First Sunday in Advent, 2012

Our Advent

journey through

Hope, Peace, Joy

and Love can also

carry us along on

a search for

justice and right

relations. KAIROS

invites you to an

Advent search for

that shelter in the

spirit of Mary and

Joseph’s journey.

Mary and Joseph relied on the welcome of strangers when they arrived in Bethlehem after a long journey.

In today’s world, who is seeking shelter?

Who is seeking freedom from fear? Who is seeking freedom from want? Who is offering shelter to our battered

Earth, God’s creation and our only home? What is our response to the knock on our

doors?

KAIROS member churches believe climate change caused by human action is a reality.

Canadians’ energy use per person is almost the highest in the world - higher than many other cold-climate nations.

Climate change has a major impact on the poor and on communities near the sea, Northern/polar communities, and agricultural communities.

Greenhouse gases are still disproportionally created by wealthy nations. The poor are hardest hit by the impacts of climate change.

Who says justice isn’t fun?

Matawatchan, ON:

Ringing the bells for

climate justice in a

global action begun

by the World

Council of Churches.

Faith communities

rang in this action

and made their own

commitments to

reducing energy use

and pressing

governments to live

up to the Kyoto

Protocol on Climate

Change.

In the late

1990’s Canadian

churches pushed

hard for the

Kyoto Protocol,

the first-ever

global agreement

on scaling back

greenhouse gas

emissions. Where

next? How do we

as faith

communities

speak truth to

power? How can

we make our own

carbon footprint

smaller?

What are very specific ways your faith community can reduce its carbon footprint?

What climate justice local initiatives can your community support?

How might you talk elected officials, from a faith perspective, about measures Canada must take to curb greenhouse emissions?

Share your story. KAIROS is gathering stories of hope that demonstrate how deeply Canadians care about climate change and want to make a difference. Tell us about a local project or local action that you have taken, individually or as a congregation, to reduce your carbon footprint or prepare your community for climate change. We’ll post many of them online on our

“Resilient Communities” blog that will be launching in 2013.

What kind of world do we want our children to enjoy?

Guided by the belief that the Earth is God’s, faith communities can bring many practical and thoughtful ideas to the difficult conversation of climate change.

KAIROS is:A network of over 20

global partnersSupportive local

churches (KAIROS Communities)

Ecumenical and interfaith Communities

Individual CompanionsLocal and regional

partnerships

The Anglican Church of Canada The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and

Peace The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops The Canadian Religious Conference The Christian Reformed Church in North America (Canada

Corporation) The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada The Mennonite Central Committee Canada The Presbyterian Church in Canada The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund

(PWRDF) The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) The United Church of Canada

Check the KAIROS website, Facebook group and Twitter feed for resources and perspectives that add to your work for social justice.

Bring your faith community’s perspective and energy to the KAIROS ecumenical justice journey.

Join us locally and regionally for events, workshops and worship. Contact us at info@kairoscanada.org