Commitment to Climate Justice
At South West London Vineyard, we view the Christian faith as being a vision, not only for individuals, but for society as well and about how we can live well in all our relationships and communities. In a world where many visions for humanity vie for our attention, as the church, we believe we need to be asking how the good news of the gospel of Jesus addresses some of the global, national & local questions of our age.
As a local church, we have a long way to go and a lot of work to do to address some of the many injustices experienced by those in the church, in this church and in our local communities and are committed to addressing these issues.
In common with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, we believe that
‘There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.’
The Bible and Jesus spoke repeatedly about the need to strive for justice:-
‘Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.’ Proverbs 31:8-9
This policy focuses on the environment and the need for us as a church to play our part in safeguarding God’s creation and rolling back where possible, the damage humanity has done to it and the impact of climate change on it.
This includes the ecological dimension (ecosystems), the social dimension (quality of life, climate and trade justice) and the economic dimension (management of resources and finances).
Our Vision
- God has called us to make, train and equip disciples, who love and serve Jesus, who love and serve one another and love and serve their neighbours.
- God has called us to be the church across SW London through central celebration and local mission.
- God has called us to plant churches across the capital by training and equipping potential church planters and sending and nurturing those called by God.
This policy adds two elements to our Vision Statement :-
- To seek to transform unjust structures of society;
- To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth.
Goals
We will strive to reduce and minimise our collective carbon footprint as a church.
We will:-
- provide constructive support in understanding the challenges of reducing our carbon footprint particularly for people of low income and people who are vulnerable in the wider SWLV community
- be an authentic, positive role model for our community, including our youth and people we support, by minimising our footprint both from activities we organise and, where possible, from rented SWLV premises
- help the SWLV congregation to minimise our collective carbon footprint as citizens, in particular when attending any/all SWLV activities (Worship, House Group, Volunteering, Yard, helping the community)
You can find out more here: Our Commitment to Climate Justice
If you would like to contact the Trustees, you can do so here: Trustees@swlv.org.uk
Reviewed: February 2024