‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’, and in time, as part of that creation, humanity.
At Bournville Parish Church, St. Francis of Assisi, as Christians we, along with those of many other faiths, see ourselves as part of God’s world and responsible to care for it.
This care for the environment takes different forms; we have a green garden group who take care of the garden we have between the church and St. Francis Youth and Community Centre hall. In 2023 we had ‘The Big Dig’, when large plants were cut back, weeds removed, the soil dug, and organic compost added. This was followed by ‘The Big Plant’, when the prepared bed was planted anew with plants that had been chosen for their colour, scent, and attractiveness to pollinators, which have sadly declined markedly in the past half a centenary. The aim of this was to enable our local community to enjoy the beauty of our green spaces, while benefiting our fellow creatures.
A group from our church family have been meeting together to pursue tangible action for the environment since 2019.
We joined the A Rocha ‘Eco Church’ scheme (https://ecochurch.arocha.org.uk/) and 2020, and have since achieved their silver award. The scheme enables churches develop their care for the environment and promote a more sustainable lifestyle by looking at five areas: Worship and teaching, Buildings, Land, Lifestyle and Community and Global engagement. Since joining, we have undertaken different initiatives in these areas.
In 2023, the church put on a series of five evening sessions based on the Methodist Church‘s ‘Hope in God’s Future’ Resources.
This looked at how we see and approach God within the context of climate change (https://science.nasa.gov/climate-change/what-is-climate-change/) what the Bible teaches about care for each other, what is needed to live honestly and faithfully in an industrialised world, spirituality and sustainability, and a new covenant to be honest to ourselves, faithful to God, and the world’s communities.
This was followed in 2024 by a series of meetings open to the public, where we looked at the climate and environmental crisis, the legal and international frameworks behind climate legislation and Conferences of the Parties, ‘Using your voice‘ and ‘Actions that make a difference‘.
We have also put on events to help with the practical aspects of Going Green, such as holding Dr Bike (https://www.cyclinguk.org/bigbikerevival/take-part/free-bike-repair) bicycle check and repair sessions, as well as a learn to cycle course for adults and a Composting Workshop as our contribution to the national Great Big Green Week (https://www.greatbiggreenweek.com/)
Throughout our church centenary (https://bournville.designpreview.app/centenary/ ) our Eco-Church group project was to compile and make available a directory of things locally that help us live more sustainably in Bournville. In addition to this, we have begun investigating systems to replace our current aging oil fired boiler with a more eco-friendly heating system, in line with the National Church of England aim to reach Net Zero by 2030 (https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/net-zero-carbon-routemap)