Eco Church Launch Evening

LORD, you have made so many things! How wisely you made them all! The earth is filled with your creatures. There is the ocean, large and wide, where countless creatures live, large and small alike.
(Psalm 104: 24-25)

On Monday 8th June a fabulous group of people met in Wesleys to talk all things Eco Church. Sally Hammond gave us a great introduction to Eco Church over tea and biscuits. We learnt that A Rocha (which means ‘the Rock’) hosts the Eco Church scheme. A structured programme of activity where churches can gain awards of Bronze, Silver or Gold across 5 domains. These domains are Worship and Learning, Buildings and Energy, Land and Nature, Community and Global, and Lifestyle.

Our group members joined one of these groups depending on what they were most interested in. Each domain has specific measures of activity and our group members came up with ideas and looked at suggestions to decide what we, at High Street, could do together. Wesleys was a buzz of ideas and discussion, with people then inputting into all 5 domains to ensure we had captured the breadth of possibility from everyone in the room.

There are so many different ways to get involved in Eco Church. It is up to each church to decide how they want to flourish. In basic terms it’s about doing more of what supports God’s creation and doing less of damaging activity. ‘Work it and take care of it’ (Genesis 2:15), as stewards of the Earth we are challenged to do something good.

None of us alone can change the world. The environmental need can feel quite overwhelming and often results in us either opting out or not knowing what to do. There may also be some areas we are less sure about but other areas that are more in line with what we hold as important. As we each evaluate what our contribution needs to be inevitably there is an element of grief, frustration and injustice about how the world is progressing. There can also be concern about the impact of measures to reduce human impact and a reluctance to get on board with some elements. Fear, frustration, concern, anger and grief can all hold us back from actually taking action. We acknowledge this while looking at what is possible for us individually and as a church. Choosing what feels most interesting and possible to contribute to is the recommendation Small steps completed by individuals working together is the way to make progress. It’s really important to consider what we can do, rather than what we can’t do or what we disagree with and our Eco Church group discovered there is certainly plenty we can do.

Each group came up with a plan for the next few months.
Our Worship and Learning group are looking at what resources we have available in the Resource Centre and ensuring there are materials to support the church.
Our Buildings and Energy group will be undertaking a full carbon evaluation and review the boiler usage to see if this can be improved.
Our Land and Nature group will be looking at what is possible in terms of homes for nature and what planting can be done on site.
Our Community and Global group will be looking into joint working with Batford Springs, a River Lea exhibition, hosting a film night and even supporting a community with a cow!
Our Lifestyle group will be setting up a programme of communication to support all church members in taking their own small steps forward to support God’s creation.

People left the evening in bright spirits and with a sense of determination in the room to take these ideas forward.

This programme is up to all of us as a church together. Our ideal aim as a church is to move from Bronze to Silver and then to Gold in the Eco Church awards. We have ideas, we have a commitment, we have determination, now we need some action.

Are you up for it? Whether small or substantial, together, we can make a difference.

If you would like to join the Eco Church Groups, please email the Church Office. We will meet again as a big group on Wednesday 7th October (3 times a year) and our small groups will be meeting and communicating as needed in the meantime.

Zoe Stewart, Eco Church Champion at High Street