The leadup to the May 3 federal election saw Uniting Church members from the electorate of Gilmore join with others from the multi-faith group Australian Religious Response to Climate Change to urge greater action from politicians on climate.
Speaking to the Spark Shoalhaven, Rev. John Brentnall of Berry Uniting Church, who is also a State Emergency Service chaplain and a member of the Disaster Recovery Chaplaincy Network, said: “I’ve seen firsthand in the last 5 years the devastating results of the bushfires and the floods down the South Coast, events that were much worse because of climate change.”
Places of worship in Gilmore and neighbouring electorates displayed banners with slogans such as “Protect Creation. No public money for coal and gas”, with some individual congregants also displaying signs in their yards.
“We’re doing this because caring for God’s Creation has been a part of our denomination’s DNA since its formation,” said Rev. Brentnall.
“It’s unavoidable, if you go back thousands of years to the scriptures, even back to Genesis that talks about humans’ responsibility to steward the Earth.”
Rev. Brentnall continued: “We’re against nuclear energy as it will take years and years to build when the climate crisis needs to be addressed right now.
“Electrifying everything will help to bring down the cost of living and we want to end all new coal and gas projects because you can’t put out a fire by pouring petrol on it.”
See full article at the Spark Shoalhaven.