We are now over halfway through the Season of Creation, and many churches in the Diocese have planned and run services focusing on God’s creation and our shared environment.
Across the Diocese, it has been wonderful to hear of churches coming together to praise God for our beautifully diverse Earth, and think about how we can all better safeguard it.
Cotham Parish have marked Creation-tide with a spectacular Creation Mobile. The Mobile was created by members of the churches, and is complemented by a giant censer crafted by artist Sara Mark. Together the mobile and censer represent God’s blessing on the whole of creation. The theme continues outside the church, where a mindfulness trail can be followed, drawing inspiration from verses of the Benedicite. Cotham and benefice partners St Paul's Clifton have also shaped their liturgy around themes of Creation and Climate Emergency.
Churches across the Marshfield benefice in Wiltshire held a Creation Celebration last Sunday, marking the great momentum that has been building recently in the churches and villages. The church was filled with a display of flowers on the theme of Caring for Creation, together with artwork from Marshfield Primary School, including a Creation Banner, made by Mrs Valerie May.
This year it has also been great to see churches of all traditions across the City of Bristol come together to jointly promote the Season of Creation, with a joint letter from presidents of nine denominations encouraging churches to get involved.
If your church hasn’t yet hosted a Climate Sunday, it’s not too late; you can find materials to help you create your service here. Including a short video from Archbishop Justin Welby:
If you use social media, please join in and share your Season of Creation activity using the hashtag #bristolclimatesunday
(note: although the word ‘diocese’ isn’t included in the hashtag, as it’s for ecumenical use, this is for the whole Bristol diocese to share our stories).
Take it further
A practical step you can take today, is to find out your church’s energy footprint. But you’ll need to be quick, as the tool closes at the end of September (to reopen for next year in January 2021).
You simply need to log into your Parish Returns dashboard, armed with last year’s energy bills, fill in a simple form, and then you’ll see your score immediately.
The Energy Footprint Tool, launched in April, is aimed at helping PCCs to measure the carbon output and energy of their church buildings — more than 40,000 in England — and improve energy efficiency. 67 churches across the Diocese have used the app to calculate their energy footprint so far. This new tool is a vital step to help us all reach our carbon-emissions target of net zero by 2030.
Also, take part in the Church Action in a Climate Emergency conference online this October. Book your space on the workshops today.