Pull up a chair, grab a cuppa and gather around the table. Tables are places of sharing life, of conversation, of listening and learning.  Ideas are sparked as we gather around the table.  Communities grow and welcome people in around tables and talking and tea.

You are invited to the table. More than that, you are invited to welcome others to the table too.  Everyone will be invited.  This August, Christian Climate Action is inviting you to host a Crisis Talk, bringing people from your community together to listen and discuss hard truths: What does Crisis mean to you? How is it affecting your community? What can we do about it?

Crisis talks will be one of the threads running through the upcoming Rebellion that Extinction Rebellion are organising in London.  They will primarily be opportunities for outreach, to engage with members of the public. As Christian Climate Action, we would love to see these Crisis Talks springing up all over the country, gathering people together to talk about the climate crisis. 

What do you think about hosting one? On 22^nd August, before or after church services how about you use the time when church communities often mingle and chat, to talk about some big topics? The great thing about this is that you will know people who are coming to the table, you will have shared experience and common ground and can use that as a starting point for discussing the climate crisis, what it means to us as Christians, some of the possible responses and action we can take. It’s a great opportunity to build links within churches and with local environmental groups – you could join with an Eco Church network, church environmental group or local Green Christian Group. 

What you will need

The main ingredients are simple: A table, some seats, snacks, drinks and most importantly people to talk and listen.  You may also find it helpful to print out these

Additional Resources

XR guide to Crisis Talks

Conversational table mats designed by CCA member Hannah.

Tips on how to get a dialogue going.

Street Talk –  includes useful material to draw from about talking to the public and two useful graphics you can print and use.

The Columban’s Study Guide – each chapter includes reflection questions which would make good starting points for conversation. This is quite clear we need to act and is very centred in the creation message.

A note about the tables: the tables used in the Rebellion will be pink – a specific pink called  Rose Glory (you can get this special Pink Boat Pink mixed with this code: RGB(229,133,165) Alternatively, for Dulux paint you can use the code: 47RR32383. Look out for them popping up in expected places!  So if you could make your table pink, that would be fantastic!