In recognition of Earth Day on April 22nd at 10:00am, the members of the First Congregational UCC will ring our bell to call attention to the climate crisis. Everyone is invited to join us! Take your turn pulling the rope to make the bell toll as we remember our stewardship responsibility as Christians and occupants of Earth to care for God’s beautiful creation. The First Congregational UCC is located at 608 E. Reed Street in Red Oak, IA 51566. Any and all are welcome!
Throughout history, church bells have been used to not only call people to worship, but also to sound warnings, or signal important civic events. In December 2009, church bells around the globe rang to send a strong message to world leaders about the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 15) in Copenhagen. Then, as now, church leaders were asking, as Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, “For the sake of your children, of your grandchildren, care of this one world we have […] Let us have a legally enforceable deal, not a political deal” to address climate change.
In keeping with the history of church bells to signal a warning, as well as the tradition started around COP 15, it’s proposed that churches throughout the United States ring their bells for 11 minutes at 10:00 AM CDT on Earth Day, Saturday, April 22nd, signifying that we are deep into the eleventh hour of time remaining to address climate change.
On the heels of this year’s most alarming climate warning ever issued by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Americans are looking for determined political leadership that will enact effective and equitable policies that work at a scale commensurate with the size of the climate threat.
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In Genesis God gave (man) dominion over the earth, to “subdue” it. More importantly, this means to be good stewards.
Job 12:7-10 ESV
“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.