Eco Church

Cherishing God's Creation

As bearers of God’s image, all people have the responsibility and privilege of caring for God’s creation. Christians in particular should be motivated by Scripture. We ought to love and care for the Earth because it is God’s  good creation, and because we must care for the most vulnerable people on the planet.


But we have not done this well.


Our day-to-day choices and attitudes are often driven by our own selfish wants and not by love of the world that God has made. The science is clear: because of what human's have done, we see effects like species extinction and climate change.


Lament and repentance are appropriate, but as followers of Jesus we do not despair. We can choose to move forward with “rational hope,” accepting the enormity of the problems we face while taking action with the hope of the Gospel in view.

As a Church

We are doing this by working towards become
Eco Churches.

We are absolutely delighted to say that St Peter's has been awarded a Silver Eco Church Award and our 'Going for Gold' team will be looking at how we can continue to grow in our love and care for creation.  Find out how we did this below.


Holy Trinity and Well-Being @ St James' have also registered to become Eco Churches and we'll be developing our work there over 2021.

New Paragraph

Living Well with Creation

Challenge Two: Meatless Mondays!

From Isaac Lewis in St Peter's.


Sustainability is regularly defined as meeting the needs of the present while preserving the needs of the future. There is little point in indulging yourself in a lavish lifestyle if your children and grandchildren cannot appreciate the same things. One of the biggest threats in the 21st century is the threat of climate change. Our earth is being damaged everyday even from small actions we do not realise are condemning our own future. A large contribution to the danger of climate change is carbon dioxide which is being produced and released at catastrophic levels. 


One way to dramatically reduce our carbon expenditure is by changing our diet.


By actively choosing a vegetarian based meal you are helping to reduce carbon emissions from any animals being kept as livestock and from the different factories and shipping processes. It also cuts down on the amount of single use plastics that are used to contain fresh and dried meats. Can you challenge yourself to eat a vegetarian meal two or three times a week? Or go even further by eating vegetarian for two or three whole days? Vegetarian meals can be just as tasty as ones containing meat and can be even healthier for you!!! Clicking the link below will take you to 25 completely vegetarian recipes ranging from pasta to burgers to salads.


https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/category/all-vegetarian 

Challenge One: Delight in Creation!

Going for a walk in the natural world is one of life's free pleasures, but old age or illness mean that not everyone can share that pleasure. Yet even if only in our garden or window-box (if our eyes are still good), we can hopefully take time to really look and marvel at the wonderful symmetry of a flower-head, or insect's wing, or the subtle plumage of a visiting sparrow. If our ears are good we can delight in the choral work of the birds. All these, like us, are part of the beautiful and intricate web of life on Earth which God created and which he loves.


Does anyone  believe that we humans are somehow separate from and superior to the earth from which we were made? The word "human" means "of the earth" Our bodies are made of the elements of the earth - and sure as worms are worms - will at some stage return to it!  If we unwittingly or even defiantly continue to damage our life-support-system, we damage not only ourselves but ruin children's futures everywhere.


So whatever we are doing, let's do it thoughtfully.


Compromises may have to be made (we're only human), but let's respect, revere and delight in Creation, and especially the local patch of Earth on which we happen to find ourselves.                                           


Hurray - Spring will soon be here - and in St Peter's orchard the fruit trees will be in glorious blossom!


[Picture is from the Greenfield Valley Heritage Park Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/HeritageHolywell/photos/4397675540258897]

St Peter's Church, Holywell

How we earned our Silver Eco Church Award

01

WORSHIP AND TEACHING

We consistently include care for creation in our worship and teaching, and our working on doing so more regularly in 2021. Over the last few years, care for creation an increasingly significant part of our worship in St Peter's - especially in relation to our community orchards and bees. 'Prayers for the Earth' have also been a regular feature of our family service for the last few years.

 

In 2021, we celebrated Creation Sunday with a sermon on care for creation. We are also about to begin a series of articles on our website, mailing list and newsletter from a local environmental campaigner and member of our church community (Roberta Owens) on how we can live more lightly on the earth as individuals.

 

Our new Vicar, Fr Dominic, is very committed to making care for creation an important part of our life and mission as a church community.

02

LAND

Our principal work in terms of environmental sustainability has been in the grounds of our Church. All the work carried out on our land seeks to be done in a sustainable way, that cares for the environment and encourages others to enjoy God's creation. Our land is managed in environmentally friendly ways - the grass is cut using traditional scythes in order to conserve any wildlife. We have a small community orchard of native apple trees, and we engage with the community for annual apple pressing. We have two hives producing honey, and the bees are blessed each year as part of our worship. Our church grounds also include bug houses and bird boxes, providing a space for local wildlife to flourish. 

 

In 2021, we are hoping to install some benches to encourage people to stay for a time and to reflect on their place in creation. Our picnic benches are already in regular use for picnics and church events, but we are hoping the addition of benches will encourage those who walk through the church grounds every day to feel welcome to pause and reflect. 

03

COMMUNITY AND GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT

St Peter's has a long-standing commitment to using Fairtrade products whenever possible and has an annual event during Fairtrade Fortnight to raise awareness of how using fairly traded products can make the world a better place. We work in partnership with the Flintshire Fairtrade Coalition to make such events possible. These events sometimes include a talk from a Fair Trade activist or producer (for example, in 2019 we hosted John Joseph a Fairtrade coffee producer). In 2019, we also hosted our first 'People Friendly Fashion Show', which was well supported by churchmembers and those in the community.

04

LIFESTYLE

In 2020, we established an Eco-Church group who are committed to championing our church becoming more environmentally friend. Over the past few years, our services and newsletter have occasionally included encouragement to live more sustainably - but we have committed to doing this more regularly throughout 2021, and this will begin in March (on our website, mailing list and in our services). 

 

Our £2 Food Club includes a place where good quality clothes, toys and other items are recycled.

 

Our new vicar cycles around the town and has been involved in encouraging others to walk and cycle where possible. Encouragement to do this will be included in our monthly challenges.

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