The Green Chalice by Mark Coleman

An Open Letter to Church Leaders in Greater Manchester This excellent letter  - written by the  Rev Jon Swales  - has been signed by around 40 church people. That's not an enormous number, but I am sure that there are any more. I know it's harder for busy clergy to be outspoken and step outside the business as usual orthodoxy. The Season of Creation, 2024 Dear Church leader We write to you with an urgent plea. The hour is late, the clock is ticking, and our world teeters on the edge. The moment for prayer and action is not just now—it is critical. This is not another fleeting crisis; it is the crucible that will define our generation and the legacy we leave behind. The climate catastrophe is not a future threat—it is a present reality, advancing with terrifying speed. The Dire Reality We Face We are in a dire situation. The climate crisis is not some distant spectre; it is here, now, and it is accelerating. The root cause is clear: our reckless burning of fossil fuels—coa...

  The Good Shepherd This text is being edited.

Hats off to Jonathan Sterling for his excellent, encouraging letter to our Bishops.              1 August 2023                     Dear Bishop , It was a great encouragement to see that the members of General Synod overwhelmingly endorsed (by 256 votes to 36 votes) the Oxford Diocese’s Environmental Motion, at their recent meeting in York. It is another milestone we can all give thanks for, as the Church of England seeks to embrace its Fifth Mark of Mission.   As the Bishop of Reading, Olivia Graham, highlighted during her presentation, “The motion before you seeks to challenge us in all areas of life, from finances to buildings and political advocacy. We need the National Investing Bodies to be investing at scale in renewable energy and climate solutions. Doing everything we can in our dioceses and parishes to get to net zero. And asking every Christian in every chur...

  What's it like, you may ask. What happens on a slow march ? There's plenty of you tube videos but they only show the outside. Someone from our JSO North community wrote a poem about the Manchester Slow March on 17th June 2023. Have a read Photo is by Elvis Hardy. Explanatory note: Section 12 refers to the Public Order Act 1986 which has been recently amended. 40 or so, in orange high viz, today got the city turned out in a tiz. They took to the streets with a message to tell “No more new drilling – you’re creating hell” Coppers attended, good humour was high Someone tweets “Carnage” but that was a lie. Several cars just had to go slow, but disruption’s the aim – or didn’t you know? We have to make headlines or nobody hears the facts and the science that Rishi so fears. The government’s policies must be deleted; That’s why our protesting must be completed. Our brave crew of marchers took Trinity Way,  their courage undaunted made everyone’s day. Past the Cathedral (which I h...

  With my wife Wendy outside the court. I was convicted on 25 January 2023, after a week's trial, at the Inner London Crown Court. At the trial I had largely complied with the judge's ruling that we could not mention climate change, or motivation. The guilty verdict was dissapointing but not surprising in those circumstances. We were called back to London for sentencing on the 20 April 2023. We were permitted to speak "in mitigation".  This is what I said: Revd Mark Coleman Mitigation Statement Pre-Sentencing at ILCC on 20/4/2023 Your honour. I would like to speak about why I sat on the Highway in October 2021. This act led to me being found guilty in this court for the common law offence of Public Nuisance on 27/01/2023.  In mitigation I want to state that I acted to protect human life, to draw attention to the death and destruction caused by rising emissions and the impacts of cold damp homes on the health of the citizens of our country. I had learned of the effects...

  Choosing Life Notes for Sermon preached at St Ann, Belfield 2022 and used in much abbreviated form in a short reflection given in the High Court in my hearing after breaking the North Warwickshire injuction. Why would any of us knowingly do something very likely to hasten our death ? If there was a cliff edge just ahead of you, and experts said there was a cliff edge, would you keep on walking ? If your leaders said “Keep going, don't worry about the cliff, trust us not those who know all about what happens when you walk off a cliff, would you believe them ?  And when some people started falling off the cliff, and you saw pictures on the TV, would you keep following the leaders ? Of course You wouldn’t !  Yet that is exactly what is happening today. We are heading towards disaster. Professor Sir David King, the former government chief scientist, says what we do in the next three to four years will determine the future of humanity. He’s talking about our survival as a sp...

  This Little Light of Mine Sermon preached on Sunday 5 February 2023 at St Ann’s Belfield In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5.16) It should have been a delicious meal. All the ingredients were good. It looked delicious on the plate. But it had no flavour ! All it needed was salt. But there was none on the table. And I couldn’t say anything. I didn’t want to offend my kind host.  In the ancient world, having your own source of light at night was essential. If your light went out you were stuck. If there was a knock at the door you would not be able to see if it was friend or foe.  There wasn’t much sympathy if your light had gone out because you had been careless and had not topped up the oil. Who are you going to ask for a light ? Of course neighbours are happy to help but … well.. It is a bit embarrassing. The two Biblical images of salt and light are very familiar, and make...