Address of Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, World Council of Churches general secretary at the United Bible Societies World Assembly, Amsterdam, 13 October 2023.
Lecture of the World Council of Churches central committee moderator Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm delivered at the Kitzingen deanery, a regional church district near Würzburg, Germany.
Food is central to life and our faith. It is a blessing and a gift of God, in the form of the abundant creation which we depend on for our sustenance. Food is also a reflection of the quality of our relationships with each other- our caring for the other and the sharing of resources and the hospitality we show each other. Food is central to our worship life, our liturgy and the Eucharist, which helps us to be one with God and with each other.
The recently released report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius is more than a wake-up call for all of us. It is an alarm bell of a disaster going on. Our home, the Earth, God’s gift of creation, is endangered by the unlimited extraction of natural resources that is clearly disrupting the life-giving systems of our planet.