Judith Russenberger

Counting on … day 80

9th June 2025

Last week leading economists from the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge and the London School of Economics and Political Science, wrote to the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.

That letter includes the following paragraph re energy security:-

“Maintaining UK fossil production, in contrast, makes little difference to UK energy security; the price of oil and gas is set by the international market, and security is not achieved by modest increases in domestic fossil fuel extraction, such as through the Rosebank oil field. The risks are economic as much as environmental. North Sea oil and gas carry relatively high marginal extraction costs. Such facilities could easily prove uneconomic were the oil and gas price to fall much below present levels as global demand for oil and gas wanes. The government may have to pick up the tab of decommissioning.” (1)

(1) https://www.smithschool.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2025-06/PM_letter_No_trade_off_between_net_zero_and_economic_growth.pdf

Pentecost

8th June 2025

Reflection with readings below

Pentecost is traditionally seen as the birthday of the Church. Filled with the Holy Spirit, the small band of disciples in the upper room are transfigured into community of missionaries who will preach the gospel to all nations. They are so equipped by the Spirit that they can express the good news in different languages to diverse groups of people.

Overtime (and when we read Acts, really rather quickly) divisions appear in the unity of that community and so I guess we should not be surprised that over the centuries and over the millennia the One Church has splintered into a multiplicity of differing churches, as different people have differed over what is important, what should be included or excluded etc. And even now that there is such diversity, there are still disagreements about what a church should be like, whether it should be traditional or modern, principled or lax. And it is not unusual for individuals to opt out of church altogether because they cannot reconcile what they believe with what they feel the church represents.

Yesterday I was at my local Franciscan area day and our guest speaker was Claire Gilbert, the author of ‘I Julian’. Both Francis of Assisi and Julian of Norwich were inspired to each other have very radically different understandings of God from those presented to them by the Church. For Francis – at a time when the Church was very wealthy and its ministers prince-like in their power – to serve Jesus was to love poverty, rejecting all the trappings and the power that came with wealth and possessions. For Julian – at a time when the Church preached a message of sin and damnation for all who fell short – the overwhelming characteristic of God was love, and only love. There was no wrath in God, no desire to punish or exclude – only love.

But neither Francis nor Julian tried to leave the Church; nor to set up an alternative Church. It was as if they both saw the Church as both human made and therefore frail, and as created by God and therefore good. Both seemed able to sit with this dissonance, to see both what was positive and what was not, and through faith in Jesus as saviour – the one who heals all – to remain faithful to their calling.

So I wonder if we too can joyfully celebrate all that is good about the church – both locally and denominationally – and yet still acknowledge our church’s shortcomings with love and truth?

Acts 2:1-21

When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs– in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

`In the last days it will be, God declares,

that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.

Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.

And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.

The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.

Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ “

Psalm 104:25-35, 37

25 O Lord, how manifold are your works! *
in wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.

26 Yonder is the great and wide sea
with its living things too many to number, *
creatures both small and great.

27 There move the ships,
and there is that Leviathan, *
which you have made for the sport of it.

28 All of them look to you *
to give them their food in due season.

29 You give it to them; they gather it; *
you open your hand, and they are filled with good things.

30 You hide your face, and they are terrified; *
you take away their breath,
and they die and return to their dust.

31 You send forth your Spirit, and they are created; *
and so you renew the face of the earth.

32 May the glory of the Lord endure for ever; *
may the Lord rejoice in all his works.

33 He looks at the earth and it trembles; *
he touches the mountains and they smoke.

34 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; *
I will praise my God while I have my being.

35 May these words of mine please him; *
I will rejoice in the Lord.

37 Bless the Lord, O my soul. *
Hallelujah!

Romans 8:14-17

All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ– if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

John 14:8-27

Philip said to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.”

“I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”

Counting on … day 79

6th June 2025

North Sea oil and gas which, because they are traded on the international market, have their price determined by international rates are there subject to geo-political fluctuations. Even if North Sea oil and gas comes ashore in the UK, it does not offer any price advantages to British consumers.

On the other hand energy from offshore sources of power – wind, wave and tidal – offers the UK, with our extensive coast line, vast amounts of energy at an affordable cost (and with reference to earlier posts this week, the more renewable energy in the power generation mix the greater the opportunity of bringing down the wholesale price). Research from Plymouth University demonstrates the scale of the benefits to be gained from offshore energy:-

the installed capacity of offshore wind has grown from 1 gigawatt in 2010, to over 10 gigawatts in 2020 – powering the equivalent of 4.5 million homes a year
by 2026 offshore wind is likely to provide almost 30 percent of the total UK electricity demand
the UK holds 35 percent of Europe’s wave energy resource and 50 percent of its tidal energy resource, with over 1 gigawatt of leased tidal stream sites and over 40 gigawatt hours of marine energy generated
wave and tidal energy technologies have the potential to provide at least 20 percent of the UK’s annual electricity demand. (1)

Renewable energy – despite what the fossil fuel industry says – is better able to ensure affordable and secure energy ongoing into the future, and in a way that also protects the environment.

https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/institutes/sustainable-earth/sphere/our-energy-transition-the-supergen-offshore-renewable-energy-hub

Counting on … day 78

5th June 2025

Energy security

Interestingly the International Energy Agency was set up in 1074 during the then oil crisis with a mandate to ensure oil security. Since then it has expanded that role to include the security of natural gas, electricity and renewable energy supply chains. These supply chains – as experienced in recent years – are at risk from conflicts, embargoes, adverse weather, terrorism, cyberattack, and failures of national and international grid systems.

Amongst other measures, the IEA requires member countries to hold specific stock levels of oil to mitigate against disruption and spikes in cost. 180 million barrels of oil had to be released when Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. That conflict and its impact on both oil prices and the supply and cost of gas, shook many countries as they became acutely aware of their reliance on these energy sources. In response many countries have sought to increase access to locally produced renewable energy.

Developing renewable energies – such as wind, solar and hydro – as well as developing large scale battery storage and enhancing the capacity of the grid are key components in ensuring a secure energy supply. This will become all the more important as the demand for electricity increases. The IEA reported this year that “[b]etween now and 2035, electricity demand is set to grow six times as fast as overall energy demand as a result of factors like the adoption of electric vehicles, air conditioning use, the digitalisation of the economy, the uptake of artificial intelligence and progress on expanding electricity access. Its share in final energy consumption is projected to double by 2050.” (1)

In the energy mix needed to secure this demand the IEA predicts that the use of gas will gradually decrease, whilst solar and wind will play a rapidly increasing role. Whilst oil and gas will be part of the global energy mix going forward, it will be so at a diminishing rate. Long term energy security lies with renewables, and faced with increasing demand for electricity, what is essential in making that increased volume secure, is investment now in the renewables sector – generation, storage and grid capacity.

https://www.iea.org/topics/energy-security

Counting on … day 77

4th June 2025

Following on from yesterday, why then does the UK have some of the highest electricity costs?

Currently about 43% of the UK’s electricity ones from renewables but this is not reflected in the prices consumers pay. The wholesale price of electricty is largely determined by the price of gas – a commodity that has increased significantly in cost on recent years.

The wholesale price of electricity is determined by half hourly bids made by each electricity generator. In response to these bids, electricity is fed into the grid to meet current demand, starting with electricty from the generator with the lowest bid, and working the way up through the bids until the demand for that half hour has been met. Typically the lower bids are submitted by renewable generators as their’s is the cheapest to produce. However the price ultimately paid to all the generators supplying electricty is set at the price bid by the generator who supplies the final chunk of electricity needed to meet demand. Where the grid is still dependent on non renewable generation, this final bid is typically comes from a gas powered station – and their bid reflect the price of gas. Hence even though our electricity supply is not wholly supplied by gas, it is gas that determines the cost of our electricity. This pricing mechanism is referred to as marginal cost pricing. (1)

(1) https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/why-is-cheap-renewable-electricity-so-expensive/

Green Tau: issue 107

3rd June 2025

Why actions of solidarity work

Wednesday has been chosen as a day to fast in solidarity with the people of Gaza. As I explained this to a friend, they replied that it seemed a pointless action and that I would be better off making a financial donation.

I did, in my limited way, fast. (And I’ll try again this week). I don’t think it’s a waste of time. Why? Because …

In a very small way it helps me understand how real hunger feels.
More importantly it keeps me more focused on the plight of the people of Gaza and therefore more prayerful.
And I do believe prayer does have some kind of power.
It gives me something to talk about and talking about the horrendous situation in Gaza is good because the more it is talked about, the more politicians and the media will take notice.

And all these points are equally applicable to actions such as praying for Gaza in the weekly intercessions at church and in our daily prayers, or going on marches, or wearing badges and T-shirts etc.

https://embraceme.org/fast-for-gaza

Fast for Gaza Ramone Romero

Counting on … day 76

3rd June 2025

Another claim is that fossil fuels offer a) cheaper energy and b) secure energy (to be discussed later this week). In a YouTube presentation of the Shell Energy Transition Strategy 2024, Wael Sawan promotes Shell as being affordable and reliable energy. (1)

But do fossil fuels provide cheaper energy? According to a report by Our World in Data this is no longer true:-

“Fossil fuels dominate the global power supply because, until very recently, electricity from fossil fuels was far cheaper than electricity from renewables. This has dramatically changed within the last decade. In most places in the world, power from new renewables is now cheaper than power from new fossil fuels.” (2)

Here in the UK the cost of generating electricty from renewable sources has similarly continued to fall, whilst the cost of generating from gas has increased.

“The British government’s assessments of the LCOE* of generation technologies since 2012 show striking reductions in the LCOE of wind turbines and solar PV panels over time, which fell to between £41 per megawatt hour (MWh) and £48/MWh respectively for new developments in 2023. In comparison, the cost of new conventional gas-fired generation (without carbon capture) rose from £103/MWh (including a carbon price of £25/MWh) in 2012 to £124/MWh (including a carbon price of £65/MWh) in 2023.”(3)

*The ‘levelised cost of electricity’ (LCOE) provides a simple means of comparing different technologies for the production of electricity, taking account of capital costs and costs of operation, including maintenance and the purchase of any fuel needed.

Counting on … day 75

2nd June 2025

Oil and gas production accounts for approximately 87% of global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. (1) Yet oil and gas companies present themselves as key players in the transition to net zero. The claims they make to justify the continued extraction and production of oil and gas are questionable. These are issues I am going to explore over the next few days.

One claim is that some sources of oil and gas are more climate friendly than others because they have a smaller – or sometimes it is phrased as cleaner – footprint. This may also be referred to as the (upstream) carbon intensity of the fossil fuel. The reduction being referenced is the reduction in scope 1 and 2 emissions – ie those carbon emissions arising from production, transport and processing of the oil and gas. It does not include the emissions released through the subsequent use of the oil and gas – the scope 3 emissions.

Fossil fuel companies can reduce scope 1 and 2 emissions by: “tackling methane emissions, eliminating all non-emergency flaring, electrifying upstream facilities with low-emissions electricity, equipping oil and gas processes with carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS), and expanding the use of low-emissions electrolysis hydrogen in refineries.” (2) Of these cutting methane emissions and flaring can achieve the biggest reductions in emissions.

The Oil and Gas Climate (OGCI) launched its upstream carbon intensity target in 2020. Its aim is to reduce member companies’ aggregate upstream carbon intensity from 23 kg of greenhouse gases per barrel of oil or gas in 2017 to 17 kg by 2025. (3) For comparison scope 3 emissions per barrel are typically 402kg. (4)

By reducing the carbon intensity of their oil and gas production, companies may argue that their’s is a better source of fuel. This claim is then used to justify expanding their production of fossil fuels. However they do not along side this make a similar or even greater reduction in production from other sites.

(3) https://www.ogci.com/carbon-intensity-target

(4) https://www.scopegroup.com/dam/jcr:5066dd6f-613a-4ab9-a032-b32b97b28bb7/Scope ESG_IR Oil and Gas Industry.pdf

7th Sunday of Easter

1sr June 2025

Reflection with readings below

Today’s Sunday is always slightly odd. On Thursday we celebrated the Ascension when Jesus left his disciples, removing the physicality of his presence with them, to rejoin God and the heavenly dimensions of life. The disciples are told to wait – to wait for they are not quite sure what but something that will clearly come from God and which will give them renewed strength and a sense of direction. This sign becomes the topic of next Sunday – Pentecost. In the meantime what of this Sunday? The readings don’t retell the Ascension story. Some churches observe this period between Ascension and Pentecost as a time of prayer, and/or of evangelism following Jesus’s injunction in Matthew’s Gospel: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

In the first reading from Acts we hear then of Paul and Silas and their ministry as they ‘proclaim a way of salvation’. There must be something about the way that Paul and Silas live their lives and the way they go about this ministry that makes it obvious that who they are is radically different from the norm. That is what the slave girl picks up.

But today how often would people look at Christians and think there is someone who is radically different? Or think there’s a community that lives a radically different lifestyle?

Is salvation a way of life for us, or just a box we ticked at our baptism?

If we were to see and express salvation as a way of living, what would it look like? I’m sure it would be a living expression of kingdom values. Throughout his ministry, Jesus is preaching that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He is announcing in statements, telling in stories and showing in lived expressions, what the kingdom is like and what are its values. In the Ascension readings we hear of Jesus ascending, of Jesus sitting enthroned at the right hand of God – are they telling us that the Ascension inaugurates a new era in the rule of the kingdom of God?

In the passage from Acts, the jailer asks, ‘What must I do to be saved?’

To be saved – to gain salvation – is about healing and restoration and wellbeing in this world. It is about feeling at one with who we are, not feeling overwhelmed by sin, by the ills of the world, not feeling inadequate not hopeless. It is about being confident that we can be faithful as disciples – and that Jesus has faith in us. It is about feeling we can trust that in God’s hands all will be well. It is feeling that we can be confident in what we do and say – if we what we do and say is as God desires.

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus is explaining how salvation brings an interconnectedness into our relationship with God so that we can like Jesus be at one with God, be enlivened by God’s love, and conduits for God’s glory.

Earlier in John’s gospel we hear Jesus announce in the courts of the temple “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’ ”

Salvation is about life – eternal life. It flows from within us, bursting up like a fountain. It floods our entire being. Salvation is how we live our lives, it is life as it should be lived. It is about joy and celebration, strength and trust. It is about a vitality that allows us to be radical, that allows us to live according to the kingdom values of Jesus. If we don’t live salvation as a way of life, then can we say that we are truly alive?

So maybe what I am learning is that this in between Sunday is about pausing to discern what salvation is and thus to be open to the gift of the Holy Spirit that will help make salvation not a thing of the moment but a lifelong approach to living in the world.

Acts 16:16-34

With Paul and Silas, we came to Philippi in Macedonia, a Roman colony, and, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.” She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, “These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe.” The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptised without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.

Psalm 97

1 The Lord is King;
let the earth rejoice; *
let the multitude of the isles be glad.

2 Clouds and darkness are round about him, *
righteousness and justice are the foundations of his throne.

3 A fire goes before him *
and burns up his enemies on every side.

4 His lightnings light up the world; *
the earth sees it and is afraid.

5 The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord, *
at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

6 The heavens declare his righteousness, *
and all the peoples see his glory.

7 Confounded be all who worship carved images
and delight in false gods! *
Bow down before him, all you gods.

8 Zion hears and is glad, and the cities of Judah rejoice, *
because of your judgments, O Lord.

9 For you are the Lord,
most high over all the earth; *
you are exalted far above all gods.

10 The Lord loves those who hate evil; *
he preserves the lives of his saints
and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

11 Light has sprung up for the righteous, *
and joyful gladness for those who are truehearted.

12 Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, *
and give thanks to his holy Name.

Revelation 22:12-14,16-17,20-21

At the end of the visions I, John, heard these words:

“See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone’s work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.

“It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.”
And let everyone who hears say, “Come.”
And let everyone who is thirsty come.
Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.

The one who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.

John 17:20-26

Jesus prayed for his disciples, and then he said. “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

“Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

31 Days Wild: 31st May 2025

Since last weekend, the blue tit chicks have fledged and left their nest – least ways they are no longer cheating imperiously for food nor are their parents darting back and forth with more food.

The young starlings have also left wherever their nests are for they are now in the garden in large number. Junior starlings are adult size but have browny gray feathers as opposed to the shiny and sparkled feathers of the adults. However even though they can fly, they are – at least initially – unable to feed themselves and the garden is full of their squawks as they demand to be fed by their tireless parents. Once they have mastered the art of feeding themselves, they are enjoying the purple berries from the mahonia shrub.