wxcxzt Chaplain cops top police award A SALVATION Army chaplain in Sunderland was honoured in Northumbria Police’s first Citizens in Policing awards for her dedication in a range of volunteering roles. Julie Judson, who is employed part-time at Swan Lodge – a Salvation Army centre that supports people who have experienced homelessness – won a Partnership Working award for her volunteering with the church and charity’s emergency response team. She was commended for the way in which she has provided support for families and individuals in crisis and has offered refreshments and a listening ear to blue-light services at major incidents.
Environmental initiative does a world of good as people reduce waste Report by Sarah Olowofoyeku
P Julie Judson
Coast-to-coast prayers for coronavirus victims ABOUT 3,000 Christians formed prayer groups at one-mile intervals along a coastal path to pray for people bereaved by the coronavirus pandemic, reported the BBC. According to the online news item, the groups of praying volunteers positioned themselves at different points along the South West Coast Path and prayed at 10.30am for 30 minutes. The coastal path – which is 630 miles long – covers Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset. Pastor Mark Pugh of Rediscover Church in Exeter – who started the initiative, called South West Awake – hoped the event would bring Christians together at a time when many church buildings had been closed. He said: ‘Some were individuals going to the mile spots, others were church groups so there was a real change of dynamics at each of those points … We believe church is not the building, it’s the people.’
LASTIC is a problem, but this month everybody is invited to be part of the solution. Plastic Free July, which began in 2011, is an initiative of the Australian-based Plastic Free Foundation. Each year, people all round the world are encouraged to take the challenge to reduce single-use plastic waste. So far, an estimated 326 million participants across 177 countries have taken part, and this year, the Plastic Free Foundation is hoping to bring even more people on board. Its website offers tips on how people may be able to reduce their use of the non-recyclable material, suggesting actions such as using fabric shopping bags instead of single-use plastic ones, avoiding pre-packed fruit and veg and swapping liquid soap for bars of soap. Going without plastic for a whole month may seem a daunting task, but the Plastic Free Foundation emphasises the fact that people can start small. Its founder Rebecca Prince-Ruiz, wrote in lifestyle magazine Tempus: ‘Our main message is that, as individuals, we can’t do everything – and certainly not all at once – but there is always something that we can do to get better.’ Many individuals and organisations have been trying their best to do something in an effort to reduce plastic usage, including churches. Peregrin Campbell-Osgood of the Anglican Church in Australia wrote a blog about how people who have a faith in God ‘engage in thanksgiving to God and creation, allowing our thankfulness to inform our decisions and actions that impact upon creation’. Christians all over the world are motivated by their faith to care for the planet, believing that the Earth is a gift from God, and must be well looked after. They are also encouraged to know that God cares about the environment too, in the same way that he cares about every aspect of their lives. Whatever efforts we make to improve the world or ourselves, and whatever problems we are concerned with, God is interested in all the details – and he wants to help us.
Christians believe the Earth is a gift
10 July 2021 • WAR CRY • 5