August 12, 2019
Two Cornish churches have begun a campaign of bellringing to draw attention to the climate emergency.
For some weeks the campanologists at Warleggan have been tolling the church bells 12 times before services to represent the dozen years it is thought we have left to be able to stabilise levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Further west in Cornwall the ringers at St just in Penwith are chiming the bells for half an hour on significant days and putting up banners and flags, as well as handing out leaflets and talking to passers-by who are curious about the reasons for the ringing.
The campaign has now received the backing of the Bishop of Truro, the Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen, who said: “Church bells have often been sounded down the ages to communicate an imminent threat to the community. Right now we are faced with the clear and present danger of the climate emergency and we must all act fast.
“The parishes of Warleggan and St Just have my enthusiastic support for their campaign, as do all other parishes that may follow suit in sounding this prophetic warning.
‘God-given duty’
“It is my fervent hope that this action might spread the length of Cornwall and further right across the land. The climate emergency is a threat to us all on this planet. We must get the message and act! Indeed it’s our God-given duty to do so.”
