December 13: Ring Bells for Climate Justice!

A message from the Partnership for Global Justice:

Since time immemorial in cultures across the world musical instruments like bells and drums have been used to warn people of imminent danger – but also to call people to religious service, marking important moments in worship and seeking to connect to God.

Sunday 13 December marks the height of the talks at the United Nations climate negotiations in Copenhagen.

At 3 p.m. – marking the end of a high profile ecumenical celebration at the Lutheran Cathedral in Copenhagen – all the churches in Denmark will ring their bells, and Christians around the world are invited to echo them by sounding their own bells, shells, drums, gongs or horns 350 times. We envisage a chain of chimes and prayers stretching in a time-line from the Fiji Islands in the South Pacific – where the day first begins and where the effects of climate change are already felt today – to northern Europe and across the globe.

Why 350 times?
1. 350 refers to 350 parts per million: This is the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere according to many scientists, climate experts, and progressive national governments. For all of human history until about 200 years ago, our atmosphere contained 275 ppm of CO2, but now the concentration stands at 390 ppm. Unless we are able to rapidly reduce CO2 levels again, we risk reaching tipping points and irreversible impacts such as the melting of the Greenland ice sheet and major methane releases from increased permafrost melt. By joining hands with Christians around the world we can have a greater impact in order to stop the destruction of God's creation and of human livelihoods.
How can your church or group join in?

2. Invite your parish to join this international celebration by ringing the parish bells at 3:00 PM, your local time.

3. Ring the bells at your Motherhouse and/or other possible sites. Spend some time in prayer at 3:00 PM, alone or with others, in gratitude for the gifts of Creation and in asking for the wisdom and courage to safeguard the environment. Go to http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/wcc-programmes/justice-diakonia-and-responsibility-for-creation/climate-change-water/prayer-service-for-climate-justice.html
for a prayer service.

For more information go to www.bellringing350.org