Eco Church
3 Feb 2006
As part of our belief in holistic mission and spirituality our church community is going to explore ecological and environmental issues this year by:
1. Bible: Exploring through the bible and interactions/teaching, why care for the environment should be part of our spirituality and responsibility.
2. Eco Review: We are making an eco review of the church, especially our offices, and meeting venues and committing ourselves to action with an ecology ethos statement, to implement changes, and be accountable over this issue.
3. Doable Tips: We are going to provide resources and practical tips for our community to implement themselves, and make this a regular part of our communication as a community, and celebrate achievements in energy and waste savings etc.
4. Eco Team:Like any other church ministry, we are hoping for others who have a passion for this, to come on board and help lead us as a community.
So my question for you all. Have any of you done this in any way, any resources you can point us to?
13 comments
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Comment by serentious
10.06 am on 3 Feb 2006
In one of the churches I attend:
*they’ve chosen to get as close to possible carbon neutral heating,
*they have a recycling box for service orders which people just drop their service order in after.
* when buying equipment they try to look for 2nd hand or reclaimed stuff where practical (recently got carpet tiles that way)
*they use fair trade tea and coffee
Small stuff I know but all things individuals are able to take responsibility for and things that add up over time.
Comment by Brett
10.50 am on 3 Feb 2006
Many preachers throughout this country have been recycling their sermons for many years now.
Comment by Marc
1.06 pm on 3 Feb 2006
Celtci Christianity is very much tied up with nature and Gods Creation. I can stongly reccommned this web site (it’s one of the best on the web)
for Celtic Christianity and not forgetting David Adam’s books.
Comment by Marc
1.07 pm on 3 Feb 2006
Celtci Christianity is very much tied up with nature and Gods Creation. I can stongly reccommned this web site (it’s one of the best on the web)
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/6389/
for Celtic Christianity and not forgetting David Adam’s books.
Comment by dorsey
2.16 pm on 3 Feb 2006
Wow, I wish…
My former (sort of) church recycles printer ink cartridges, but only because it raises money for their school. The town provided them a recycling container for soda cans/bottles, etc. I think it’s where they store the bats for the softball team.
Having been raised in conservative evangamentalism, I grew up with a strong unspoken impression that eco-friendly-types were either demonic nature worshiping druids, or liberal athiest whack-jobs who simply needed a cause to believe in. Besides, God told Adam to subdue the earth, and Jesus is coming back tomorrow, right? So what’s the point?
But I’m feeling much better now.
Comment by George Polcaster
4.45 pm on 3 Feb 2006
Jason-
I’m super encouraged that you’re taking your church down this path. My heart is stirred along similar lines, but I’m still thinking…you’re doing!
In the US, the Boise Vineyard is doing a fantastic job along these lines from what I’ve heard. I would check out their website. I’ve recently been reading Wendell Berry like a madman. His essays are brillant, intelligent and give depth to this topic like no other. If you’re not familiar with him, check out “What are People For?” and “Sex, Economy, Freedom and Community” two poweful books on this subject.
Cheers!
Comment by Joshua Case
5.21 pm on 3 Feb 2006
Jase
not sure if you have done much with A Rocha, but they have some great resources we are trying to tap into with Shema.
If you want, check them out at: http://www.arocha.org. Peter and Miranda Harris, Dave Bookless and others really seem to have thought through quite a bit of it and are a great resource!
peace…jc
Comment by Paul
8.51 am on 4 Feb 2006
Hi Jase
this is something that is beginning to really kick off in the public sector, particularly the idea of sustainability (usuaully defined around the interlinking of social/environmental/economic – a holistic consideration of the impact on all 3 rather than just in 1 area which might adversely affect the other 2 and therefore undermine overall impact) – and in the private sector with corporate social responsibility (CSR) – forum for the future is a good place to go looking as they work with both…
People are also looking to be accountable for it and disclose their environmental/social impact. I’m doing a growing piece of work on looking at how public sector can do this. I don’t see why this isn’t something churches can do a well. It is usauly best to start with some simple measurements like water/paper/electric usage, miles travelled, people development etc – i can send you a list of the factors that our organisation is considering reporting on as well if you like?
Comment by John Chambers
9.38 am on 4 Feb 2006
HI Jase we are a new Vineyard church plant in Sydney Australia and are on a similar journey re Eco Church, so will watch your progress with relish. I can echo the comments about Boise Vineyard – check out http://www.letstendthegarden.org
peace john chambers
Comment by Brett
9.54 am on 4 Feb 2006
I hope that’s going to be organic, non-genetically modified relish John.
Comment by Richard Bull
2.03 pm on 6 Feb 2006
This is great. We’ve just had an environmental audit done in our church. There’s quite a lot of funding available for this kind of thing – because our church building is in what is classed as an ‘Objective 2′ area under EU funding guidelines we’ve just had a fully funded week long environmental audit by consultants based at Nottingham Trent Uni:
“The Institute for Sustainable Development in Business (ISDB) at Nottingham Trent University focuses on helping businesses, the public and third sectors and communities implement cost effective environmental improvements and sustainable development.” http://www.susdev.co.uk/index.htm
They’re producing a report for us with key findings and recommendations. We’re then planning to set up a team to start implementing things. The building stuff is quite easy – recycling, reducing energy use and waste etc – but getting into the hearts of minds of people is going to be fun!
Comment by theredherringe
7.00 am on 7 Feb 2006
Here are me ‘umble suggestions:
The first issue is to gauge the ecological impact of participants who travel to your church meetings. This could be done through a survey of the methods of travel used. Each participant could be asked to calculate the contribution that they make to e.g. greenhouse gases. This would also ensure some buy-in from the church as a whole.
The second issue is to examine the ecological impact of the building itself, including (but not limited to) energy usage (types of light bulbs, for instance; heating and cooling); water usage; cleaning fluids used, printing processes, and so on.
The third issue is what could be done to diminish these effects. For instance, could decentralising meetings (home churches, anyone?) have any positive effect? Could vegetables be grown on the roof? Could alternate energy be utilised?
The underlying question is whether a church building is ecologically sustainable and justifiable.
Be sure to post the final outcome of your deliberations!
Comment by Laraine Sztypuljak
2.40 pm on 17 Feb 2006
YIPEE!!!!
Can I be involved in the EcoTeam??
Looking fwd to seeing you all on Sunday!
LARAINE x
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