In the lead up to COP21, CPJ launched Prayers for COP21 in Paris, a suite of worship materials and advocacy tools that are designed to help people of faith engage with climate justice. Prayers for COP21 in Paris includes sermons, prayers of intercession, hymns, and Bible studies that can be used to bring climate justice into weekly worship. The campaign invites members of faith communities to sign a Call for Climate Action, advocating climate justice with a united voice.
During the climate talks, CPJ has also organized a nation-wide prayer chain. Faithful citizens are praying for climate justice during every hour of COP21. The prayer chain begins at 1 p.m. on November 29 with prayerful participation in Ottawa’s march for climate solutions and justice. After the march, prayer continues all across the nation until the end of the climate talks on December 11.
As world leaders meet at COP21 to shape the future of action on climate change, these prayers amplify the voices of the economically, socially, and ecologically marginalized who are most at risk from climate change. An outpouring of concern from faith communities around the nation helps shape political will towards meaningful and just climate action. Together, we remember with gratitude the gift of creation, pray for those affected by climate change, and hope for change.
Below, we hear from five citizens across Canada on why they are joining Prayers for COP21 in Paris:
I am praying for the people
I am praying for the people of Paris because God is the only comfort and protection we have against evil. May Jesus who has triumphed over death and Satan keep them safely in his loving arms.
Our United Church Creed calls
Our United Church Creed calls on us to “Live with Respect IN Creation”. We can do much more than we are currently doing to live up to this call. I pray that the Powers and Principalities represented in Paris will get past their individual views and cooperate for the Common Good of all.
I am praying for COP21 in
I am praying for COP21 in Paris because –
1- When I go to work every morning, pressed by the time and verifying on the radio for any accident which might delay me… and then, I look on the left and here is the Gatineau Park with its beautiful mountains…I pause.
2- When I come home rushing to beat the traffic (again) and thinking what’s for dinner…having a view of the moon or the descent of the sun with all its stages…I pause.
3- Understanding the Nature has been a therapy for understanding myself – we are part of the same Creating Source.
4- To pause, reminds me daily of when “God saw all that He had made, and it was very good”
I believe in not destroying what He has given for free, since , WE are VERY good.