Caring for God's Creation
For the past 18 months across the diocese our church communities have lived out what it means for us to care for God’s creation as we put into action the Environment branch of our diocese vision. We are delighted to announce that this hard work across the whole diocese has been recognised in the award of the ARocha Eco Diocese bronze award.
Ven Stella Bailey, Director of Mission, said: “This award recognises the work we are undertaking at a strategic level towards NetZero, for the building projects you are undertaking which recognises the use of reduced or alternative energy, from major projects such as Caerleon down to compostable loos in our rural communities.
“It recognises the teaching, preaching and worship in our churches that draws upon the wonder of God as creator and the outreach activities and events you have held such as the Caring for Gods Acre count on nature. This award recognises the simple changes that have gone on in your churches as you have worked towards your individual eco church awards, recycling and the use of eco products, energy saving bulbs and green energy tariffs. This award recognises the amazing work in our schools and the joint projects such as litter picks or the building of bug hotels. Thank you for the many ways you have lived out your faith through caring for God’s creation. For the big things and little changes.”
Throughout June there are lots of lovely eco events which you can get involved with...
Eco Fair
Newport Cathedral is hosting an eco fayre on June 15th between 10am-2pm, with activities and stalls for all the family!!
The Great Big Green Week
Great Big Green Week takes place between 8th and 16th June All the details are on the website link, but there are a few things to make you aware of.
It is a great opportunity to put on an event, an activity or to announce something and take advantage of being part of a nationwide campaign. You can therefore 'hang' your event on the general publicity and messaging that this week gets in the media, to get local publicity for yours. As the name suggests, it's all about doing something 'green' and drawing people in (including new people from your community) to celebrate environmentally friendly activities while raising awareness of the urgent need for climate action by us all.
-There are lots of resources, templates and graphics you can use, which helps cut down on work for you!
-It is important to register your event so that local people and local media can see what's happening and attend or give it a plug.
-Funding is also available to community groups in Wales to help with the cost of putting on an event. See here for more details but it would be great if churches could work together and maybe put in a joint bid for some funding in a locality- maybe for a series of events in different church locations for example?
Churches Count on Nature
Churches Count on Nature (8th - 16th June (same dates as Great Big Green Week!)
You could of course, hold an event in your churchyard/ burial ground/ churchland as part of GBGW, where you invite local people in to look for and record different species of plants, birds, insects etc. The scheme is in its fourth year, and we would love to see more chapels and churches across Wales participate.
It is open to all denominations and A Rocha UK are especially keen to see more participation beyond the Church in Wales this year. There were 36 events last year in Wales and how great would it be to increase that this year?
Again, please register your event or activity on the Caring for God's Acre website- that way, you will be sent a pack that will help with identifying species (Welsh language ones are available too). It is a fantastic way to involve children and young people (maybe the local school or uniformed groups) as they always love a bug hunt!