At this Aberdeen Eco-Congregation Network Event, find out how you can improve your church grounds in partnership with Aberdeen City Council.
You will hear about support available from the council and have the chance to connect with other Eco-Congregations in your local area over a cup of tea.
Speaker: Steven Shaw, Environmental Manager, Aberdeen City Council. Location: Mannofield Church Hall, Great Western Road, Aberdeen, AB10 6UZ
This network event is free to attend and no sign up is required. All churches, of any denomination, based within the Aberdeen City Council boundaries are warmly invited to attend. Kindly organised and hosted by Mannofield Church.
(If you are based within Aberdeenshire and interested in hearing more and connecting with others locally, you are welcome to attend, but please note the speaker will be focusing solely on Aberdeen City Council areas.)
We appreciate this is a challenging time for many across all churches and communities due to COVID-19 restrictions. We are delighted to share good news over coming weeks from local eco-congregations, this weekend celebrating Eco-Congregation Scotland Award success in Aberdeenshire.
We value the excellent participation of so many volunteers and supporters in recent interfaith events and a range of meetings as we look forward to welcoming the COP26 climate conference to Scotland next November. We invite you to join a wide variety of online events and activities through the remainder of this November.
Thank you for all your efforts and continuing support as we pray, share and act together, caring for our common home.
Today we acknowledge the wonderful work of Inverurie West Parish Church. Congratulations to enthusiastic environmental team leader Joy Doorghen and all at Inverurie West on achieving our Silver Award recognising their commitment to caring for creation. You can read more about their Silver success on our website.
We will share more Award success stories in coming weeks and encourage every eco-congregation to apply, affirming your church’s environmental activities through online assessment. You are also welcome to join Inverurie West and our Eco-Chaplain this Sunday for a live at home service on the Church website and YouTube.
Many Christians mark this Sunday as the feast of Christ the King. Eco-Chaplain Rev David Coleman will be reflecting on Matthew 25:31-46: “A masterpiece of ‘end-time’ writing, the ‘sheep and the goats’ is perfectly directed at those who look to God for hope in a time of global crisis.”
Hear about the varied work of Out Of Africa…Into Malta as it aims to relieve humanitarian need and provide hope to a displaced people. Rev Doug McRoberts, former minister of St Andrew’s Scots Church in Malta, will share how the project founded in 2010 grew from offering prayers and second-hand clothes to becoming a major life-changing presence, partnering with the Red Cross and becoming a Church of Scotland Guild Partner Project.
Just Transition Commission members will share some of the emerging themes from their work to date, ahead of delivering their final recommendations to Scottish Ministers in early 2021. This will be your opportunity to explore and discuss their findings, and the solutions proposed to deliver a just transition in Scotland. The Commission was set up last year to give practical advice on how Scotland can meet ambitious climate change targets in a way that is fair for all.
Chaired by Kat Jones of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, join Alan McDonnell of Trees for Life, Veronique Walraven of Morvern Community Woodlands and Madagascar-based Bangor University research fellow Sarobidy Rakotonarivo to explore how forest conservation and woodland restoration can best deliver climate mitigation, the co-benefits that arise and the role of local communities in delivering them.
The Climate Challenge Fund Gathering provides opportunities to learn, network and share experience on tackling climate change, bringing together over 200 CCF Grant recipients and local community-led groups including churches and faith projects. The evening will explore how community film nights can get people thinking about climate change, followed by the opportunity to watch and discuss a challenging film. Find out more and book Gathering and film tickets here.
This Sunday 22nd November, please join us and Christians across Scotland in prayer at 7.00pm.
Good Shepherd, Speak once more to our hearts And offer us vision and hope for days to come. Go before us Shepherd King And lead us into the future that you hold in your hands. Lord, hear us. Lord, graciously hear us
Joy Doorghen, environmental team leader in Inverurie West’s Pause for Thought Garden
We are delighted to announce that Inverurie West Parish Church has achieved an Eco-Congregation Scotland Silver Award in recognition of their work and commitment to caring for creation.
The Silver award affirms that a congregation met or exceeded Eco-Congregation Scotland’s more demanding standards in aspects of spiritual, practical and global living, requiring an active participation by members, care for creation to be reflected regularly in worship and an involvement in Local Network events.
Inverurie West Church is a vibrant organisation, serving the local community as a place to meet and have a hot drink, snack or lunch; a real centre for bringing the community together.
Inverurie West Parish Church congregation, has been especially recommended by our Award assessors for:
Provision of the Acorn Centre meeting place, with excellent food and a good atmosphere that contributes to the welcoming spirit of the church.
Continued emphasis on monetary collections and activities for less well-off sections of the community, both local and abroad, emphasising the caring ethos of the church and sense of a global community.
The enthusiasm of Joy Doorghen and her environmental team to keep the environment central to the church activities.
The Ubuntu Fairtrade shop which is delightful and to be commended.
A certificate and Silver plate for the Church’s Award plaque are now winging their way up to Inverurie West. Well done Joy and all the team!
A Silver award is achievable by an eco-congregation which is taking its responsibility to care for creation seriously. To achieve Silver, the congregation must show that they meet – or have taken significant steps towards meeting – all of the criteria for that level listed below in each of four broad areas:
General Aspects a) Evaluation and planning b) Initiating and coordinating c) Communication d) Eco-Congregation Scotland Involvement
Spiritual Living a) Discussing Ideas b) Worship and Congregational Life
Practical Living a) Individual Members Taking Action b) Action in Church Buildings c) Biodiversity, Wildlife, Grounds and Gardens
Global Living a) Local and National Concerns b) Global and International Concerns
Eco-Congregation Scotland is inviting church volunteers in our Local Networks and supporters across the country to our online events and activities over the next fortnight. We are also pleased to share partner organisation events including the Prayer Service for Climate Justice and Just Transition Commission update.
Swifts are ancient and fascinating birds. Sadly their populations are on the decline and are now regarded as Amber conservation status. RSPB Scotland is encouraging Edinburgh as a place of sanctuary for these amazing birds – with support from the Scottish Power Foundation – and looking for churches to host swift nesting boxes. We will also hear from Huntly & District Swift Group, working hard to protect these wonderful birds in their local area. Wherever you live in Scotland, come and find out more about these amazing birds and the work being done to care for them.
Hosted by ELREC (Edinburgh & Lothians Regional Equality Council), hear political parties’ proposals to tackle the climate emergency and questions answered by Sarah Boyack MSP, Deidre Brock MP, Finlay Carson MSP, Alison Johnstone MSP and Christine Jardine MP. Please email potential questions for selection before the event on themes: energy, transport, waste, food, governance/politics and finance.
We are encouraging Scotland’s churches, faith groups and local communities to offer hospitality and welcome for COP26 next year. Join this Climate Fringe gathering if you are interested in hosting events during COP26 or just want to find out more about opening your doors as a church, hall or local venue. Speakers at this meeting will take us through what we can expect, sharing previous COP experiences.
Faith and civil society groups from all over the world will need space for meeting, holding events and floor space for sleeping. This meeting is for those who manage venues, large or small, within an hour’s commute from Glasgow including places of worship and community halls or any group that has a meeting room that can be booked externally.
The Global Compact on Refugees, adopted by an overwhelming majority at the UN General Assembly in December 2018, directly recognises that ‘climate, environmental degradation and natural disasters increasingly interact with the drivers of refugee movements’.
Hear about the varied work of Out Of Africa…Into Malta as it aims to relieve humanitarian need and provide hope to a displaced people. Rev Doug McRoberts, former minister of St Andrew’s Scots Church in Malta, will share how the project founded in 2010 grew from offering prayers and second-hand clothes to becoming a major life-changing presence, partnering with the Red Cross and becoming a Church of Scotland Guild Partner Project.
At this online public event, members of the Just Transition Commission will share some of the emerging themes from their work to date, ahead of delivering their final recommendations to Scottish Ministers in early 2021. This will be your opportunity to explore and discuss their findings, and the solutions proposed to deliver a just transition in Scotland. The Commission was set up last year to give practical advice on how Scotland can meet ambitious climate change targets in a way that is fair for all.
Thanks to Anne Currie of Craigsbank Church Eco-Group in Edinburgh, sharing Autumn colours from Glencruitten, Oban.
This Sunday 15th November, please join Christians all over Scotland in prayer with Church leaders at 7pm. Faithful God and giver of all good gifts, Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
(Swift photographs courtesy of RSPB images, David Naylor and Huntly & District Swift Group.)
As a Christian charity, one of our purposes is the “promotion of religious, racial and social harmony through a demonstration that care for creation is an essential part of all faiths and by working with other faiths and groups to promote this understanding”.
Eco-Congregation Scotland is delighted to support Interfaith Scotland and local interfaith groups along with the UK Faith for the Climate network in all our combined efforts towards the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow next year.
We thank those who are already active through their own church connecting with other faiths – particularly at this time of year – and encourage our volunteers and friends to join events connecting faiths during Scottish Interfaith Week from 8th to 15th November.
Hosted by Hope for the Future and Faith for the Climate, bringing together constituents and Members of Parliament from across the UK, marking the previous start date of COP26 before it was postponed due to the pandemic. Please join us to reflect on the potential of this coming year, in the run up to the new conference start date in November 2021.
This event welcomes people from all faith traditions and backgrounds – as well as MPs from across the political spectrum – to reflect, share and consider the vision of this year as the UK prepares to host the UN’s annual climate negotiations, with contributions from:
Kate Hughes, Director for International Climate Change at BEIS (UK Government Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
Jonathan McAveety, Senior Campaigns Officer at SCIAF (Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund)
Isabella O’Dowd, Senior Climate Change Specialist at WWF
Join the final of three global sessions organised by the Interfaith Liaison Committee to the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). Reaching the time of what should have been the COP26 in Glasgow, this session offers a space for dialogue on faith-based climate action.
Stories of hope in action from faith communities around the world are shared and reflected on. The session offers interactive opportunities for participants, facilitating connections and raising motivation for the year ahead. Join friends around the world to learn, discuss and explore climate action with opening speakers:
The moderator is Brussels-based Chiara Martinelli from CIDSE, the international family of Catholic social justice organisations including SCIAF. This interactive meeting hosted by Interfaith Scotland and Interfaith Glasgow includes a breakout session enabling all to participate fully. Please join us to help share your own hopes for the future from Scotland.
Workshop organised by Deeside CAN, formed out of representatives from four Aberdeen Local Network eco-congregations in Banchory and Torphins, including Eco-Congregation Scotland depute chair Richard Murray:
“CAN stands for Climate Action Network; it also means Care And Nurture. We are a group of people living on Royal Deeside in Aberdeenshire, who want to do something to minimise climate change, reduce waste and decrease the loss of biodiversity.”
“Do you want to know how your lifestyle impacts the environment – or what to do to reduce your carbon footprint? Our lifestyles are impacting the environment and causing climate change. We need to change! The Scottish Government has set a Net Zero target for 2045. This means we must all reduce our carbon footprint by 4% every year. Come and join our free Zoom workshop.”
This Sunday 8th November, as we begin the season of Remembrance, please again join Christians across Scotland in ecumenical prayer with Church leaders at 7pm.
This is a big year for tackling climate change in Scotland as the Scottish Government prepares to introduce a new Climate Bill. In 2017, over 19,000 members of the public supported our calls for an ambitious Bill with the policies for Scotland to do its share in limiting climate change.
Join Stop Climate Chaos Scotland for a Campaign Workshop to share knowledge and plan action on the Bill. We need to ensure the Government commits to a target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 at the latest, and a roadmap to reach that. So it’s time to start campaigning!
These interactive workshops will give you more information on Scotland’s new Climate Change Act and how you can get involved in the campaign for climate justice.
We are encouraging people from all across Scotland who care about climate change to come along to meet other activists passionate about climate change, engage with the new climate Bill and to get involved in the campaign.
Dates
Aberdeen – Saturday 9th June
Dundee – Sunday 10th June
Glasgow – Saturday 16th June
Inverness – Sunday 17th June
Dumfries – Saturday 23rd June
Irvine – Saturday 23rd June
Stirling – Sunday 24th June
Booking
To book your place visit the Stop Climate Chaos Scotland web site:
Our newest, and 431st, eco-congregation is King’s Community Church in Aberdeen. You can find out more about them here. Please join us in welcoming them to the Eco-Congregation movement.
