Mankind has instigated a rebellion against God. God is righteous and, therefore, punishes sin and rewards goodness. He is also merciful, so he sent his Son to absorb the punishment that we deserve so that we don’t have to. We are still free to accept the punishment instead if we choose – à la Dawkins and Hitchens. The church’s job is to tell people this.

If true, it’s the single most important thing a person can be told. Anglicans believe that it’s true.

Well, maybe not: the Anglican Church of Canada would prefer to tell people about green churches instead.

The Anglican Church of Canada is taking steps towards a green revolution it hopes will sweep across 1,700 parishes nationwide.

The Partners in Mission and Eco-justice (PIMEJ) of General Synod will launch a national database this year to provide information on eco-friendly and energy-efficient Canadian Anglican parishes, including how they became green. It is hoped that sharing their stories will help other parishes to do the same.

“We want to celebrate and reward parishes [which] have accomplished reductions in greenhouse gas emissions,” said Ken Gray, a member of PIMEJ and the Canadian church representative to the Anglican Communion Environment Network………………..

The secularization of Canada has also meant that “the place of the church in economic and political discourse is probably quite different that what it was in the 1970s,”said Gray. “We need to be innovative in our justice advocacy…”