We are thrilled to announce that St Ninian’s RC Church, Dundee, have been awarded our highest accolade, our GOLD award. Bishop Andrew McKenzie presented the congregation with their award at mass this week. St Ninian’s are the 11th congregation in Scotland to receive a Gold award and the very first Catholic Parish to do so.
The congregation has shown a true commitment and outstanding practice in caring for creation. Our assessors were impressed with the work to reduce the carbon footprint of their building and to share their learning. You can read more about their building here: https://localenergy.scot/casestudy/st-ninians-rc-church/CARES at Local Energy Scotland
The assessors also commended them for their support of SCIAF, their cross-generational working, the work on their garden and the integration of creation care into their worship.
Congratulations to Abernethy Parish Church, who recently received their Bronze Eco-Congregation Award. They celebrated by hosting an open morning at the church exploring theology and sharing practical tips to encourage individual actions. They also planted some Scottish harebells at the front of their church as part of the celebration.
Our assessors commended the energy and enthusiasm of the Eco-Group who have achieved so much. They were also impressed by the careful and considered way in which changes are being made to church grounds and the switch to greener banking and a greener energy provider.
Congratulations to Kilbarchan Parish Church who were recently presented with their Silver Eco-Congregation Award.
The congregation celebrated during their Sunday service with a beautifully crafted cake.
Mary Sweetland, one the Eco-Congregation award assessors who presented the award said “We were impressed with the communication of green initiatives to the congregation and the wider community, and that they had 'Green Champions' embedded in all the six teams of the Kirk Session, who promote environmental issues across all areas of the church.”
Well done to the eco committee, the green champions and everyone involved in the congregation who contributed to this award.
Ss Ninian and Triduana RC Church, Edinburgh received their Bronze award earlier this year. The assessors noted that the parish is active in making the link between faith, justice and creation. They were also impressed by their garden transformation, restoring their garden to an eco-garden, incorporating a sitting area for social/quiet space, a meadow area, and a pond area. Their church garden revamp included:
New benches installed from repurposed pews
5 swift boxes added
A pond created from a repurposed old school sink
Water butt installed from a repurposed grey bin
Bug hotel created from a repurposed old shopping trolley
Winter home for frogs and bulbs added by local school children
Leaf mould pile created
Plants added from cuttings from parishioners gardens
At the start of September, St Serf’s Episcopal Church, Burntisland were presented with their Bronze Eco-Congregation Award at a special morning service. The award was presented to Geoff Smith, eco-group convener, by Fintan Hurley, an Eco-Congregation Trustee. Congratulations to the eco group and the wider congregation for all their hard work.
The congregation opened up their celebration to the community and MP Melanie Ward, along with local councillors, Lesley Backhouse, Kathleen Leslie and Julie MacDougall joined representatives of environment groups to celebrate this achievement.
Over the past year, St Serf’s fellowship has enthusiastically taken up various activities including tackling some “Lifestyle Challenges” during Lent, supporting Christian Aid, purchasing Fairtrade products, and creating a bee and butterfly friendly garden.
Reverend Carol Latimer said, “We are very keen to put the stewardship of Creation at the heart of our church life. Membership of Eco-Congregation Scotland has helped us to direct our efforts even more effectively, and their Award Scheme is a great incentive to find further ways to put into action the Scottish Episcopal Church’s drive to achieve Net Zero by 2030.”
Congratulations to everyone at St Ninian’s RC Church, Dundee who were recently presented with their Eco-Congregation Silver Award. Well done for all your hard work and dedication, a lot of which took part during the pandemic. The assessors were particularly impressed with their work on the church grounds (providing space for beauty, wildlife, food growing and spiritual enrichment); their study materials and their use of solar PV to reduce their carbon emissions. Since applying for the award they have gone on to add heat pumps with funding from Local Energy Scotland. You can read more about their heat pumps here. The award was presented to Margret MacPhail and the team by Canon Kevin Golden.
Kinross Parish Church have been awarded their Silver Eco-Congregation Scotland Award in recognition of all their work and commitment to care for creation. Achieving a Silver Award shows a commitment to address environmental concerns as part of their faith, as can be seen in their spiritual living, practical living and global living.
Litter picking in the community.
The congregation is active in the community promoting several environmental initiatives such as regular litter picks. The litter pickers work closely Perth & Kinross Council. There is a very successful scheme for collecting blister packs which is used by people throughout Kinross and the surrounding area. (This has been so successful that a larger bin is now needed!) None of the congregation’s initiatives stand alone. An example of this would be the produce from the allotment at the Church Centre which is then cooked and used in outreach activities.
It was notable for this congregation the spiritual and practical approaches to being an Eco Congregation intertwine with neither being a dominant partner. Care for creation forms an important part of worship and is a topic for Bible studies too. The congregation made use of their weekly Transform Trade as part of their Spiritual life. They have addressed issues of energy use in their buildings and are encouraging the wider community to make use of the premises.
harvesting foodTree Planting
Kinross Parish Church is involved with a number of community groups including the Kinross-Shire Climate Café, Kinross Estate, Kinross Rotary, Kinross Youth Enterprise (KYTHE), and Kinross Community Council. From these links they have been involved in planting trees with the Queen’s Green Canopy project, litter picking and growing produce in starter plots and raised beds with the Milnathort and Kinross Allotment Association.
The congregation has active links to Malawi and also a close relationship with Mission Aviation Fellowship. Transform Trade forms an important part of the lives of this congregation, and the assessors found that the ethos of Fair Trade was well understood by all at Kinross Parish Church.
The Eco-Congregation Scotland award assessors commended the work of Kinross Parish Church in the following areas:
The effectiveness of their programme of eco related activities.
The way in which their environmental activities are interlinked.
The great work done by the eco team and team leader, Jim Smith, was commended. The support given by the Kirk Session and the wider congregation were noted to be important in the success of this work. The support from the Minister, Rev Alan Reid and the Transform Trade Coordinator was also praised.
Congratulations to all at Kinross Parish Church for a well deserved Eco Congregation Scotland Silver Award.
