Climate change is no longer a distant scientific debate or a future political worry. It is a lived reality marked by floods that wash away homes droughts that starve communities and heat that turns survival into daily struggle. In this moment the silence of the church would not be neutral it would be a choice. For an institution that claims moral authority and global reach the question is not whether climate change is political but whether indifference to human suffering can ever be spiritual.
The church has always spoken when life and dignity were threatened. It spoke against slavery colonial injustice apartheid and poverty. Climate change now stands in that same moral category because it affects the poorest first and hardest. Farmers who depend on the land coastal communities facing rising waters and children exposed to hunger are paying for decisions they did not make. A faith that preaches love of neighbour cannot ignore forces that destroy the neighbour’s home and future.
Some argue that the church should stay out of climate discussions to avoid politics. But caring for the earth is not a party position it is a moral responsibility. Scripture across traditions teaches stewardship restraint and accountability. To protect creation is to honour the Creator. When rivers are poisoned forests destroyed and air made unsafe the issue is not ideology but obedience to values the church already claims to uphold.
The church also has power beyond sermons. It shapes attitudes mobilizes communities and influences leaders. When churches educate their members reduce their own environmental footprint and speak clearly about responsibility they shift culture. Silence on climate change does not preserve unity it quietly endorses harm. Leadership requires courage especially when truth is inconvenient.
History will remember how institutions responded when the planet was in distress. The church can either be recorded as a bystander or as a voice that rose when the earth and its people cried out. Climate change is a moral crisis and neutrality is no longer an option. The question before the church is simple whether faith will remain confined to words or be proven by action.
– Inah Boniface Ocholi writes from Ayah – Igalamela/Odolu LGA, Kogi state.
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