Press Releases

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Toronto: On Sunday, January 17, 2010, Mardi Tindal, the Moderator of The United Church of Canada, will be issuing an open letter to all Canadians regarding the issue of climate change.

This letter arises from the Moderator’s recent travel to Denmark to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which took place in Copenhagen December 7–18, 2009. Tindal attended the conference as part of a World Council of Churches delegation, and was the only North American denominational church leader present.

As such, she says she feels a compelling obligation to bear witness to what she describes as “one of the most urgent moral challenges in human history.”

Tindal will first read her letter, “Where Is the Hope after Copenhagen?” during the Sunday morning worship service at Sydenham Street United Church in Brantford, Ontario, on January 17. Sydenham Street is Tindal’s home congregation, and the place she sought comfort immediately following her return to Canada from Denmark.

“The day after I returned home from the climate change talks, I needed a place to go where I could safely cry tears of lament,” says Tindal. “I needed somewhere where I would be supported as I wrestled with the bitter disappointment I felt with the result of the Copenhagen talks.”

She says it is fitting to return to Sydenham Street United Church this Sunday to deliver a message that she hopes will be a source of inspiration and hope for those who, like her, were heartbroken by the missed opportunity of Copenhagen.

In addition, the Moderator will be inviting former Moderators and many others to read her open letter in United Church congregations in communities from coast to coast to coast.

On Monday, January 18, 2010, Tindal will travel to Ottawa to personally deliver the letter to the Governor General, the Prime Minister, and other party leaders. The letter will also be mailed to all Parliamentarians.

Tindal will be accompanied in Ottawa by the Hon. David MacDonald. MacDonald is a United Church minister and a former Member of Parliament who chaired the House of Commons Committee on the Environment from 1989 to 1993. He also travelled to Copenhagen as part of the World Council of Churches delegation.

The timing for the release of the Moderator’s letter was chosen for two reasons. First, January 18 is the one-month anniversary of the conclusion of the Copenhagen talks, and secondly, it is also Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the United States.

Tindal explains that King served as a primary source of inspiration for her when she was writing this letter, which is addressed not only to the people of the United Church, but to all Canadians. In particular, King’s 1963 letter from a Birmingham jail galvanized Tindal’s sense of purpose when she returned to Canada from Copenhagen.

The Moderator says her motivation for writing the letter also arises from her long-standing involvement in addressing environmental issues from the perspective of faith. This initiative is also in keeping with the commitment Tindal made when she was elected Moderator in August 2009 to focus much of her time and energy on matters related to the care of creation.

The text of Tindal’s letter will be posted on this website on Sunday, January 17, 2010.

For more information, please contact:

• Mary-Frances Denis
  Program Coordinator, Media and Public Relations
  The United Church of Canada
  Tel: 416-231-7680 ext. 2016
  Toll-free: 1-800-268-3781 ext. 2016
  E-mail: Mary-Frances Denis