Here are the activities we uploaded for Messy Church at Home on 20th June....
Here are the activities we uploaded for Messy Church at Home on 20th June....
Here are the activities we uploaded for Messy Church at Home on 20th June....
SHIRLEY PARISH
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KNOWING CHRIST, MAKING HIM KNOWN
We believe that God has given us the responsibility of caring for Creation. On this page you will find some of the actions we are taking to fulfil that commission.
Our association with Eco Church enables us to look at the way we worship and work and to think about making changes to become more environmentally friendly.
It invites us to reflect on five broad areas
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Worship and teaching
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Buildings
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Land
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Community and global concerns
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Lifestyle
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We completed the Eco Church audit and achieved the Bronze level award in 2020. Since then our dedicated Eco group has been leading the way in making further improvements, and we are delighted that all three of our churches have now achieved Silver status.
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We're now taking a short breath to consolidate the progress we have made, and then on to gold!
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Here's what we are currently doing:
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Worship and teaching
Issues relating to the environment are included in the prayers at all three churches most weeks, and in our sermons/talks most months. Once a year our Sunday morning worship at St James is a dedicated Eco service led by our Eco group, who always manage to challenge us in gentle but important ways.
Our Messy Church uses recycled stuff for our activities wherever possible, and always goes Eco in February. In 2023 we are going one step further with a series of creation-related sessions from January to March, where our activities include planting summer bulbs, making a planter, and crafting a massive Bug B'nB for the St James churchyard. We often do outdoor, creation-related things in August. Our celebrations always finish with Lovely Jubbly - click on the link to see why!
Once a quarter we have Forest Church in the grounds of St John’s Church, Tidbury Green. It’s held outdoors, whatever the weather, and we use what we see and hear around us to help us to worship God, and raise our awareness of the richness of Creation. It’s open to everyone – you can find out more here.
The Eco group also contribute an article to our Parish magazine each month, covering topics such as Fair Trade, caring for hedgehogs, and eating for a healthy planet!
Buildings
We have recently upgraded the insulation, heating and lighting in Church House (our church hall), considerably reducing our carbon footprint as well as making the building more welcoming and comfortable.
You can read more about what was done here.
We are immensely grateful to Veolia (though the Landfill Communities Trust scheme), the Lottery Community Fund, and The Friends of St James, whose grants made this work possible.
We use a green energy tariff for St James' Church and Church House, and for St John's Church, and use eco-friendly cleaning products and recycled paper products.
We are currently investigating alternative heating options for St James Church.
Land
Our plan for the eco-management of St James' Churchyard here, which includes a 'no-mow' area during the summer months, is beginning to bear fruit with bird feeders, insect hotels, bee-friendly flowers, compost bins, wild flowers and new trees.
Our immensely dedicated Wednesday morning Churchyard Working group work incredibly hard to look after the churchyard without recourse to pesticides. If you fancy getting stuck in, they are always open to new members!
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The garden at St John's, Tidbury Green is also managed to encourage wild-life, and we have some industrial sized bird feeders to keep up with demand!
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The church of Christ the King meets in rented premises, so does not have responsibility for buildings or grounds.
Community and Global concerns
We are a Fair Trade parish, and all beverages served at church events are from Fair Trade suppliers.
See here for a short video about how choosing FairTrade coffee can make a difference to the lives of those who grow it.
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Our Lent 2020 appeal raised funds for Toilet Twinning.
We have now raised enough money to twin all the toilets in our buildings.
In 2022 we held our first FairTrade Big Brew, and ran a Green Fair as part of our Harvest celebrations. We recycle books, clothing and other goods, support environmental charities and lobby our MP.
Lifestyle
Carbon footprint
.....is a measure of how much carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere as a result of our actions and choices. Carbon dioxide is a major contributor to the increase in average global temperature.
You can calculate your carbon footprint here.
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Food and drink
"Healthy food for a healthy planet." Reducing our consumption of meat and dairy products helps to reduce our carbon footprint.
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Use your LOAF where ever possible, buying food which is
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Locally sourced (reduces use of fossil fuels / transport costs)
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Organically grown (reduces use of fertilisers and pesticides)
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Animal friendly (raised according to healthy farming practices)
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Fairtrade (offering producers a fair price for their produce)
Photo credits
Jason Leung
Marisol Casben
More about Eco Church
Eco Church is one arm of the charity A Rocha ('a rock'
in Portuguese), a network of Christian environmental
organisations. It was founded in the Algarve in 1983, and is now active in 20 countries.
The Eco Church vision is for churches of all denominations to care for Creation as an integral part of loving their neighbours and following God faithfully. Caring for the environment is one of the five 'marks of mission" of the Anglican Church, and reflects our Biblical call to be good stewards of Creation.
Eco Church produce lots of resources for support Caring for God's Creation, which can be accessed from here.
More about other environmental organisations
We also have links with other Christian environmental organisations​:
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And with other environmental organisations
Find out more by clicking the links in the text above.