Stirling Methodist Church achieved their second Eco-Congregation Award! Congratulations!

• The assessors were particularly impressed by the church’s work in the following areas:
• The links being made between Christian faith and environmental concerns.
• The work with Fair Trade, especially the external activity, especially the considerable effort and contribution towards helping Stirling achieve Fair Trade status, as well as promoting running a Fair Trade stall in other churches.
• The recorded Carbon footprint reduction since installation of new heaters, a time clock and insulation and linking this with attempts to sign up everyone in the congregation to committing to carbon cutting.
• The work with communities overseas, particularly through ‘Direct Link’.
• The outdoor work.
• The acquisition of a brown bin by lobbying the local authority.

Well done!

Lobby your MP!

We are urging all eco-congregations to take part in a lobby of Westminster MPs in their Scottish constituencies on 5 or 6 November. The lobby is timed to precede the Cancun climate change conference – our chance to help put right the failings of last year’s Copenhagen climate change conference.

You can find our more from this briefing and register your interest at the Stop Climate Chaos website. The website includes an interactive map that allows you to find out who is involved in your constituency. We hope you will be able to join us – it would be great for eco-congregations to be showing the way!

Next Aberdeen/shire network meeting, 06.10.

The next meeting of the Aberdeen/-shire Eco-Congregation meeting will take place on Wednesday 6th October, 7.30pm at Queen’s Cross Church, Albyn Place, Aberdeen AB10 1YN . Here you can find a map.

The main theme will be an update and review of the local outlets for recycling. Quite a few churches in the network have been involved in recycling schemes and it would be good to exchange information and update ourselves on the latest initiatives. To help with this Barbara Hill of Aberdeen City Council has agreed to come along and give a talk and answer questions.

Edinburgh network meeting 04.10

The next meeting of the Edinburgh network will take place on Monday, 04.10., 7.30pm at Carlops Church. Miriam Adcock from the Waste Action Resources Programme will speak about food, food waste and recycling.

Please bring ‘leftovers recipes’ to share!

Workshop about Eco-Congregation Scotland in Inverness, 02.10.!

We will hold an introductory workshop about the Eco-Congregation programme in Ness Bank Church, Inverness on Saturday 2nd October from 10.30 -12.30.

The programme for the morning will include an introduction to Eco-Congregation and stories from participating churches with tea and coffee and an opportunity to examine resources. There will also be a look at how to get started in your church and plenty of time for discussion.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Eco-Congregation, please come along! Please download and display this flier (pdf, 33kb) in your church – everyone is welcome.

Drumoak & Durris Church achieve their first award!

Drumoak & Durris Church achieved their first Eco-Congregation Award! Congratulations!

The assessors commended the church particularly on

– The excellent Powerpoint presentations made to engage the whole congregation and different groups within, helping understanding of the links between Christian faith and environmental action.
– Their clear recording of energy consumption, early action to reduce carbon footprint and forward planning, which is in place to achieve further reductions.
– The strong links with local community as shown by initiatives such as the ‘Food, Fashion and the Future’ event, which involved and inspired many.
– The church’s effective promotion of caring for creation given via the community newsletter and church website.

Well done!

West Lothian and Falkirk network at Craigshill Gala Day

The West Lothian + Falkirk network recently participated in the Craigshill Gala Day.

Visitors were invited to create fridge magnet with their own eco ideas: