LWF delegates at COP25 in Madrid join other faith-based organizations to pray for urgent and just action to find a way out of the climate crisis. Photo: LWF/Albin Hillert
Churches and individuals urged to take part in 10-month initiative leading up to COP26 climate summit
(LWI) - The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is inviting its 148 member churches to take part in a prayer chain ahead of the next UN climate summit, which is scheduled for 9 to 19 November in Glasgow, Scotland.
The initiative will see people around the globe praying for leaders to take urgent action to tackle climate change at the COP26 summit. The prayer chain is being led by the UK-based charity Christian Aid and supported by other churches and faith-based organizations including the LWF and ACT Alliance.
Churches and communities of faith have tremendous power to make a change in people’s lives and to mobilize others to take care of creation.
LWF General Secretary, Rev. Dr Martin Junge, said the LWF was participating in this campaign “in solidarity with the people who are suffering from the worst impacts of climate change. Churches and communities of faith have tremendous power to make a change in people’s lives and to mobilize others to take care of creation.”
The action will begin on Ash Wednesday with prayer services outside London’s Westminster Cathedral at midday and at Westminster Abbey at 2pm GMT.
LWF’s Program Executive for Climate Justice, Elena Cedillo Vargas, underscored the importance of this global, ecumenical initiative: “We are at a crucial moment,” she said, “now, more than ever before, we must take care of creation, our common home, and call on our leaders to take more ambitious and urgent action to stop the climate crisis.” Cedillo stressed that "COP26 is the last chance for countries to really show their commitments to reduce their carbon emissions. There is no going back, the decision is in our hands, we all need to change our habits and pay more attention to the cries of the earth.”
The LWF has identified ‘care for creation’ as a priority for its ongoing work in countries around the globe. ‘Creation – Not for Sale’ was chosen as one of the sub-themes of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. An LWF delegation, including young women and men from different parts of the globe, takes part in the annual COP summits, partnering with other faith-based organizations to call on governments for decisive action to halt global warming.
Among the young LWF delegates to the COP25 meeting in Madrid, Spain last December was Fernanda Zuñiga from the Lutheran Church in Chile. She says: “Every day, we hear in the news about the impacts that climate change has on the world and we believe that they are far away and distant from us. But this is a reality that affects us all.”
“As Christians,” she continues, “we are called to take care of Creation and work for climate justice for all. Proverbs 31: 8 says, "We must raise our voices for those who cannot." Climate change particularly affects those people who are less able to raise their voices and recount their experiences. 2020 is a critical year so this is our invitation: to commit ourselves to having the hope and conviction that we can make a difference.”
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