An eco banner has been presented to Bishop Martyn to encourage the diocese to keep environmental issues and the Eco Diocese award at the centre of discussions in the Shaped By God Together process and the future of the Church in general.
Spelling out the words 'Leicester Eco Diocese?', each letter stitched on to a green heart bunting, the banner was made by 12 different people from four different communities across the diocese: GreenLight missional community; Holy Trinity, Leicester; our new monastic Community of the Tree of Life and All Saints, Loughborough.
Leicester Christians Anne Scott and Ian Mitchell delivered the banner to Bishop Martyn who has encouraged churches and worshipping communities across Leicestershire to help us to become an Eco Diocese. Just before the pandemic he also wrote a blog urging us to start listening to the concerns of young people.
The banner is a piece of what Anne and Ian dub 'craftism'. She said: "The banner represents the hopes and prayers of many more who look to the leadership team and the Church of England to lead in the face of the climate crisis - especially with the recent IPCC report evidencing what the United Nations has said is a 'Code Red for Humanity' and the crucial COP26 conference in Glasgow this autumn.
"Now is the time to call God’s people to action to care for His world in words and in deeds. I love the fact that Bishop Martyn has said he will hang the banner in his chapel to aid his prayers."
You can find out more about how you can enourage your church and take action to fight climate change on our Eco Diocese web pages here.
The photos below show Anne and Ian presenting the banner to Bishop Martyn in the Chapel.
