The work of Climate Justice Niagara (CJN) is supported by over 50 Climate Justice facilitators in parishes across the Diocese. In the coming months, we will introduce you to a few of these wonderful volunteers who do so much for the planet and for their churches.
Rosemary Horsewood, Christ Church, Flamborough,
Rosemary Horsewood notes that “My mother taught me to recycle from a young age, by having a compost heap in our garden, and when recycling started in the 1960’s I would take our cans and bottles to a local recycling depot. These things stuck with me and in my church life. I was only too delighted when I was approached by Sue Carson to become a Climate Justice Niagara (CJN) facilitator, hoping that ‘the power of more’ would help me to grow and learn more about climate justice and to share my knowledge with others in an even more meaningful way.”
As one of the earliest facilitators to be appointed in the diocese, Rosemary says that her role has changed over the last 15 years. “It made me want to broaden my role so that everyone might become aware that churches do care for creation.” “At Christ Church,” she notes, “we acknowledge global events such as Earth Day, Earth Hour, and World Water Day, and we pray weekly to preserve the planet.” Rosemary has found support belonging to the Association of Dundas Churches, an ecumenical environmental group. “We have been involved in local rallies and environmental education sessions, representing the local churches all joining together to show that as Christians, we do care about the environment.”
The support of CJN has been helpful for the parish in achieving its environmental goals. CJN helped the parish to track its greenhouse gas emissions through its involvement in the Diocese of Niagara parish energy audit. Rosemary also says that “I have attended most of the Diocese climate justice workshops and have found that through learning and networking, I have been greatly encouraged to move our parish forward to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 10% by 2050.” In May 2012, Christ Church was awarded a Bronze-level accreditation
Rosemary notes that “At CCF, we remain as committed as our budget will allow us to be. It will always be a work in progress, as nothing is static in a Church building. The impacts of climate change are being felt, and this is making everyone realize we have to continue to do whatever we can to protect our environment at the church and at home.”
Brenda Lane, St. John’s, Jordan
Brenda has been the facilitator at St. John’s for about four years. She says that she originally took on the position, “because I am known as the ‘green’ person in the parish, and no one else stepped forward.”
She notes that Greening Niagara, as it was first called, and then Climate Justice Niagara, assisted the parish in conducting an energy audit as part of the CJN initiative that included a review of the church’s energy use. The parish also sought accreditation through the CJN Accreditation program and was awarded a Bronze certificate. The process included, among other things, looking at the church’s plastic use and how to reduce it. The parish also conducted a tree inventory as part of the diocese’s Communion Forest initiative, which included an assessment of the health of the church’s existing trees.
When asked what has been the greatest impact you and your parish have made to the environment over the years, she notes that “we recently were added to the Town of Lincoln Smart water metre program. This told us we had a leak underground going through the cemetery. We were able to fix it by thinking ‘outside of the box’ and installing a cistern in the church basement. We also had a new roof put on the gym in 2024, and a new roof will be installed on the rest of the parish hall soon – weather permitting – which should help with heating.”
To learn more about Climate Justice Niagara, visit https://niagaraanglican.ca/climatejustice. Parishes ready to take action and appoint a Climate Justice Facilitator can contact both Deirdre Pike, justice and outreach program consultant at [email protected] and Bruce MacKenzie, chair of Climate Justice Niagara at [email protected].
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