate Conversations aim to create space for supportive, values-based conversations on climate change that motivate people of faith to take action. 

Through a series of three guides, hosts and facilitators will be equipped and supported to lead structured discussions on climate change with friends, family, colleagues, and members of their faith community. 

Inspired by ClimateFast’s Kitchen Table Climate Conversation initiative, these conversations are intended to raise awareness on climate change, move people from concern to action and help build consensus on what needs to happen to achieve net-zero in Canada by 2050.

“It is the time to go deep and broad to attend to the climate crisis —deep in learning, values and commitment, and broad in the engagement of the greatest number of people possible,” says Jennifer Henry, Executive Director of KAIROS Canada. “For the Love of Creation is offering faith communities across the spectrum the opportunity to join heart, mind and will to the transformation that is so desperately required.”

To support public dialogue on climate change, For the Love of Creation has launched a Fall Online Forum, with a series of hour-long sessions, being offered every Monday in November starting at 7:30 pm ET / 4:30pm PT. Open to everyone, the themed forums are: Communicating Climate Change (November 2), Advocating for Climate Justice (November 9), Grieving, Healing and Connecting with Creation (November 16), Creation Care: A Letter of the Faithful (November 23), and Climate Action Now! (November 30).

For the Love of Creation includes a growing list of national faith bodies and faith-based organizations that have come together to make a meaningful contribution to address the climate crisis in the next decade. 

The initiative engages people individually and in community in a climate conversation centred around theological reflection, local engagement, and political advocacy. 

Coordination of this initiative has been supported by Citizens for Public Justice, KAIROS Canada, Canadian Religious Conference and Development and Peace-Caritas Canada.

Since its launch on Earth Day 2020, For the Love of Creation developed an e-petition to the federal government that called for a just recovery to the pandemic, one that prioritized action on the climate crisis and Indigenous rights. 

The petition collected 2,500 signatures, and its sponsor, Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Member of Parliament for Beaches-East York, will deliver it to the House of Commons this week. 

For the Love of Creation builds on a long history of engagement by Canadian churches and faith-based organizations in ecological conservation, environmental activism, and advocacy for climate justice. 

Indigenous Peoples have long reminded us of the interconnectedness of all creation. Faith organizations understand the importance of respecting this interconnectedness as we speak to this moment through our values and collective action. 

Faith organizations are also attuned to the young voices in our midst who are leading the way in showing the urgency of the climate situation. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted people, amplifying economic, political, cultural, and social fissures and shown how government and societies can change quickly when convinced of the need. For the Love of Creation is an active and growing voice for collective and immediate action.

“So much is conspiring to awaken us to a new relationship with earth…a new relationship with each other. May this love lead us to be persistent and practical and offer prophetic hope in our world,” says Sister Margo Ritchie, CSJ, Congregational Leader, Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada.

 For more information, visit www.fortheloveofcreation.ca