Storm Sunday

[Gabrielle Dean]

Thank you to Peter Newman for his important sermon yesterday on climate change.  Very informative and as usual, beautifully  linked to the readings. 

An important message for the stormy times ahead was the need for solidarity: "The only thing that’s likely to save us as a species is solidarity’. Tim Winton  And by living together  kindly, decently, exemplary lives.

I'm attaching his notes for those who weren’t able to be there.

Quotes for Peter Newman’s sermon on Storm Sunday. 

1.‘The National Climate Risk Assessment has painted a challenging and confronting view of the future for Australia under global heating’. The Guardian, 15/9/25

2. ‘The report finds that the extreme weather events of today are likely to resemble the average experience of Australians in the future if we don’t cut climate pollution much further, and faster. (p.22)’ Climate Council, 15/9/25

3. ‘It’s a grim read’ Minister for Climate, Chris Bowen on ABC TV 15/9/25

4. The government has set a national target to reduce emissions by 62–70% below 2005 levels by 2035. This target is ambitious, achievable, and in Australia's national interests’. 2035 Emissions Targets, published 18/9/25

5. ‘This important book sheds light on the opportunities and complexities involved in the transition to net zero cities. Peter Newman outlines how cities can achieve net zero and sustainability agendas together as part of the global shift to a new economy…the book reflects on the history of turbulent change, ultimately demonstrating that there is hope of reaching full net zero by 2050, with plans for subsequent global cooling’. Brochure on new book Net Zero Cities with Sustainability: A Practitioner’s Approach, published 18/9/25.

6. ‘I know what it feels like in 50 degrees… We’re on a razor’s edge. The consequences of our decisions now will be the biggest in our species’ history. We wont be saved by our scientific genius. The only thing that’s likely to save us as a species is solidarity’. Tim Winton, in The Guardian 3/10/24.

7. ‘The climate crisis demands something different. It demands a liberalism that builds.’ Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, Abundance, 2025.

8. ‘There were just a few hundred Christians living in a despotic Roman Empire and they were seen as a weird sect, fit only as feed for lions. How did they survive? By living kindly, decently, exemplary lives’. Greg Sheridan, on ABC TV Insiders, 14/9/25, about his new book How Christians Can Succeed, by Reclaiming the Genius of the Early Church.