Kate Gray joins protestors on Extinction Rebellion’s faith bridge

On Monday 7 October, I joined the faith bridge – the Extinction Rebellion (XR) protest occupying Lambeth Bridge. We prayed, read the Bible and walked to Lambeth Palace roundabout, where we blocked one road onto the roundabout – but let cars off it! My banner read: ‘Speaking truth to power’, which was appropriate because we were facing Lambeth Palace, and when we turned round, there was the Palace of Westminster. We also carried a large Noah’s Ark. The police said it would be obstruction if we put it in the road, so hundreds of people helped us hold it up all day. Christians, Jews, Buddhists and Muslims joined together in prayer events. It was a picture of the community of God.

I joined Christian Climate Action earlier this year and took part in the XR protest because I agreed with its demands on the government – to tell the truth about climate change, to act now, and to introduce citizens, assemblies. And I wanted to take part in peaceful, prayerful action, causing disruption to promote change. As the mum of a four year old and a nine year old, I do not want to hand on a burning earth. I wanted to put my words, actions and body together.

At parliament, I chatted to two MPs. One said she wished this campaign could be her first priority and that lots of MPs supported the disruption.

Having received training in nonviolent direct action, I had to decide if I would be ‘arrestable’ or not. I decided I would be…

Kate Gray is Minister of The Dandelion Community, Wythenshawe, south Manchester

___

This is an extract from an article that was published in the December 2019/January 2020 edition of Reform

To read the full article, subscribe to Reform