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.”
In August, Bennochy Parish Church in Kirkcaldy held their first Eco Fayre. Volunteers put on a community event that included a book swap, compost making, upcycling and lots more. There was even some ice-cream! Well done to everyone involved in the day. Read their flyer to find out more and maybe take some ideas for your own congregation.
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.
