Quaker Earthcare Gathering Epistle

by Teresa Belton

An excerpt of the published record of the Quaker Earthcare Gathering held in Derbyshire in October 2025.

114 Friends of all ages gathered to explore how our Quaker faith and communities can help us to meet the Earth crisis with hope, strength, and compassion.  As we meet, Hurricane Melissa approaches Jamaica. Climate catastrophe is forecast to cause billions of human deaths this century amid ecological collapse and ongoing mass extinction.

We have heard that for young people, climate change is not ‘change’. They have grown up with heatwaves and floods; “for us it feels normal but it should not be normal”. This is not how it is supposed to be, and it is frightening.

We have heard about the diversity of our experience and how our lives are entangled with the systems of modernity. We all take different roles at different times. We can be mystics, activists, builders, upholders, artists, prophets and reconcilers. We must ask ourselves what is mine to do, and what is my capacity? We can recognise all forms of courage – physical, emotional and spiritual. We uphold all Friends’ contributions. We need all of it: those who are called to take nonviolent direct climate action; those who hold space for a shift in consciousness; those who lend practical support and spiritual presence to those undertaking climate action; those who show a path forwards through living out their witness through sustainable lifestyles; those who are working to strengthen community resilience; and those who work towards changing the policies and politics that maintain our broken system. We are more than the sum of our parts.

We have heard about the Palestinian concept of sumud or steadfastness: living every day nonviolent resistance in the face of violence. We are asked to consider how we are called to witness to the power of love and truth in the face of the climate crisis.

Quaker unity is not about consensus. It is about recognizing the diversity as we are called to accompany each other on our spiritual leadings and journeys. How can we support each other to progress towards sustainable lifestyles? We know that many elements of modern life such as taking flights and eating meat are not compatible with the future we want to see. We need to challenge ourselves and our society with gentle compassion to go further.