Come and See - Parents Welcome evening Wednesday 24th February 2010 7.30pm

Candidates Welcome Day - Enrolment Ceremony Saturday 27th February 2.00pm

Session 1 Wednesday 3rd March 7.00pm to 9.00pm

Session 2 Wednesday 17th March 7.00pm to 8.30pm

Invite parents - update 17th March 8.30pm to 9.00pm

Pre Confirmation Weekend Away Friday 19th March 6.00pm to Sunday 21st March at The Briars.

Session 3 Wednesday 31st March 7.00pm to 9.00pm

Session 4 Wednesday 21st April 7.00pm to 9.00pm

Session 5 Wednesday 28th April 7.00pm to 9.00pm

Session 6 Wednesday 12th May 7.00pm to 9.00pm

Rehearsal Wednesday 19th May 7.00pm to 9.00pm Parish Centre

Rehearsal Wednesday 26th May 7.00pm to 9.00pm in Church

Rehearsal + Confirmation Ceremony Thursday 27th May 5.00pm to 8.30pm in Church

HOW OPERATION NOAH CAN HELP US ALL TO RESPOND by Mike Monaghan

Some time ago I spoke after each of the masses about what we can all do about climate change/global warming and specifically about Operation Noah.
Global warming is an issue which has, rightly in my view, been described as the most serious issue facing the world today. So it is one which as Christians concerned about care of God’s creation we cannot ignore.
In this article I will summarise some of the points I tried to make in my brief talk.
 
WHY OPERATION NOAH
We are all familiar with the story of how God saved Noah, his family and two of every kind of creature from the flood. 
The story has a particular relevance today as we face a potential disaster similar to that which overwhelmed the world in Noah’s time,
And which is being caused by our failure to care for God’s creation.
Noah listened to God and he and his dependants, human and non-human, were saved.
Of course the Noah story is not meant to be taken as historical truth. But it has an important message – failure to respect creation and act prudently will result in disaster for the earth. Hence the use of the name Noah to remind us of this.
 
IS THIS AN ISSUE FOR THE CHURCH?
You may be thinking “isn’t climate change an issue for our politicians and scientists and not really a matter for the church?”
I am sure I hardly need to remind you that all through the Bible we are constantly reminded of the beauty and wonder of creation and of our duty to respect and protect it.
St James in his letters warns us about living lives of comfort whilst ignoring those in need, and that includes those whose needs and very existence are threatened by the effects of climate change. 
As Fr Denis often reminds us we must not only listen to the Word but also act on it.
And there can be few if any issues facing the world today which are of greater importance than climate change. 

OPERATION NOAH But what can we do?
This where Operation Noah comes in. Single handed we can do very a little
But it is precisely through the actions of individuals and by people acting together to put pressure on our leaders, that things can and will change .
I am sure many of us are doing things already to reduce our environmental impacts and trying to reduce our energy consumption
But by joining in with Operation Noah we can make an even bigger contribution 
Operation Noah not only helps us to take personal action it also links us up with thousands of other Christians in a powerful campaign.

As the campaign leaflet which was given out states
  “Climate change –the future is in your hands”

It asked us to consider three things.

First to sign the Climate Covenant and send it to the Operation Noah office
 “To avert catastrophic climate change, we call upon world leaders and every person to cut carbon emissions to a safe level in a way that is fair for all the world’s people.
I will act to cut my carbon emissions”
 
 By doing this we will be joining with other church members and sending a clear message that Christians are concerned about this issue and prepared to do something about it.
Our petition along with thousands of others can be used by Operation Noah in their contacts with government and church leaders to demonstrate our concerns and to call for further action.

Secondly we were asked to start thinking about further ways we can begin to reduce our own impacts –a few ideas are given in the leaflet including for example signing up to buy electricity from renewable sources which emit virtually no greenhouse gases It is also suggestedwe write to our MP to tell him about Operation Noah –MPs are only likely to push for decisive action if they are convinced their constituents favour this.

Thirdly it suggests we all start spreading the word in our families and among friends and if we have access to the internet have look at the Operation Noah campaign materials and perhaps making a donation to the campaign.

By taking part we will be doing perhaps the most important thing we can do to help the future of us all and especially our children and in the case of many of us grandchildren.

St Anne’s school is already an eco school setting us all an example of caring for creation – we now have the opportunity to do our bit to follow their lead.

Click here for more information about Operation Noah

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Click the logo for The Christian Ecology Website