Prepare.
​
Start the conversation about the climate emergency and begin planning your response.
Conversation is crucial. Take your church or organisation on a journey that helps them see responding to the climate emergency as part of their discipleship and worship. Make space for people to learn more, ask questions and share their reactions to climate change.
​
Gather a small team, or work with your existing justice/eco/green group, and keep the leadership of your church or organisation as informed as possible.
​
As soon as you are ready, draft a proposal for your governing body to make a declaration. This will help get your own house in order and should include schemes you are already using, such as Eco Church or Eco-Congregation.
‘I’ve been involved with justice for a number of years but climate change wasn’t high up on my agenda…What kicked me into action was recognising that I have a role, we have a role, the church has a role to play in this and we can do something about it.’
​
Catherine De Souza
Pastor, City Church Cardiff
About the Prepare step
The Prepare step is all about making space for conversations about the emergency. It's to help your colleagues or congregation understand the scale and urgency of the crisis and consider how you might respond together as part of living out your faith.
Depending on your church or organisation – and whether you’re meeting in person or online – you can easily take these steps in a different order and tailor them to your context. If you’re already working through Eco Church or Eco-Congregation, you might decide to jump straight to Declare and return to the tools here later.
​
Here’s our suggested journey through this first stage of the toolkit:
-
Get leaders on board
-
Build a team
-
Prepare together
-
Bring your congregation with you on the journey
-
Write your proposal
-
Get ready...
​
Download the full toolkit for more details on each step and the tools you’ll need along the way.
‘Planning for our [climate change church] service was essential and a hugely rewarding experience. It was a huge success and it’s helped us open up conversations about being a more eco-conscious church.’
​
Natanya Lim
Broughty Church Dundee
