Rev. Dr. Jessica Hetherington reflects on faith, climate action, and the powerful witness of Seniors Climate Witness.
Rev. Dr. Jessica Hetherington of The United Church of Canada offered pastoral support to Seniors Climate Witness, a group of senior climate activists who travelled in two caravans from west and east coast, to Ottawa in September to call on government leaders to take concrete action for climate justice and to protect future generations from the impacts of climate change. This blog post is adapted from her sermon shared on her Substack, Faith. Climate Crisis. Action.
I am part of the climate action group Seniors Climate Witness. Last week, a caravan of Canadian seniors, from as far away as Victoria, BC in the west, and Digby, Nova Scotia in the east, and points in between, travelled to Ottawa by electric vehicles. They brought with them hundreds of photos and stories from Canadians across the country, of the people and places they love but are under threat from climate change. Their mandate was to bring them to Parliament Hill, to our MPs who were returning to the House of Commons on Tuesday, September 22.
The message of Seniors Climate Witness is a simple one: to end subsidies and support for fossil fuels, respect the rights of Indigenous leadership to protect their lands and waters, and finally, to meet with members of Seniors Climate Witness and people directly impacted by the wildfires to discuss how Canada can protect present and future generations from climate change. We sent an open letter to Prime Minister Carney and the leaders of all the parties represented in Parliament ahead of time. We also requested access to the House of Commons in order to place the hundreds of photos that had been collected along the way on the desks of the MPs.
“Of the Same Mind”
Well, you can imagine the response. Yet, these seniors were determined. They had travelled thousands of kilometres, bringing pictures of children and other loved ones, the stories of those fleeing the flames of wildfires and breathing in polluted air, and the tears of people who had lost everything, to Parliament.
For all their diversity, for their varying ages and ailments, experiences in direct action and environmentalism, their differing faith practices, there was a common commitment and energy among them. They were, like Paul says to the Philippians, “of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind” (Philippians 2:2b).
Even when they had questions about the best ways to proceed in the actions last week, and differing emphases in messaging, they were still of the same mind, having the same love, and in full accord. They were frail in body, yet strong in moral authority. They were grandmothers and grandfathers, great-grandparents, too. They carried the pictures of young children, and family members who couldn’t breathe in the summer months. They carried pictures of forest fires destroying the trees, deer fleeing the flames, Indigenous communities stranded on the water.
“By What Authority?”
And then they arrived on the Hill last Tuesday morning. Most of our group managed to get right up to the doors of the West Block before security could stop them. They arrived at the door and calmly asked to be let in.
They were refused. They were told they needed to leave. The seniors said no. They had travelled all this way, and had in fact let the government know they were coming, to deliver these pictures by hand to the MPs. But they were confronted by security. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they were asked.
“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” (Matthew 21:23b).
Yet the resolute members of Seniors Climate Witness said, “we can’t leave, we aren’t leaving, because we were sent here by hundreds of Canadians from across the country to deliver these pictures. We need our MPs to see what climate change is doing, how it is harming the children and the planet itself.”
They were there on the authority of their children, their grandchildren, and future generations. They were there on the authority of the forests and their inhabitants. They were there on the authority of Jesus, himself.
Eleven members of Seniors Climate Witness were arrested that morning; maybe you saw it on the news. An Anglican deacon in his 80s, Rev. Michael van Dusen was also arrested. And so was Beverly from White Rock, BC—frail and very hard of hearing, handcuffed for a long time, standing beside the police car. All of them were nonviolent; they weren’t even chanting, but were singing songs of hope and peace.
“Jesus Showed Up”
Frail bodies so strong in their moral authority.
I was there to offer pastoral support, in collar and, on the first day, full Sunday dress, to symbolize under whose authority those of us who are Christian were taking action. And to symbolize that these actions were, in fact, acts of worship. They were sacred acts, of sacrificing time and comfort, putting their bodies on the line for the future of our children and grandchildren and all of life on Earth.
But what I didn’t expect – or rather, who I didn’t expect to show up – was Jesus. Jesus showed up, too. My friends, Jesus was up there on the Hill, standing with the seniors politely but firmly requesting to see their MPs. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they were asked. I saw Jesus last week, being asked that question, too.
And I saw Jesus the next day, sitting in a rocking chair with my friends. When Paul reminds us of Christ Jesus humbling himself, becoming “obedient to the point of death” (Philippians 2:8), I saw Jesus humbled, obedient, in those rocking chairs, using his broken body with its unbreakable moral strength.
I saw Jesus last week. I wore my communion stole, because we were a community, fed by Jesus, known by Jesus. And just as communion is a sacrament, where the invisible reality of God is made visible, so, too, the actions of Seniors Climate Witness last week were a sacrament.
In their actions, in standing resolute by the doors of Parliament, sitting resolute in rocking chairs on the driveway, the invisible reality of God was made visible. In their actions, Jesus showed up.
I saw Jesus last week.
Civil Obedience
People can be uncomfortable with nonviolent direct climate actions like these, thinking that we must simply use the legal means available to us. But we have been, for decades now, and they aren’t working. Our prime minister is pledging to build another gas pipeline, to expand fossil fuel instead of investing in renewables. He is threatening to weaken Indigenous sovereignty over their lands and waters, instead of committing to truth and reconciliation.
When the legal means of our democracy aren’t working, then we need to find other ways of fighting for a liveable future for our children, and for seven generations ahead. As the facilitator said in our nonviolent action training session, this is not about civil disobedience, but instead about civil obedience, whereby we are obedient to the natural laws of Earth, that say we can’t keep burning fossil fuels without destroying Earth. We are obedient to the cries of our children and grandchildren, who simply want the chance to live to be 81 like Jill. We are obedient to the stories of Canadians across this country, who sent their pictures and stories and tears with the caravan to be presented to our elected representatives.
I saw Jesus last week, being obedient with the members of Seniors Climate Witness, obedient to the point of arrest, taking the punishment meted out by worldly authorities. They were listening to Paul reminding the church in Philippi, “for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).
I saw Jesus last week, and I pray that I will be beside him the next time, too. Will you join me?
If you live in Canada, please join Seniors Climate Witness!
—Rev. Dr. Jessica Hetherington is an ecotheologian and ordained minister living in the Ottawa River Watershed, in Ottawa, Ontario on unceded and unsurrendered Algonquin territory. Rev. Hetherington has a passion for discipleship in response to the climate emergency and ecological crisis. You can find her blog, “Faith. Climate Crisis. Action”, on Substack.
Rev. Dr. Jessica Hetherington is just one of many United Church members who are part of Seniors Climate Witness. Find out more in our news article.
The views contained within these blogs are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of The United Church of Canada.