Editorial
Church Considerations for Net-Zero
We have yet to meet a single soul proclaiming to be a follower of Jesus who wants to destroy the earth. Why? It would not make sense to do so but there is also the fact that the Bible tells us that God has reserved that event for himself.
Of course, to buy that one has to believe first that God is capable of destroying the earth when all the “smart people” truly know that he did not make it in the first place. The “smart people” expect the rest of us to believe that NOTHING made something, with great detailed order and on its own.
We are not of that conviction. We believe the Scriptures and the Creeds like Christians have believed from the beginning. Part of that is that God has reserved the right of destruction of the earth to himself and on his time schedule. The Apostle Peter explained it this way:
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 2 Peter 3:10 (ESV)
We are told that the Church of England will achieve Net-Zero by 2030, twenty years ahead of our government. We are told this but no plan has been set forth—only the hard-fast declaration from the Archbishops and General Synod that it shall be so. The government has set out its plan. We’ve produced the graphic in this edition on page 3 to give you a taste.
According to the avant-garde Diocese of Liverpool, the first thing to do is have the parish PCC pass a resolution that it is dedicated to a Net-Zero policy. That will certainly bring about the desired result. After all, everyone knows that a PCC’s resolution has the strength of the current term’s members.
Has it occurred to those making the proclamations about the Church achieving Net-Zero by 2030 as to how they intend to heat the hundreds of big, stone-built churches? Have they considered how most of the elderly in the pews will react when they see their own breath during worship? Perhaps the admitted tongues-speaking Archbishop of Canterbury figured out a way to distinguish between talking in tongues and the cold-induced attempts to speak through chattering dentures?
We think it highly unlikely but it would make communications easier.
So what are sensible Christian people to do? First of all, pray. Pray for those in leadership within the Church and Government. In fact, it might be a good time for people to open their BCPs and forget the copy and paste liturgies of Common Worship. Secondly, do not fall prey to panic. The fact that Carbon Dioxide is only 0.04% of the earth’s atmosphere has not taken God by surprise. Thirdly, just trust our `Lord’s ability to look out not for only his People but his Creation too.
He has long-term plans for both and those plans will not be thwarted. The earth will not be destroyed until God does it.
