Episcopal Church’s Compline service offers prayers as the UN Climate Conference begins in Brazil
The Rev. Payton Høegh, a deacon in the Diocese of Los Angeles and program director of the Center for Spirituality in Nature, leads a Nov. 10 service of Compline offered by The Episcopal Church to mark the start of COP30, the United Nations’ annual climate conference. Photo: Zoom screenshot
[Episcopal News Service] An evening online service of Compline offered by The Episcopal Church highlighted the need for Indigenous voices to be at the center of the United Nations climate conference, which is taking place Nov. 10-21 in Belem, Brazil.
“If the Amazon is the lungs of the Earth, then the Indigenous peoples are her voice, and if we cannot hear them, we are not breathing,” the Rev. Lester Mackenzie, The Episcopal Church’s chief of mission program, told the more than 140 people gathered for the service, which occurred on the opening day of COP30 — the 30th session of the Conference of Parties of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.
He was referencing remarks made previously by the Most Rev. Marinez Rosa dos Santos Bassotto, primate of the Anglican Episcopal Church in Brazil and bishop of the Amazon, who said that the voices of Indigenous people, as well as advocacy for environmental justice, must be central to conference discussions.
Organizers adapted the service, which was based on the Compline service in the Book of Common Prayer, for the occasion. The Scripture readings all had creation-care themes, as did many of the prayers. The Rev. Payton Høegh, a deacon in the Diocese of Los Angeles and program director of the Center for Spirituality in Nature, led the service.
The Rev. Isaiah “Shaneequa” Brokenleg, the church’s interim Indigenous missioner, is representing The Episcopal Church at the conference in support of the Anglican Communion delegation led by Bassotto. This will be the 11th year The Episcopal Church has participated in the annual climate conference.
Episcopalians can learn more about how The Episcopal Church is engaging with COP30 on a dedicated website here.
Ahead of COP30, the Anglican Communion Office has been sharing information about the “Lungs of the Earth” initiative, which describes how Anglicans can be involved in working to restore and protect three vital ecosystems: forests, oceans and frozen landscapes.
This includes participation in reforestation initiatives like the Communion Forest, and it also amplifies environmental and advocacy work from Anglican provinces around the world and celebrates the work of Anglican environmental activists, including Green Anglicans and the Anglican Communion Environmental Network.
— Melodie Woerman is an Episcopal News Service freelance reporter based in Kansas.
