Photo by Elizabeth Perry, damage in the Solomon Islands from Cyclone Pam

Elizabeth Perry, of the Anglican Alliance, was among a group of around 50 people who took part in the Pilgrimage2Paris in November last year in advance of the United Nations climate change talks.

”Getting caught up in a cyclone does perhaps concentrate the mind. I was in the Solomon Islands when Cyclone Pam ripped its way through last March. For me, it just meant experiencing violent wind and rain, disrupted travel, getting stranded overnight by rising water, having to wade through a river and (literally) walk the plank / fallen coconut palm because a bridge had been washed away. But for the people of the region it was another disaster from which they are still recovering.

Two days later I interviewed Tagolyn Kabekabe, the Anglican Alliance’s facilitator in the Pacific, about how climate change is affecting the region. She told me how they’re seeing changing rainfall patterns, more intense storms, rising sea levels and the salination of soil. It’s all having a huge impact – people lose crops, their water is affected and already people are having to migrate. Tagolyn told me how the Anglican Church is helping people adapt to climate change, for example introducing salt tolerant plants and planting mangroves to protect coastlines, but there’s only so much they can do - and they know it. “The biggest challenge for me”, Tagolyn said, “is when they (local people) ask the question, ‘are they going to help us control the sea coming up, and the unusual rainfall and all that?’” By they she means the people most responsible for climate change… the industrialized world… us. “[The] bottom line is we need help, and we need it now, and any pressure you can apply on politicians to respond to the urgency of the situation is appreciated”.

And so, in November I set out on the Pilgrimage 2 Paris, to “pray with my feet” and call on the leaders of the nations gathering for the UN climate talks to take bold and decisive action. I wanted to walk in solidarity with the people I know at the sharp end of climate change, not only in the Solomon Islands, but also in Vanuatu, Bangladesh, the Caribbean and Zambia.

So as I set out on my 200-mile journey, I already had a sense of being connected – but I am still completely blown away by how that awareness burgeoned during our pilgrimage.

First, of course, there were my fellow pilgrims – each with a story, each with a reason for taking part, each with a passion for our beautiful, fragile common home. Then there were all the people we met along the way: the school children who publicly led us in prayers of commitment, the local people, clergy and bishops who walked with us a while, and the many churches who provided hospitality and welcome all the way from London to Paris. All these people were part of the Pilgrimage 2 Paris too. What started as a stream at St Martin-in-the-Fields on November 13 steadily grew as we added them to our number and felt like a river when we arrived in Paris two weeks later.

But the sense of being part of something much bigger goes beyond even this. Prayer was at the heart of our pilgrimage, and it feels as if we were caught up in something there too. I have no idea how prayer works and I am not for a moment suggesting that my, or even our, prayers were responsible for anything that happened – but, for me, there were connections between some of the positive outcomes of the summit* and specific things I, and others, had been praying for. It feels like something was going on. Perhaps it’s that our prayers were part of the movement of the Spirit… that we were caught up in the Spirit’s breeze.

This experience of connectedness, of being part of something bigger, is the thing I treasure most from the pilgrimage. I always thought I would enjoy the pilgrimage; I never expected to enjoy it so much, to miss it so much, to be so blessed by it.

And now the journey continues. We have taken a huge step forward with the Paris climate deal, but the real outcome will depend on the steps we all (governments, cities, local communities, individuals) take next. We do not journey alone.

These were my thoughts on the outcome of the COP21 climate summit in Paris (written at the time):

It's not perfect... but it is a massive achievement - a breakthrough and, potentially, a turning point.

The more ambitious (and unexpected) temperature target clearly signals the end of the fossil fuel era and a transition to a low carbon energy future. It also shows that people at the sharp end of climate change were heard this time and that their voices made a difference in convicting all nations to take action (as this was one of my particular prayers, I am glad). 


We now, at last, have a positive momentum. The nations came together and took action together, as a whole. The negotiations didn't break down into the usual factions of self interest; we saw new groupings emerge (especially the High Ambition Coalition) which have broken through the traditional rich/poor divide.

We have a five yearly review built in so action can be measured against current science and action scaled up.

So, for me, lots to be thankful for. We could have been looking at a post Copenhagen scenario, but we aren't. 
Yes, there are lots of problems, especially the gap between the stated ambition and the currently promised actions, but it feels to me like this is the beginning of a new era, where the world as a whole has finally "got it".

I’ve discovered that it takes a lot of strength to walk 200 miles from London to Paris, especially in November. We each travelled the road as a group, and as an individual. Arriving in Paris was spectacular, the journey made it so. If the road was easy, the benefits would have been less. Walking all day every day for two weeks provided plenty of opportunity to reflect on the commitment of those 200 miles. Every step I took was, and continues to be, motivated by those who have no certainty about their future in a world affected by climate change.

In many ways, the pilgrimage becomes a microcosm for the challenge ahead of us as a world in relation to climate change. Every day had its challenges, most of them were the same – getting to our destination for that night, having the energy to get there, making sure we are going in the right direction. It requires taking one step, then another. Then another. The only way to get from London to Paris on foot was to take each step as it came.

There were three things that gave us the energy to reach our destination each day: Hospitality, Play, and Singing.

The hospitality we received from each place we visited was overwhelming. We were welcomed and loved – giving fresh insight to our familial relationship in God. The encouragement of joining in a meal or a treat with host families and churches along the way and sharing the journey with them was powerful.

Play became a source of evening laughter and inspiration. A night in a village hall turned the game bananagrams into a craft session. What began as spelling ‘Pilgrimage2Paris’, flourished into using all the letters to spell words we had come to associate with our pilgrimage. The journey that we had taken in ourselves and as a group was laid on the table in the letters. 

Singing. One moment in particular stands out. Walking through the woods on the approach to Paris, it was pouring down with rain. As we sang, there was a real sense in which a unity had been achieved through the common sharing of songs. From To be a Pilgrim to Laudato Si, the songs that had become ours in some way became enough to keep smiles on the faces and a passion for reaching Paris as this visible witness to our commitment to the cause of climate justice.

The physical journey has now finished, but the challenge to us continues: Witnessing to the world that the Church cares about climate change, shaping our own lives by living more sustainably and supporting change in any way they can. This pilgrimage showed me that each person, in this world, can make a difference.

This week, the world has the chance to create fair, ambitious and legally binding global agreement that protects our environment, achieved in no small part by each of us taking the first step, then the next, towards a low carbon future.

After walking more than 200 miles in 14 days from London to Paris to highlight the need for a fair, ambitious and binding climate change deal at the UN climate talks, over 30 pilgrims are returning from Paris on the Eurostar in just a couple of hours. It has been quite a journey, both individually and for the group as a whole. 

The pilgrimage began with a wonderful service at St Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square, where more than 150 people came to show their support, including the Bishop of Salisbury and Church of England’s lead bishop on the environment, Bishop Nicholas Holtam, and Bishop John Sherrington from the Catholic Diocese of Westminster. 

Later that morning we were joined by 150 primary school children from Archbishop Sumner School, who sang and played instruments to welcome the pilgrims as they walked through Kennington. There was even a steel band! It was especially moving since many of the pilgrims were walking for the futures of their own grandchildren. 

On the first night we received news of the terrible attacks in Paris, and our immediate response was to pray for all those affected and their families. We were initially unsure whether the pilgrimage could go ahead, but after an assessment was made based on the travel advice from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the decision was made to continue given both the importance of the climate talks for our brothers and sisters in the world’s poorest communities who are already experiencing the impacts of climate change and in order to walk in solidarity with the people of Paris. 

One of the things that really stood out during the pilgrimage was the incredible welcome, hospitality and generosity we received everywhere we went – with churches providing us with breakfast, lunch and dinner, floor space, and even a bed and a hot shower in the case of our host families! In one place we stayed I was moved to discover that a seven year old girl had given up her room for me. 

The pilgrimage has received great support from a large number of bishops. A total of 16 bishops, from the UK and France, including two archbishops and 14 bishops, joined the pilgrims at various stages on the journey. 

One aim of the pilgrimage was to raise awareness of the impact and need for action on climate change in the communities we visited and beyond. We had a very encouraging moment of exchange with local people from the Catholic and evangelical churches in Gisors as well as the bishop from the Diocese of Evreux, which is twinned with the Diocese of Salisbury. 

After 14 days of walking and more than 200 miles on foot, the pilgrims finally arrived in Paris on Friday 27 November. Arriving at the Arc de Triomphe with the French flag flying was an immediate reminder of those who lost their lives in the Paris attacks only two weeks previously. 

On our arrival we came together for an inspiring pilgrims’ welcome event, where we joined pilgrims from Germany and Italy (a group led by Yeb Sano, former chief climate negotiator of the Philippines) and cycling pilgrims from across the UK. 

There were even two people who spent several months cycling from Vietnam to Paris. Together the pilgrims present travelled a combined total distance to be able to go around the world seven times over.

The spiritual moment in the Basilica at St Denis and the petition hand-in at the Salle de la Legion d’Honneur showed the united voice of people of all faiths in calling for action from world leaders at COP21 in Paris. Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Christiana Figueres, was moved to tears as she received more than 1.7 million petition signatures of supporters of faith-based organisations supporting climate action at the Paris talks. As Archbishop Thabo Makgoba said, there is a need for collective action because “we can, we must, and we will do it together”. 

As world leaders arrive in Paris for the first day of the climate talks, we now watch and pray for a successful outcome and the fair, ambitious and binding climate change deal that is urgently needed not only by the world’s poorest communities who are experiencing its effects today, but also the future generations who will inherit the earth in years to come and depend on our leaders to make wise and courageous decisions over the next two weeks. 

Whatever the outcome, just as our memories of the Pilgrimage2Paris live on, our campaigning for climate justice will continue beyond Paris as we bring back to our communities the hope and inspiration we have received on the journey. 

What impact does the CofE really make on people’s lives? In the first of a series of blogs, I sew a patchwork of diocesan news stories from the past week offering a snapshot of our presence across England and Europe to show that the work based in our 16,000 church buildings, 4700 Church schools and in hospitals, prisons and places of work are led by an active team of clergy and lay people who really do make a difference in people’s lives, from the cradle to the grave.

I start this week with the part our churches play in the immediate aftermath of tragic events such as the Paris attacks and others including Beirut.  Churches have been holding candlelit vigils as a focus for grief and reflection following the Paris terrorist attack on Friday. St Michael's and St George's, in central Paris and part of the Diocese in Europe have been working within their communities to support those caught up in the events of Friday night, St George's adapting their usual Sunday worship to a Requiem setting in memory of those who died.

The refugee crisis has been wiped from the headlines in recent days. But with winter arriving this week with Storm Abigail, we are reminded of the plight of the dispossessed. Working with other agencies, the Diocese of Canterbury last week took part in the screening of a film from the Communities and Partnerships Framework which followed the story of Bilal, a young man who travels illegally across Europe from Iraq and then attempts to make it across the Channel by swimming. The film depicts life for those within the camp in Calais and the impact of their presence on the town.  An impassioned discussion followed the screening highlighting the pressing need both in Calais and Kent, for volunteers to help distribute goods, as well as befriend and mentor young unaccompanied refugees and migrants in Kent. The diocese’s Refugee Toolkit has been updated ahead of an open session to discuss the refugee crisis at Diocesan Synod.

All Saints, Bury Park in Luton celebrated being the recipient of a landmark 1000th Near Neighbours grant for a peace garden and community allotment. The densely built-up area in which All Saints sits had little community space within it; yet, the church had two small strips of land, which might become such spaces. The project to turn these into an allotment and peace garden which the community could share as a space of contemplation grew out of wishes expressed by members of the local community.

This award means that Near Neighbours has now given over £3.4 million to local projects across England, through which more than 800,000 people have benefitted. In Luton, 43 grants totalling more than £170,000 have been made.

Joining Christians making a pilgrimage to Paris ahead of UN talks on climate change is Elizabeth Perry from Middle Woodford, Wiltshire. Elizabeth said, “ I want to help carry the hopes and voices of people at the sharp end of climate change to Paris – people I know in Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, the Caribbean and Zambia, for whom climate change is a real and present threat, exacerbating the challenges they already face."

Elizabeth works for the Anglican Alliance, the Anglican Communion development agency, and was working in the Solomon Islands earlier this year when it was hit by Cyclone Pam. “The whole South Pacific region is feeling the impacts of climate change - changing rainfall patterns, rising sea levels and the salination of soil. It has a huge effect on people’s lives. The Anglican Church in the Pacific is helping people adapt to climate change – for example by introducing salt tolerant plants and by encouraging planting of mangroves to protect the coastline – but they can’t fight it on their own'.

From preserving the natural world to conserving and making accessible the nation's heritage for future generations, Exeter Cathedral is taking part in Explore Your Archives Week by displaying the last handwritten letter in existence from composer Henry Purcell. The renowned 17th century composer lived and worked in London but taught choristers sent up to him from Exeter Cathedral School. The Cathedral was due to pay tuition fees and board for the choristers but Mr Purcell complains – very graciously - that the bill for one of them, Richard Hodge, has not been paid despite two or three previous letters requesting payment. In this handwritten letter, dated 2 November 1686, Mr Purcell says he has been forced to appeal to the Dean. The bill was for £27 for tuition and board of Mr Hodge, and £7 for other necessaries. The Purcell letter is part of the archives of Exeter Cathedral which contains thousands of records covering all aspects of cathedral life including the most complete set of medieval fabric accounts of any Cathedral.

The indebted Mr Hodge was paid but 'deserted the quire’ in 1688 having more than once been admonished for such behaviour as ‘going about the town in the night time with idle company with music’. 

Heralding the start of Prisons Week, a film showcasing the ministry of prison chaplains across the Diocese of Manchester has been launched. With teams of chaplains working in three prisons in the diocese, HMP Manchester, Forest Bank in Salford and Buckley Hall in Rochdale, the film explores their ministry to prisoners, their families and prison staff.

The Revd Henry Martin, who heads a large team of chaplains at HMP Manchester that includes Christian ministers, Sikhs, Imams, Rabbis, a Hindu minister and a Buddhist chaplain explains, “We see every new prisoner within 24 hours. Often we are the first person they will see”. Chaplains are there for everybody in the prison - staff as well as prisoners. “In the chapel we hold services including communion. Chapel gives people time to reflect and we give them the good news of forgiveness, hopefully not in a pat, easy way, but in a way that helps people to face up to their God and to his love, but also to their own circumstances and choices.”

And finally for this week, a story of extreme volunteerism from the Diocese of West Yorkshire and The Dales. Glenn Stewart, 64, ex- church warden of  St Stephen's, Lindley has power lifted the weight of his church's bell tower to raise money for its restoration. Lifting approximately 40,000 kilos per week, Glenn completed 500, 000 kilos after a month of dedicated effort. Watch out for a flurry of new gym membership across the country as this fundraising tool goes viral.

Day One, and what a fantastic day it has been. Arriving to meet my fellow pilgrims was slightly nerve-racking, I had no idea what to expect. I didn’t know any of the other pilgrims and I was anxious to see what they would be like.

Whilst standing outside the church, the sun was shining and I was instantly put at ease. The commissioning service ahead of our departure was inspiring. The choir sang angelically at St Martins-in-the-field, by Trafalgar Square, during the launch service. The Bishop of Salisbury was filled with words of encouragement and motivation for all of us.

We then set off past Trafalgar Square, down Whitehall, past the Houses of Parliament and over the Thames - it was a great way to focus our minds on our witness to world leaders to safeguard our beautiful world. Passing through Kennington, Christian Aid staff and supporters were cheering us on from the side of the road. This took me by complete surprise! I hadn’t expected any further send-off activities, yet I heard cheers of good will and support before I saw them. This was quickly followed by an energetic group of pupils from Archbishop Sumner school who joined us with globe balloons floating along in the area and their voices singing loudly. When we arrived at St Anselm, Lambeth North, the children played the tin drums – a beautiful rendition of for the beauty of the earth. The choir then sang what a wonderful world, and it was indeed wonderful. Seeing the children engaged passionately in an environmental project was heartening. Lunch was perfectly timed. It began raining hard about five minutes before we arrived at our lunch location, and continued to pour until just before we were preparing to set off again. A send-off I could never have imagined. So much has happened today that I find it hard to imagine it all happened in a day. A more perfect first day could not be achieved. Every pilgrim is filled with life and laughter. Conversations are flowing merrily and friendships are being formed. I can’t wait for day two to begin, even though we are assured in the knowledge that we are predicted heavy rainfall!

Living in Wolverhampton, you would need a particular motivation to walk from Central London to Banstead. As I join the first day of the Pilgrimage to Paris, mine could not be stronger.

I am walking as an Act of Obedience. The central requirement of the Christian faith is to love God and to love our Neighbour. Safeguarding God’s creation and speaking out for those most adversely affected by our destruction of it, must be priorities for we who seek to live by those commandments. After all, God declared His creation ‘Good’ and, through  the teaching of Jesus and the prophets, made known His bias towards victims of injustice. To me, campaigning for Climate Justice is not an option, it is an obligation.

I am walking as an Act of Solidarity. It will be a privilege to accompany the pilgrims who will be walking all the way to Paris. I want to acknowledge their commitment and sacrifice through my active support and encouragement. But I will also be walking in solidarity with a far greater number of people, mainly in the poorest parts of the world, for whom climate change is a present, and terrible, reality. When the rich and powerful gather, the voices of the poor are inevitably drowned out. To campaign for Climate Justice is to help give voice to the voiceless. Not only those who live now but those who are yet to be born.  So I will be walking in solidarity with future generations too.

I am walking as an Act of Provocation. I desperately hope that this pilgrimage and countless other campaigning initiatives in the build up to the Paris Conference, will disturb, agitate and provoke our politicians to display the courage and the leadership required at this critical time for humanity. It is important we use our voices now, urgently, insistently, while we still, just, have time to secure the ultimate prize; a sustainable future for humanity, on this sacred planet.

We all share a home, and it's beautiful.

The earth that we call home is under threat of being irrevocably changed from the impact of climate change, and it is every person’s responsibility to safeguard this beautiful creation and to protect the  poorest and most vulnerable in the world.

The call to act now is critical, as latest global temperatures have risen by more than 1 degree C) – half way towards the limit beyond which dangerous warming will irreversibly alter the environment.

It’s for these reasons that the COP21 summit in Paris this December is important, to ensure that governments from around the world agree binding resolutions to reduce carbon emissions and limit climate change. The summit is critical to provide a framework for and a signal to the world that we must act on climate change to protect our planet.  

As the Bishop of Salisbury, Nick Holtam said: “Global warming is a moral crisis. We are the first generation to understand the impact of our decisions on the environment and would be the first generation to knowingly look away if we fail to act. We stand at a critical moment in history to protect our planet. The future is in our hands and the choice is ours at COP21.”

This Friday, I will be setting off with the Pilgrimage2Paris representing the united voice of the Church of England, CAFOD, Christian Aid, and Tearfund to call for climate justice. We will be walking from London to Paris in a visible witness to our commitment to the environment. 

Walking for around 200 miles in support of climate change will be a challenge. Supporting the global climate, advocating for change, and implementing change will not be easy, but it will most definitely be worth it. Sharing this journey with other pilgrims, will bring us closer to each other and our Creator. There is no planet B. We hope to promote the protection of the environment and engage and inspire global leaders to take action for climate justice for future generations.

The Pilgrimage2Paris starts this Friday and I can honestly say that I'm excited and honoured to be part of it. I feel as though I and my fellow pilgrims have been given an opportunity to have our voices heard. Together, I know we will make a difference and I am confident that we will be able to make a real contribution to climate justice.

We all share a home, and it's beautiful. Let’s keep it that way. That is why I am walking the walk.

Pope Francis is proving to be a remarkable Christian leader. He is inspiring many, not just Roman Catholics or religious believers, by the way he lives with total commitment.

As a result, when he speaks, the world increasingly listens. His reception in the United States last month was a case in point, with President Obama thanking him for ‘shaking our consciences from slumber’, and crowds thronging the streets. Not everyone likes what they hear – vested interests in the oil industry were displeased with his Encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si – but no-one, believer or unbeliever, can ignore his sincerity.

Anglicans, Lutherans and Orthodox have all expressed the same view that climate change is one of the greatest moral challenges of our times. The scientific evidence is clear and overwhelming. Climate change threatens the way of life of everyone on the planet, including us in the UK, and is set to be catastrophic for the world’s poorest. Countries in Africa and the Pacific which emit the least carbon are those experiencing real damage from climate change earliest.

As the refugee crisis dominates headlines, we should remember that climate change will increase the pressures that lead people to flee their homes. Laudato Si warns that when climate change costs the poorest their livelihoods, we will see a “tragic rise in the number of migrants seeking to flee from the growing poverty caused by environmental degradation.” That conclusion, lest we forget, has been endorsed by scientists studying the bloody Syrian conflict and by hardnosed defence analysts in the Pentagon.

Speaking at St Peter’s Basilica earlier this month, Francis asked God to enlighten “those who hold power and money so that they avoid the sin of indifference… and take care of the world we inhabit.”

What Jesus taught was that we should love God and love our neighbour as ourselves, the very antithesis of indifference.

For Christians, indifference is not an option. Some of the strongest language attributed to Jesus Christ in the Gospels is in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, where God’s wrath is not aimed at those of different faiths or different principles, but those who ignore the needs of the poor and dispossessed.

The Pope’s words have added potency in these final months of 2015, when world leaders are busy with international negotiations that will do much to set the tenor of progress for decades ahead, for everyone on the planet. Last week governments agreed a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the United Nations in New York, which build on the success of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) with an extra dimension of environmental protection.

During the 15 years of the MDGs, the number of people living in extreme poverty halved, access to clean water and sanitation increased, and the rights of women and girls across the world were enhanced. But environmental ills have become worse: hence the need for a new paradigm of sustainable global development.

Anglicans should particularly note that the first of our leaders to respond to the SDGs being agreed was the Primate of Brazil, who has asked churches in the Province to adopt them so that they can “help to shape our communities into agents of transformation.” Yawning inequalities in the South American giant mean the global paradox that those who emit the least carbon are usually most vulnerable to climate change’s effects is played out in that one country.

Attention now turns to the United Nations climate change summit in December. Here, governments will attempt anew to finalise a global agreement to curb the climate disruption that threatens, unchecked, to erode the integrity of communities and nature. As experience shows, making such agreements is a tough process; but it is essential if the newly-secured prospects for global development and the rights of the poor are not to be undermined by climate impacts.

Helping the poorest has been a priority for the Church for 2000 years, as it is for other major faiths.

The recent Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change made the same challenge to the richest nations that Christians are making – that they have a moral obligation to protect the world’s poorest; which brings us back to the sin of indifference.

Responding to the impact of climate change will cost billions. We might imagine we are rich enough in Britain to ignore climate change but small, poor nations, from Malawi to Vanuatu, are already seeing lives lost and livelihoods destroyed by its impact.

Indifference while they suffer would be profoundly inhuman and un-Christian. As we in the Church supported the British government in agreeing the SDGs, we urge it to lead moves to secure a strong climate agreement in December, and to lead by example in moving towards a low-carbon economy here.

Scripture and the tradition of the Church make it clear that God demands practical action rather than fine words. We are all in Pope Francis’s debt for reminding us of the need for consistency – and his message merits our support, not opposition, and our indifference least of all.