“Any serious discipleship in these days needs to take climate change seriously. We are stewards of a beautiful but threatened creation. I encourage all churches and their leaders to embrace this good research undertaken by Tearfund, and to engage with the dialogue and campaign it opens up.” – Reverend Tim Costello AO
An invitation to a new conversation about climate change
In March 2022 Tearfund released key findings from the most comprehensive study to date of Australian Christians’ attitudes towards climate change in its landmark report They Shall Inherit the Earth.
The seven-part study, led by Tearfund and conducted by NCLS Research in 2021, examined the views of Millennial and adult Gen Z Christians and church leaders in Australia towards climate change and the role of the Church in taking action to address it. It also looked at how climate change - and creation care more broadly - fit within their understanding of the gospel, the mission of the Church and the living out of their Christian faith.
The study’s findings provide both insight and hope for how the Church might grow and strengthen its response to this critical challenge.
As a Christian development, relief and advocacy organisation, Tearfund has spoken up on the issue of climate change for many years, highlighting the enormous threat it poses to decades of progress towards ending extreme poverty. What this research confirms is the growing levels of concern that the next generation of Christians in Australia have about climate change and their desire to see the Church doing more.
Tearfund’s Australian Program Director, Paul Flavel, says, “As Tearfund, it is our prayer that the insights offered by this research will help to unlock a new conversation about climate change within the Church and play a part in healing the generational and geographical divides that have emerged around the issue so that, together, we can be a voice of hope.”
The report They Shall Inherit the Earth is now available from the Tearfund website.
View Tearfund Climate Report
