January 2020 Bristol Diocese Environment Briefing
Welcome to the first Environment Briefing from Bristol Diocese. These are intended to provide churches with the latest information to equip you as you take action to protect God’s creation and reduce your environmental footprint.
These briefings will be sent every other month, and will include news, opportunities, inspiring faith-based content, upcoming events, new materials for your church, campaigns to take part in, and encouraging stories from churches across the Diocese who are being good news for both people and planet.
If you have anything you’d like to include in a briefing, please email Clare Fussell.
New Eco Champion network
Over 40 churches now have a dedicated Eco Champion. Of course, many people in our churches are passionate about protecting our earth and tackling climate change, but this 'champion' role is intended to create a point of contact between the Diocese and each parish, so that information can be shared both ways.
The role of the Eco Champion is to:
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receive these briefings,
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request that the PCC/DCC has ‘Care for Creation’ (or similar) as a standing item on its agenda,
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ensure that key information is shared with both the PCC and the wider church community (ie through the newsletter, website, social media, and/or in services), and
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share good news stories and events from your church community with the Diocesan Environment Officer to celebrate and share more widely.
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Feel free to share this briefing, or parts of it, within your parish community however you see fit.
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If you’re in a benefice, please do raise this Eco Champion network with your sister churches, to see if anyone else would like to take on this role.
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There are now 5 Deanery Champions too, but I’m still looking for a contact for Bristol City and Bristol South Deaneries - so please let me know if you’re interested in finding out more about this role.
Eco Church awards
Across the Diocese, 65 parishes are now working towards an Eco Church accreditation, 9 churches have received Bronze awards, and 6 have achieved Silver awards. This is hugely encouraging! Congratulations in particular to Wroughton and Wichelstowe Parish Church, and St Peter’s Henleaze who’ve both received an Eco Church award recently. (If you’ve also received an award in the past 2 months and I haven’t mentioned you, please let me know!)
Find out more about the scheme here.
Archbishop Launches Global Anglican Prayer Journey
The Archbishop of Canterbury has launched a weekly cycle of prayers led by the global Anglican Communion to pray for hope, justice and transformation in our world. The Environment is one of the weekly themes, and features on Thursdays of each week.
RESOURCES
Net Zero Carbon checklist
We've created a helpful 'Practical Path to Net Zero checklist' for churches to create a clear and simple action plan to reduce the carbon footprint of their buildings.
There are two versions of this checklist:
- a simple PDF to print out, or
- an editable form to fill in using a computer or tablet.
Take a look, and consider doing an audit of your building. You may be surprised what you discover!
Lent courses
Lent is fast approaching, and if you’re looking for a course to explore faith and the environment, there are a number of excellent materials available, listed on the Green Christian website here.
New liturgical resources for Creation and the Environment
A Time for Creation offers liturgies for all times and occasions when there is a focus on creation - in daily prayer, services of the word, school assemblies, eucharistic celebrations and seasonal services to mark the agricultural year. The content is now also available on the Church of England website.
OPPORTUNITIES
Solar Pilot Scheme for Churches
If you’re interested in installing solar panels on your church or hall, you may be interested in this new pilot scheme from Parish Buying to provide vetted and competitive installers, and manage the process on your behalf. Join a webinar on 2nd or 4th February to find out more.
Read more, and sign up for a webinar.
Getting to net zero carbon churches: upcoming webinars
Speaking of webinars, the Church of England Environment Programme has a series of webinars designed to support and equip you to reach the Church’s ambitious "net zero carbon" emissions target; everything from forming your team to putting solar panels on your roof, and including low cost 'housekeeping' actions which can pay back quickly. Choose as many topics as you need to help you on this decade-long journey.