For the Warming of the Earth

Climate change and changing ecological relationships pose some of the greatest scientific, moral and social challenges in the contemporary world and, as such, increasingly form a major focal point for scholarly, personal and collective endeavour. Whilst eco-theological work has been growing in importance for several decades, there have been relatively few publications that look at climate change in relation to the devotional practices of different worshipping communities.

This book approaches those devotional practices through a focus on music, using music as a lens into the broader dynamics and issues that are confronted and encountered in a range of different Christian environments. Drawing on three years of fieldwork interviews, it presents the experiences of individuals across a deliberately eclectic selection of projects – including contemporary worship music and hymnody, climate requiems such as that commissioned by Christian Aid, and protest songs used by organisations such as Christian Climate Action. Taken together the chapters in this book explore both the different challenges that can be faced when seeking to respond creatively to issues of climate change and the different avenues which a range of groups have recently set out to explore.