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Christmas and New Year Greetings.
Welcome to the last CCA Newsletter of 2021.
I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas and I would like to wish everyone a safe, happy and peaceful New Year.
I hope that you managed to see the CCA Christmas Message, but if you have not it is still available on the CCA Website to view.
Brushstrokes Community Project Strengthening and supporting refugees and migrants across Sandwell, West Birmingham and beyond News Letter December 2021 Phone: 0121 565 2234 E-mail: info@brushstrokessandwell.org.uk Website: www.brushstrokessandwell.org.uk Brushstrokes Community Project is part of Father Hudson’s Care Father Hudson’s Care is a working name of Father Hudson’s Society Registered in England & Wales, no. 1653388 Registered charity no. 512992 Reaching out to provide Social Care in the Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham Interfaith
It is fitting to pay tribute to the late, His Royal Highness, The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh for some of the lasting, outstanding contributions he made to interfaith relationships. Back in 1995 he set up an organisation, Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC). Martin Palmer, who was Prince Philip’s Religious advisor on Conservation said, “It was his absolute conviction, when it was not fashionable, to have such a conviction, that religions are vital forces for a sustainable planet, and that secular environmentalists needed to work with them” The two worked closely to meet with leaders of twelve faiths to make a statement of each faith’s understanding of creation and care for it. There was an amazing amount of common ground and detailed statements can be found at: https://www.faithclimateactionweek.org/resources/religious-statements-on-climate-change/ Prince Philip later suggested that the assets of the faiths (buildings, finance, purchasing power) could revolutionise practical action and engagement with environmental issues – which led to the founding of FaithInvest in 2019 to empower faiths to invest in line with their beliefs and values. Martin said. "The Duke believed that the authority of the faiths was a sounder basis for building sustainable communities than those of nation states or even international organisations," And where did this vision come from? In an interview for ARC in 2003, Prince Philip, International President of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), said, “In the 1980s, WWF International, was trying to do three things around the world, raise money, develop conservation projects and educate the public.” Martin Palmer said, "The first two things were fine, but the last one had real difficulties. I argued that the kind of education we were doing through articles and lectures and books and films and things of that sort, only reached the educated, and probably only the middle classes in the various countries.” Prince Philip knew that the people they needed to reach were the ones who lived in the areas of greatest risk, and the areas where the potential for biological diversity was highest. He said, “'It occurred to me that the people who could most easily communicate with them were their religious leaders. They are in touch with their local population more than anyone else” – “Back then, this idea was ground breaking,” said Martin. HRH Duke of Edinburgh said in 1985 “If data and information alone could save the planet, we would have saved it by then. The trouble was, we aren’t touching hearts and minds. And to do that, the conservation movement needs to work with the religions.” Our inheritance The Reverend Sally Bingham of Interfaith National Campaigns said, “Right now we are leaving a great burden to our children and grandchildren, even with overwhelming evidence of the consequences. Would we want that done to us?” Sally said that as a person of faith, she cannot say she loves God and loves her neighbour without doing all that she can to preserve creation – to act out of love for what God loves. She emphasizes that all major religions share several common principles which on their own, pretty much compel attention to the climate issue. Interfaith says, “Adding that global warming is compromising our future makes it an urgent moral crisis.” https://www.edf.org/blog/2015/09/15/rev-sally-bingham-pope-francis-climate-message-speaks-all-faiths https://faithfortheclimate.org.uk/news/FFTC-joins-new-GreenFaith-International-Network-to-launch Working with all faiths and none Pope Francis’ Encyclical, Laudato Si (LSI) 2015 was written to reconsider our understanding of Creation and our responsibilities to care for it. Laudato Si Animators studied the Encyclical and were called to rethink their role as God’s stewards of God’s creation. Pope Francis recognised that whatever our faith or none we are all united in our growing concern for the future of the planet and that action is a matter of urgency before it’s too late. LSI 118 “There can be no renewal of our relationship with nature without a renewal of humanity itself. There can be no ecology without adequate anthropology”. How do we fit in? As people of faith, priests or lay, may we allow ourselves to be encouraged and inspired to reach out to all faiths and none to work together to reach our common goal of making this planet a fit place for subsequent generations to thrive. LSI 14 … “We need a conversation that includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing and its human roots, concern and affect us all….” Father Tom O’Brien, from Hitchin, Herts ended his talk at the Westminster Diocese InterFaith service in June 2021 with the empowering words from Pope Francis in LSI paragraph 205. “Yet all is not lost. Human beings, while capable of the worst, are also capable of rising above themselves, choosing what is good, and making a new start, whatever their mental and social conditioning. We are able to take an honest look at ourselves, to acknowledge our deep dissatisfaction, and to embark on new paths to authentic freedom. No system can completely suppress our openness to what is good, true and beautiful, or our God-given ability to respond to his grace at work deep in our hearts. I appeal to everyone throughout the world not to forget this dignity which is ours. No one has the right to take it from us.” Laudato Si Animators Dear Friends, We would like to alert you to our latest series of four public events - on the common good and the family, society and government - coming up between June and November. Full details and booking can be found here: https://togetherforthecommongood.co.uk/news/new-event-series. Please feel free to share this email as you wish. Warmest regards, Annette Annette McBride Volunteer Administrator Together for the Common Good www.togetherforthecommongood.co.uk, @T4CG Registered Charity No.1172113 If you wish to update your contact details or be removed from our database, please email: louise@togetherforthecommongood.co.uk Thank you. 
Open Heaven 2021 is about to launch
Open Heaven, the initiative to prayer-walk every street in Coventry during June 2021, is about to launch! Building upon last year’s amazing prayer walk, many church leaders in the city have felt it is a crucial time to cover the city in prayer again as City of Culture year is now underway and the nation is set to come out of lockdown. The User Guide (with Isaiah 61 Prayer Pointers) is now available; and the App goes live to earmark streets this Friday 28th May at 9am. You can also follow on social media using the @openheavencov handle and #ohcov. Link to newsletter 
Pax Christi Advent and other resources. Click on image to follow link
GREENPEACE
Clingfilmed coconuts? Shrink-wrapped turnips? Cauliflower 'steaks' in plastic bags? Many of us have experienced the frustration of unpacking our weekly shop and finding we're filling our fridges, rubbish bins and recycling with pointless plastic - and it's no surprise when supermarkets are producing 800,000 tonnes of plastic a year! Enough is enough. Will you help expose supermarkets' ridiculous packaging practices? Here's how: 1. Next time you spot some excessive plastic packaging, take a photo. 2. If you use Twitter, tweet the photo using #PointlessPlastic (don't forget to tag the supermarket too!) 3. If you don't use Twitter, you can either post it on another social media channel (like Facebook or Instagram) or alternatively email your picture to us at packaging.uk@greenpeace.org and we'll post it for you! Some people are concerned that plastic is necessary to reduce food waste - but a new study has shown that in some cases it might actually be making the problem worse. When plastic packaging requires food to be a specific size or shape, edible food is rejected because it doesn't look the right way. And whilst some people need pre-prepared fruit and vegetables because of mobility issues, no one needs them to be provided in plastic. If hundreds of us share these pictures of pointless plastic packaging online, together we can show supermarkets that their use of plastic is out of control, and that their customers have had enough. 'Unwrapped: How throwaway plastic is failing to solve Europe's food waste problem (and what we need to do instead)' Link to Green Peace video clip on reusable energy |
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https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/meeting-on-the-nuclear-threat-tickets-240134046397
Missionary Society of St. Columban Newsletter Christmas 2021
NJPN North West E Bulletin - January 2022
Christians in Parliament share Christmas message December 2021
As we approach the final week of Advent, the Christians in Parliament team have launched a Christmas video of Christian MPs and Peers from across the political spectrum, from different denominations, reading the prophecy of Jesus' birth from Isaiah 9 to share the message of Christmas
Restore's vision is for a society into which all refugees and asylum seekers are welcomed, valued and integrated. As 2021 draws to a close, we write to wish you a happy and healthy Christmas and to thank you for your support of Restore, refugees and asylum seekers over the past year. The year has included: a return to face-to-face befriending after another lockdown; restarting group social activities in the community from the summer onwards; 96 people joining us on our training courses; Close the Barracks campaign; Together with Refugees coalition; Captain Tom 100 fundraising challenges; and recruiting and inducting new staff! No wonder we’re ready for a break!! What is the impact of Restore’s befriending work? A befriended resettled refugee wrote: “Meeting my befriender helped me a lot during the lockdown when we had weekly video calls to chat and it was amazing how we had so much in common. We even lived in the same area so it was easy to go for walks when lockdown eased a little bit. We now meet in person and we share a lot about our culture and daily life. This definitely helped me with knowing more about the city and improved my English. I always have her when I wanted to know about anything: places to visit, things to do in the city and so on." Restore newsletter 
You may have heard that Traidcraft will finish trading at the end of the year and that may have frightened you to death. How can we continue to run our Traidcraft Stall or get supplies? Fear not! The information we have received from Traidcraft is that, although details are not yet available, we WILL be able to continue to get supplies, although the set-up will be different. However, the new arrangements in 2019 will take time to put in place, so we think it would be wise to stock up before the end of the year. If you want any further information, you can phone their Customer Services on 0191 491 0855. "Our Common Home: Caring for God's Creation" an example of a Study Course for Lent that you may find interesting. 
Environment:
As Christians we are inspired to be good stewards of the earth, to conserve and protect God’s creation and the earth’s resources. By our actions, we can mitigate the effects of climate change stop the destruction of habitats and reverse the decline of species worldwide. The way we treat the earth today is already affecting the poorest and most vulnerable in the world and, in time, will affect us all.
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The Birmingham Diocesan Justice and Peace Commission is funded by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham and the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) and is a member of the Caritas - Archdiocese of Birmingham Network