Category Archives: Esk

St Andrew’s Day thanks for your commitment and support

Join our movement today

Eco-Congregation Scotland is always keen to hear from local churches and today our team shares great examples of activities and events. Congregations across our movement continue their work through the pandemic, respecting restrictions while responding to local need and addressing environmental concerns.

We are also pleased to share key events this week organised by partners and coalitions. On St Andrew’s Day, as we celebrate Scotland’s patron who spread the Good News far and wide, we thank all who have attended and participated in a wide variety of recent activities and online meetings, here and globally. This has been crucial as we welcome the world to the COP26 Glasgow climate talks next November. Eco-Congregation Scotland and churches throughout the country have been represented well by so many of our volunteers. We value your involvement, interest and insight.

We also love to share stories from local eco-congregations, to celebrate your wide-ranging work and encourage us all in caring for God’s creation. We were delighted to hear that our 500th eco-congregation Faifley Parish Church is holding a regular Recycle Room every Friday with free clothes bundles, DVDs, books, baby equipment, cushions and bedding thanks to dedicated volunteers and large numbers of donations. Ellis’ facemasks and Elsie’s chutney, pictured below, have been popular and successful fundraisers too!

We look forward to celebrating registration 500 with Faifley Parish when COVID-19 local protection levels allow. A special welcome and thank you to all subsequent new registrations in recent months, taking us to 508 eco-congregations:

If your church is concerned about the environment and wants to get involved, please join our movement today. It’s free to register.

We also encourage membership for your church, to become more active in the charity and support our Local Networks. Membership is again free for smaller churches and up to £100 per year for congregations with the highest incomes, that’s only £8 per month or less than £2 per week.

All membership fees go directly to support Local Network activities through our Programme Coordinator work. It’s easy to join online or print a form and post to us. Please also consider making a one-off or regular donation to support our work as an individual too.

Inspired by our A Sanctuary for Swifts event two weeks ago – which you can watch again online – Central Borders Local Network coordinator Ian Skinner informs us Holy Trinity Melrose is installing a nesting box for swifts on the Trinity Centre. Specially designed for swifts, the box will be placed near the top of the north facing gable with a clear outlook towards Gattonside Hill on the far side of the Tweed. Another two boxes designed for house martins are being placed on the Centre’s east side. Ian adds: “We are looking forward to welcoming new visitors in the spring of 2021!”

A Just Transition for Scotland’s Housing is also available to watch online, our major open event with the Just Transition Commission and the Methodist Church in Scotland hosted by Stirling Methodist Church. Commissioners positively engaged with the well-attended event and points made throughout were recognised in their ongoing work, emphasising the importance of housing for Scotland to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2045.

Well done and thank you all Kinross Parish Church Eco-Congregation group volunteers who picked up a “terrifying” amount of litter pictured above last Saturday in the space of about an hour. We also congratulate St Mary’s Eco-Congregation TOA (Take One Action) Local group in Dalkeith, holding another successful film evening to watch and discuss “Catching the Sun“, exploring workers and business leaders racing to lead the clean energy future.

These are just some of the diverse environmental activities and interesting events across individual congregations and our Local Networks. Thank you again for your continuing support and that of every church volunteer and all our supporters. It is always appreciated, even more so this challening year. Happy St Andrew’s Day!


Isaiah 64: Ripping open the sky – We fade like leaves

An appropriately scary start to the Christian season most concerned with what is to come. Many thanks Scottish writer, academic and activist Alastair McIntosh on the first Sunday of Advent followed by Rev Julia Meason today, minister of Kirkwall East linked with Shapinsay, and to all opening our alternative Advent Calendar.

The Judge to Cheer the Forest is our ecumenical and varied video Advent Calendar online, offering a 1-2 minute reading and reflection until Christmas Eve. Please view and share the items daily at Eco-Chaplain online and Eco-Congregation Scotland, on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube every day of Advent.


Financing Climate Justice
Monday 30th November 2020, 12.00noon

https://climatefringe.org/sccs-live-events/
Rich nations like ours have a duty to deliver a fair share of support for poorer countries on the front line of the climate crisis. Tune in to this Climate Fringe event to find out more.

Let’s talk about the climate emergency – Our Global Connections
Monday 30th November 2020, 7.30pm

https://www.ecocongregationscotland.org/event/ourglobalconnections/
How we live impacts on climate change and the lives of others. Join us to talk, pray and reflect on Our Global Connections, the November theme in our “Let’s talk about the climate emergency” resources.

Restraining Climate Change: What is the Role of Faith Communities?
Tuesday 1st December 2020, 7.30pm
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_x18cxZxSS_yyGZ6_bkEVWQ
Climate emergency, coronavirus and Brexit. How can we as faith communities work with others to build a just and green future? These are moments of great opportunity but also significant challenge. Hosted by St Columba’s-by-the-Castle Episcopal Church in Edinburgh, join the discussion with:

The first Change in a Time of Chaos science and faith webinar, a series of talks hosted by St Columba’s towards COP26 next November.

Glasgow City Region Climate Adaptation Strategy
Wednesday 2nd December 2020, 2.00pm  East and West Dunbartonshire
Thursday 3rd December 2020, 7.00pm  Young persons event

Climate Ready Clyde is consulting until Christmas Eve on the draft Glasgow City Region Adaptation Strategy, seeking to ensure the region’s society, environment and economy are prepared and can flourish in the future climate.

Carlops Parish Church of Scotland is the first church to receive our Gold Award.

Our award plaque – made from recycled church pews by the Greyfriars Recycling of Wood project.

Carlops Parish Church (Church of Scotland) is the first congregation to be awarded a Gold Award under our revised awards scheme. This is a considerable achievement as the standards set for the new Gold Award are extremely high.

The application described a wide-ranging and interesting variety of action embedded in the life of
the congregation.

The assessors particularly identified the following for commendation:

  • the thorough approach to planning, implementation and ongoing evaluation of your
    Development Plan
  • the regular inclusion of environmental concerns in worship
  • the cooperation with the Community Council and Village Centre Management Committee
  • the circulation of the Church Newsletter to all homes within the parish
  • their proactive approach to recycling, responsible travel and energy use
  • their charity work and promoting Fair Trade and Christian Aid
  • their patio-garden project, another example of working with others to benefit the community
  • the involvement of the congregation in lobbying MPs and MSPs, to express opinion on issues
    such as Climate Chaos, Global Poverty and Climate Justice
  • the overall impression of an imaginative and creative church, fully committed to environmental
    issues

Congratulations to everyone at Carlops for this significant achievement which recognises lots of hard work over many years.

 

 

Next Esk & Tweed network meeting 24th April 2017 in Peebles

Eco-Congregation Scotland ESK and TWEED NETWORK

MONDAY April 24 2017 at 7.30 PM

MacFarlane Hall, Peebles Old Parish Church, Peebles

AGENDA

1. WELCOME

2. TALK BY DAVID BETHUNE ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT INDIVIDUALLY AND COLLECTIVELY    3. LIGHT REFRESHMENTS

4. NEWS FROM THE NETWORK CHURCHES

5. NEWS FROM ECO-CONGREGATION SCOTLAND

6. AOB

7. DATE AND TIME OF THE NEXT MEETING.

8.  CLOSE

Exciting new developments from the Local Networks Seminar 2015 – Report now available!

The 2015 Local Networks Seminar took place in Dunblane on Saturday 26th September. This year the main themes discussed at the Seminar have been used to propose an exciting new way of providing web-based resources, which can be downloaded and printed out to encourage more participation in our congregations.

After considering what other resources are available, the ECS Board now plans to invite individuals / congregations / networks, with the relevant experience and expertise, to contribute to developing and writing the new resources.

Local Networks Seminar Report 2015  also lists a whole host of topics and speakers from networks all around the country (see Appendix 3). If you are not already involved in a network, take a look and see what you might be missing! Everyone is welcome at network meetings – you don’t have to be from a registered congregation. Full information about your local network can be found here.