This year Chelmsford Cathedral is offering a powerful Advent course inviting participants to reflect deeply on the urgency of the climate crisis.
Led by Revd Canon Kate Moore, the course is based on Sleepers Wake: Getting Serious About Climate Change, the Archbishop of York’s 2022 Advent book authored by Nicholas Holtam. The course, held every Thursday evening from 7.15 pm to 8.15 pm, will run from 21st November through 19th December.
Advent is traditionally a time of preparation, expectation and waiting but as Archbishop Stephen Cottrell warns, “with regard to the climate crisis, we can wait no more.” The course will be a blend of meditation, prayer, and practical action, guiding attendees to engage with the pressing need for environmental change. Through a mixture of poetry, music, visual art and personal reflections, participants are encouraged to explore their own role in fostering a flourishing future for all creation.
Rooted in the themes of well-known hymn Sleepers Wake, the course calls for both spiritual and physical awakening. Each week focuses on a key aspect of the climate crisis and our place within it.
The weekly themes are as follows:
Thursday 21st November – The Scale of the Problem: An introduction to the environmental crisis and its global impact.
Thursday 28th November – The Writing is on the Wall: A reflection on the urgent signs and warnings of climate breakdown.
Thursday 5th December – Finding our Place: A meditation on our personal and collective roles within creation.
Thursday 12th December – Being Human: Understanding what it means to be human in the face of environmental catastrophe.
Thursday 19th December – What Can I Bring Him?: A contemplation on the gifts we can offer in the fight for a sustainable world.
Revd Canon Kate Moore says, “As we approach this season of reflection, the Cathedral’s Advent course offers a timely opportunity to meditate on our relationship with the Earth and our responsibility to future generations.”
Books will be available for purchase at the Cathedral Bookshop.