GET INVOLVED

KAIROS welcomes your involvement, whatever your interest. We need your skills and knowledge and in turn we’d like to work with you on the issues that concern you. Here are some ways to connect:

KAIROS Swift Current Community Retreat

Join a local KAIROS group:
KAIROS Communities are found across the country—just email info@kairoscanada.org or a regional representative to enquire (we don’t post contact info in order to protect volunteers’ privacy.) Some communities have a very specific focus, such as Aboriginal rights or anti-poverty work, while others are committed to a broad range of justice and peace issues. All work with interested faith communities and individuals of conscience to build this growing and vibrant movement.

Start a KAIROS Community.
If no group exists in your area, form one! We have a network coordinator to help you get started, and a network handbook to give you step-by-step support. Your regional reps can connect your group to interested people and regional activities.

Attend a regional or local event. Check out our events listings for activities going on across the country. Be sure to let us know if you’re planning an event that touches on a relevant issue and involves a KAIROS member or partner.

Plan a local or regional event
and be sure to add some creative flair. Throughout the year we invite people to make a community contribution to the Week to End Poverty, National Aboriginal Day, Human Rights Day, KAIROS Sunday, Earth Hour, and many more. Add a community meal, popular theatre, art, or a creative demonstration to your event. Let us know about your event so we can post it and support it.

Journey with us by becoming a 'Companion'.

Respond to urgent actions.

Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

Download and use online resources.
Most resources can be found in our catalogue. Have a look at each major program area and the current campaign page-- there are many articles and reflections available in each section of the site. Check the national events page. If you want to learn or talk about KAIROS, see our Faithful Action for Justice and Peace: Strategic Direction and Program Plan for KAIROS 2006-2010 and the Kairos Bible Study: Reflecting on Scripture (both are PDF files).

We would love to hear from you!

GET INVOLVED NEWS

Fate of Tar Sands Pipelines Crucial for Climate Justice

January 12, 2012 By Nik

KAIROS' August 2011 paper outlines the key issues in the controversy over both the Gateway and Keystone pipelines. Both violate the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent as enshrined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which Canada has signed. There should be no further approvals of tar sands projects due to their projected carbon emissions, negative impacts on land and biodiversity and on the rights of Indigenous peoples. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Justice, Feature 1, Indigenous Rights, Resource Extraction, Sustainability, The Tar Sands Tagged With: enbridge, FPIC, gateway, keystone, pipeline, Tar Sands

ELCIC letter to Minister Kent re. Canada’s withdrawal from Kyoto Protocol

December 15, 2011 By Nik

The Rev. Susan C. Johnson, National Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), has written to Minister of the Environment Peter Kent expressing her disappointment and concern over the recent decision of the government to withdraw Canada from participating in the Kyoto Protocol. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Justice, COP 17 - Durban 2011, Feature 2, Sustainability Tagged With: Durban, ELCIC, Kyoto Protocol

Kyoto Withdrawal Diminishes Canada

December 14, 2011 By Nik

Environment Minister Peter Kent’s announcement of Canada’s withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol not only tarnishes our international reputation but also betrays the efforts of the thousands of Canadians who worked long and hard for Canada to ratify the only legal agreement obliging countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the reasons provided for Canada’s pullout in Mr. Kent’s December 12th statement contain many distortions. Mr. Kent states that “Before this week, the Kyoto Protocol covered less than 30% of global emissions.” In reality, due to the fact that carbon dioxide emissions remain in the atmosphere for long periods of time, even hundreds of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Justice, COP 17 - Durban 2011, Feature 1, Sustainability Tagged With: COP17, Durban, Kyoto Protocol

Policy Briefing Paper #30: Coal and Shale Gas Obstacles to Climate Justice

December 14, 2011 By Nik

While much attention has focused on the tar sands as the fastest growing source of Canadian greenhouse gas emissions, climate justice demands that we also curb emissions from coal and shale gas. The most recent KAIROS briefing paper examines these two carbon-intensive energy sources, the dangers they pose and movements to curtail their use. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Briefing Papers, Climate Justice, Feature 1, Resource Extraction, Sustainability

Durban COP 17: Too Little, Too Late

December 13, 2011 By Nik

Politicians are portraying the outcome of the Durban climate conference as a “success” because they have agreed to keep on talking in the hope of arriving at a legally binding pact by 2015 that would take effect in 2020. Climate scientists warn that if we do not act sooner than 2020, climate change is likely to become catastrophic and irreversible. Current greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction pledges have put the world on track for temperature increases of 2-5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. If global average temperatures rise by 3.5 to 5 degrees, they would increase between 7 and 8 degres in Africa, causing immense human suffering and ecological destruction. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Justice, COP 17 - Durban 2011, Feature 1 Tagged With: climate, COP17, Durban, Kyoto Protocol

Primate’s Statement: A call to action for the love of creation

December 7, 2011 By Nik

"We believe that we show our respect for God's creation by working for a climate treaty that is morally and legally binding... As people "striving to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth, we are challenged by the Archbishop of Canterbury's question, "How do we show that we love God's creation?" " - The Most Rev. Fred Hiltz … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Justice, COP 17 - Durban 2011, Feature 2 Tagged With: Anglican, COP17, Durban

Arctic Melting Sounds the Alarm for Life on Earth

December 1, 2011 By Nik

Accelerated melting of Arctic ice and permafrost is among the clearest signals that climate change is rapidly approaching a point of no return. This latest KAIROS Briefing Paper “Arctic Melting Sounds the Alarm for Life on Earth” summarizes several recent scientific studies. Like canaries in a coal mine, Arctic melting is a clear warning that we must curtail greenhouse gas emissions before it is too late. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Briefing Papers, COP 17 - Durban 2011, Feature 2, Resource Extraction, Sustainability Tagged With: arctic, climate, global warming

Ecuador’s Oil Struggle: Reflections on an Amazonian Journey

November 25, 2011 By Nik

In July 2011, KAIROS staff Rachel Warden and Sara Stratton, together with Fort Chipewyan activist George Poitras, travelled to Ecuador to learn more about the impacts of oil exploration on the Indigenous peoples and ecosystems of Ecuador’s Amazon region. The following is Sara's reflection in words and images of her time in Ecuador. Canadian church leaders and KAIROS partners from Nigeria and Ecuador had been hosted by George and his community when the KAIROS Church Leaders’ Delegation to the Tar Sands visited Northern Alberta in May 2009. We were eager to continue building on that relationship, particularly between peoples of the global South and the global South in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Justice, Feature 1, Global Partners, Indigenous Rights, Reflections & Worship, Resource Extraction, UNDRIP Tagged With: Ecuador, Indigenous Rights, Oil, UNDRIP

KAIROS Statement on the UN Conference on Climate Change Durban, South Africa

November 17, 2011 By Erin

We call on the members of our KAIROS churches and all people of good will to join us in urging the government of Canada to champion the following three goals at the November-December 2011 UN Conference on Climate Change at Durban, South Africa: 1) Keeping the increase in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, by renewing the legally-binding Kyoto Protocol for the period beyond 2012 with adequate emission reduction commitments. 2) Reducing our own emissions to 40% to 50% below 1990 levels by 2020 in order to make restitution for the ecological debt we owe to the peoples of the global South and to the whole Earth community. As a first step towards this goal, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Justice, COP 17 - Durban 2011, Feature 1, Sustainability

KAIROS plays key role in World Council of Churches North American Hearings on Poverty, Wealth and Ecology.

November 15, 2011 By Nik

From November 6th to 11th, representatives from churches in Canada and the United States, joined by guests from every continent, met in Calgary, Alberta for a consultation convened by the World Council of Churches on issues of poverty, wealth and ecology. Some participants travelled to Fort McMurray to witness the scale and impact of the tar sands and to dialogue with local residents. After hearing testimonies on issues of social, financial, migrant labour, indigenous and climate justice, the participants issued a call to action entitled "There’s A New World in the Making." In preparation for the hearings, the World Council of Churches commissioned two studies on the inter-relationships … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Justice, Feature 2, Global Finance, Resource Extraction, Sustainability, The Tar Sands Tagged With: ecology, John Dillon, Poverty, WCC, Wealth, World Council of Churches