Have you ever thought about offering to be one of our Eco-Congregation Award assessors? No special qualifications required, just enthusiasm and a little of your time given voluntarily. If your congregation has an award, you will know how useful it is to get feedback from the assessors, and you were probably surprised to find that the assessors were just ordinary folk like yourself!

I asked our team of assessors why they would recommend being an assessor, and here are some of their replies:

” You get ideas you can use in your own church”
” An opportunity to discuss – and learn – different ideas and approaches.”
” Meeting others with similar views, beliefs and hopes”
” Meeting others committed to making a difference”
“I enjoy it!”

And a longer reply from one of our assessors, which sums it up beautifully:

“I was asked by Eco Congregation Scotland to become an assessor 3 years ago and I instantly thought I did not have enough experience to offer. However if you are in your own church eco-group and have successfully gained an eco-award, this is actually all you need to know. For the first few assessments I was teamed with a more experienced assessor who led the process and helped me gain in confidence and experience. Eco Congregation Scotland also provide training and support to help and have recently updated the Award scheme making the process much simpler with only a small amount of paperwork.

For me, being an assessor has been encouraging and inspiring and has been an opportunity to visit congregations in my local area to meet like-minded people working hard to care for God’s creation . Both the assessor and the assessed congregation learn much from each other, sharing good practice and ideas.

Being an award assessor is a fantastic way to volunteer, to give something back and to use your talents for the church and the environment. I would also recommend joining your local network of eco-congregations where you can also share ideas, resources and plan joint events and activities.”

You can decide for yourself how much you can offer – some assessors do 4 or more assessment per year, but most limit themselves to 1 or 2, and always at times and in places that are convenient. Being an assessor is voluntary, but we cover your travelling expenses. We offer a short training workshop when you start, and always team new assessors up with experienced assessors for their first couple of assessments.

So, there you are! Interested? If so, let me know, and I can give you more information, answer any questions you might have and get you started.

Best wishes,

David

coordinator@ecocongregationscotland.org