A Rocha creating ripples at The Wave

9 December 2009

Steve Hughes, CEO of A Rocha UK joins Archbishops and other Christian leaders before The Wave service

Friends of A Rocha joined an estimated 50,000 people in London on 5^th December at ‘The Wave’ – Britain’s biggest ever environmental event, organised by the Stop Climate Chaos coalition, of which A Rocha UK is part. A Rocha Friends had come from all over the country – including Lancashire, Bristol, Kent, Sheffield and Coventry. One supporter who came to London wrote:

“I was so proud to have the [A Rocha] placard … Plenty saw me - saying it’s because of your organisation I am here, or my first ever walk with A Rocha, or you're doing some great work in Lebanon.”

The prize for smallest carbon footprint in getting to The Wave goes to Nicki Smith, an A Rocha Friend from Huddersfield who spent the previous month walking 250 miles to attend. She stated:

“I have visited an interesting A Rocha wildlife project [in Dronfield], spoke to several youth clubs, and just raised awareness with ordinary people I met along the way”.

Scottish Church leaders led The Wave in Glasgow

A Rocha was also represented at the Glasgow Wave by Victoria Deschampneufs and others. Several people commented that The Wave was the first ‘demonstration’ they had ever joined, and A Rocha folks attending included former city workers and a former oil company executive.

The day began with ‘Time to Pray’ - a service at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster which A Rocha was involved in planning. Leaders of all the major Christian denominations attended – the first time this has ever happened in relation to Climate Change. The service was led by Steve Clifford, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance, and the address given by Archbishop Rowan Williams who spoke very powerfully about our mission to the whole creation:

“The task of believers is not simply to go and communicate a few ideas to a few promising human beings; it is to transform the face of the earth … Somehow our deliverance into reconciliation with God and one another, spills over into the reconciliation and the transfiguration of the whole world we’re in. Our liberation is the world’s liberation. Good News for us should be good news for the whole of God’s world.”

His sermon is worth studying in depth – a transcript is attached (application/msword, 34.3 kB, info) or you can download it at http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/2649

A Rocha’s Young Adults, led by Will Campbell-Clause, pushed a bike-powered sound system around London

More than 3,000 people attended the service, and as a result not all could get in. Thankfully, the weather was good, and A Rocha UK’s Young Adults Coordinator Will Campbell-Clause and friends organised an impromptu outdoor service with songs and prayers for those outside.

The march itself was blessed with good weather and a carnival atmosphere. A Rocha’s supporters mixed with those from Tearfund, Christian Aid. CAFOD, Operation Noah, RSPB, Women’s Institute, UNISON, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Oxfam and many others. All were pressing for the Copenhagen summit to agree:

40% cuts in CO2 levels (compared to 1990 levels) by 2020
$200 billion a year in funding to help developing nations by 2020
no new coal-fired power stations without full carbon capture and storage

Young A Rocha supporters in the front row of the whole march

The press were out in force – it was claimed that all of London’s press photographers were there – and the event was covered by TV crews from around the world. A Rocha banners and placards were visible on many of the press and TV images. The Stop Climate Chaos website (www.stopclimatechaos.org/the-wave) contains links to many of the images, and there is an A Rocha Facebook album at www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=165033&id=561803618&l=02646f9e40.

After the march, representative of each organisation – including Steve Hughes and Dave Bookless from A Rocha UK – met with Ed Milliband, the Minister for Environment and Climate Change – who listened attentively, and made commitments to take on board the issues we raised. In another recent statement he has said: “The voices of faith leaders – your voices - are vitally important, not only in achieving a lasting outcome in Copenhagen, but in encouraging real, lasting change in your communities.”