Well done & thanks to all the people, creatures & wild things involved
FREE ECO EVENT – NO NEED TO BOOK – JUST BRING FRIENDS – all ages children & adults welcome
LATEST PROGRAMME – Eco Forum Feb 2023..…..
See soon the new St Mary’s Wild Churchyard page HERE
We’re getting serious about being active in eco lifestyle, greener buildings (your parish church buildings of St Mary’s and St Michael’s, and St Michael’s village hall Peasmarsh, and Shalford vicarage), wilder lands (both churchyards and vicarage garden, with Shalford Guides already wonderfully helping St Mary’s wild churchyard); wilder worship and eco events and learning with others; and connecting with all for promoting eco-friendly, and just friendly!, life together (locally and globally).
Through the brilliant charities of Caring for God’s Acre, and the A Rocha charity, we’re working through all such areas, as we become an Eco church. A new eco team has evolved which we hope will grow and grow across the villages, and if you’d like to join or connect in any eco way (age 10-100!), please get in touch with Rev Sarah for now. We’d love to connect with anybody from local Wildlife Trusts and other such groups too. A few things continuing to be a focus this year: reducing our carbon footprint inside and out, planning strategies for meeting our 2030 carbon zero target, switching to green energy in both churches & vicarage; exploring new air source heating for St Michael’s hall and new LED lighting; adding bike racks, maybe electric car charger if useful, and recycle bins in St Mary’s car park; planting & tending trees; partnering with DSWF to host a new Shalford Eco Forum for all local groups and organisations to share their own eco initiatives & actions and enable new relationships and connections to develop, and mutual support; being a voice as COP26 approaches. Please get in touch if you’re interested in joining in or leading any areas. More eco news to follow…… and prayers continuing as we care locally and globally and face this urgent global environmental crisis together.
We join with the vision of A Rocha Uk in aiming to be a church caring for creation as an integral part of our stewardship and life with all of God’s creation. We are working towards the bronze ‘Eco Church’ award, and would love your help if you are keen to get involved in this area of our church and community life. Please get in touch if you are interested. Our first area of focus at the moment is developing a wild churchyard area at St Mary’s, with Shalford Guides joining in leading this wildlife project.
“As Christians we are called to be stewards of God’s wonderful creation. The challenges facing this creation are numerous and well reported, but there are plenty of small steps that we can take to help care for our planet.
Bishop Andrew
“Often this starts with ourselves, as individuals and churches. Simply evaluating how our lifestyle impacts the planet and making changes to minimise our negative impact where possible can make a big difference.
“That’s what Eco Church is all about. Packed full of useful resources and suggestions it is a great tool and I’d encourage churches to sign up and join the drive to care for God’s Creation.”
In the words of A Rocha, we hope to work together to ‘equip our church to express our care for God’s world in our worship and teaching; in how we look after our buildings and land; in how we engage with our local community and in global campaigns, and in personal lifestyles. Please see A Rocha Uk website and Diocese of Guildford website for further details and examples of churches with Eco Church awards, and watch this space. Better still, help create this space and get in touch with us at St Mary’s….
St Mary's Shalford 