I met Bishop Sofie Petersen at the World Council of Churches Assembly in Busan. An Indigenous woman, the Lutheran Bishop of Greenland, she is rooted in the challenges and experiences of her community and spiritually wise. I had the delight of listening in on an animated discussion between Bishop Sofie and National Indigenous Bishop Mark MacDonald, former Bishop of Alaska, about the delicacies of Arctic foods I could not even imagine. Bishop Sofie wants us to know that two of her churches need to move because the permafrost is disappearing in her country, foundations “bowing and bending”, the churches cannot be saved. Hunters and fishermen are being dramatically affected by extreme weather. The shrimp population is decreasing and hungry polar bears are showing up in towns. She, on the frontlines of climate change, begs us to see what’s coming everywhere: stay awake.
Full sermon on Kairos website
