Decked out in rainbow colours to celebrate God’s wonderful creation, St Mary in Charnwood Church looked quite the part for its community Eco Fair held recently.
The environmentally conscious church in Nanpantan is blessed to be surrounded by woodland and made the most of its glorious location for a Saturday afternoon of activities.
Filled with the mission that ‘Creation is God’s gift to us to enjoy and to steward’, a small team from the church family got together to organise the day, which has evolved and grown out of their former, annual flower festival.
During the afternoon, around 80 people popped by to enjoy crafts and stalls selling everything from organic soaps to homemade marmalade, a woodland trail, plus campfire treats and muddy play led by ‘Peace of Green’ Forest School.
The Real Refill van set up shop in the car park, with eco-friendly food and cleaning products, and Mark from neighbouring Nanpantan Hall offered tours to see their new, extensive tree planting scheme in the meadow.
There was also an opportunity to calculate your carbon footprint, alongside information from organisations including the National Forest and the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust.
Revd Adele Adshead says the eco-fair was particularly important to St Mary’s, as an opportunity to get the church community actively involved with environmental mission and promote their concern for Creation, as well as a chance to work alongside partners in the community who share that concern.
“It went really well,” she says. “We had a good mix in attendance, with people from St Mary’s, other churches, the local school, and even those just driving past - which led to good conversations about faith and the eco-link, and people wanting to know more about what we do at St Mary’s including our woodland group and Forest Church.
“Organisers were positive about the day and many stall holders said they would come again, having enjoyed the relaxed feel of the event.
“My thoughts for next time would be to invite more community participation, such as the school and local Scouts.”
St Mary’s has a small ‘Eco Team’ of about four people with a heart for all things environmental. Headed up by Pioneer Reader, Helena Wilkinson, they have worked together to achieve Silver Eco Church status in the A Rocha scheme and are now working towards Gold.
“It’s good to have something to aim for, that encourages us to do things better and flags it as something that’s important to us as a church,” says Revd Adele. “Creation is God’s gift to us to enjoy and to steward – we should take that both seriously and joyfully!”
Speaking about why ‘being green’ is so crucial to the church and our responsibility as Christians, Revd Adele says: “I believe the climate crisis is a serious threat to our wellbeing and survival and will adversely affect the poorest disproportionally. God’s saving grace is for renewal and new life – ‘a new heaven and earth’.
“As children of God we are invited to participate in the wonderful life and love of Father, Son and Holy Spirit and join the ‘family business’ of restoration and renewal.
“I don’t see how you can ‘love the Lord your God’ without also showing care and respect for the world God created. And how can you ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ without doing all you can to share and sustain resources for everyone?”
Could your church be more environmentally friendly? Do you already have things in place that could be the foundations for gaining an Eco Church award?
Eco Church is a learning community of churches of all shapes and sizes. It is an online framework to support and inspire churches and their leadership to take practical action on caring for God’s earth and includes a toolkit of resources, an online award survey, quarterly newsletter, online events and conferences.
Find out more and register here.
Save the Date! We are planning an Eco Church day for Leicester and Leicestershire on Saturday 14 September. This is for anyone, whether or not your church is already involved in the Eco Church initiative. The event will be held at Holy Trinity Church in Leicester and further details, including how to book, will be available soon.