Money matters

One of the matters Eco-congregation encourages churches to consider is their banking. St John's currently bank with NatWest and we've finally got round to looking into their environmental record. I recently sent the following e-mail to the green team and included something similar in the pewsheet:
As you know, we were looking into how ethical our church bank - NatWest - is. On the whole the conclusion seems its probably no worse than other high street banks. Indeed, aside from the Co-op it is the only one to give an environmental report. It is also involved in supporting Eco-schools and is working with WWF on a 'better business pack' for Defra as well as stopping using company cars. However, it has (like many others) been involved with funding Asia Paper and Pulp who are responsible for rainforest devastation in Indonesia and as part of the Royal Bank of Scotland it is involved in serious funding of fossil fuel projects.
It seems to me that pulling out is not necessarily the logical option. Rather I wonder if we could try to repair some of the damage our money has been doing with Nat West? There is a church in Settle that is trying to raise funds for the World Land Trust which is a charity specifically devoted to buying up endangered habitats, especially rainforest, to preserve it as wildlife reserves (patron David Attenborough). What do you think about suggesting we do something similar? The church's blogsite is http://rainforest-save.blogspot.com and that has a link to the World Land Trust. If we do this then I'd want to write to Nat West and let them know we're doing it too. I know that as a church we support many causes so if you think this is one too many I'm not going to be offended! But I'd like to find a way to respond positively to what our money has done.

The responses have varied - the most common is that we should indeed pull out and switch to the Co-operative bank (which many of use for our personal banking already). Another is that we should join People and Planet's Ditch Dirty Development campaign. This prompted discussion about whether it is realistic to imagine we can persuade the Royal Bank of Scotland to change its attitude to fossil fuel given the importance of fossil fuels to the Scottish economy. However, looking into the campaign I realise that my suggestion that NatWest is probably no worse than other high street banks may not be true given the extent of their responsibility for Climate Change. The third option of trying to redeem what has been done prompted suggestions that since no one had heard of the World Land Trust we should go for a better known organisation such as Greenpeace. The discussion is still continuing at present.

Christians Together on Climate Change

Last Saturday Ali and I were helping to run a workshop on Eco-congregation for the Christians Together on Climate Change day organised at Greyfriars Church by CCOW, A Rocha, Christian Aid, The Diocese of Oxford, Operation Noah, Reading and Silchester Methodist Circuit, SAGE and Tearfund. It was an inspiring day, beginning with a panel of representatives from South Africa, Jamaica and Alaska, with shocking stories to tell. Dr Ernst Conradi of the University of the Western Cape said the issue at stake was 'moral imagination' - the need to imagine a different world is possible. I was astonished to learn that South Africa's average carbon dioxide emissions per person are the same as those of the UK - about 9.8 tonnes annually. This is because the richest South Africans emit 41 tonnes each per year. Conradi says he claims to have 60 children because each of his two uses the same resources as 30 children in Uganda. Maggie Ross, an Anglican solitary who divides her time between Alaska and Oxford has posted her comments on her own blog: http://ravenwilderness.blogspot.com. Her inspirational, passionate and controversial call was for us all to reconnect with our core silence that would lead us to want to live more simply.

A second panel was chaired by Mark Dowd of Operation Noah who asked questions of the bishop of Oxford (the Rt Revd John Pritchard) and of Dudley Coates, past Vice-President of the Methodist Conference. The bishop described the right wing Christian notion that climate change was the desirable hastening of armageddon and the rapture as 'almost the sin against the Holy Spirit, calling bad good and good bad'. Mark Dowd suggested that the threat of climate change speaks to three major issues that are threatening the Christian church in our country:
our lack of young people (who care passionately about this), the tension with Islam (whose environmentalists share our concerns) and the science v religion debate.

There were then a series of workshops to choose between - one for before lunch, another after. Over lunch most of us took the opportunity to walk round a series of displays by various interested organisations (we had helped with one for Eco-congregation) and to fill out Christian Aid postcards regarding the Climate Change Bill. Ali and I were leading one of the afternoon sessions. As part of this we set up prayer stations much like those used for the Sacred Space service back in November 2006 (see post on that). I had lost the original labels for the strings attached to pieces of clothing so made some more:

At the centre of the station a sign read:

"And wy do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these . . . " What strings are attached to the clothes we wear today

Then the following facts were attached to appropriate items of clothing:
Uzbekistan's $1 billion government-controlled cotton industry has taken so much water from the Aral sea that only 15% of it now remains and its 24 native species of fish are now extinct. Tens of thousands of children are taken out of school and forced to pick cotton during the harvest months. Some of these kids go temporarily blind due to the harsh pesticides used on the crop. If any UK shopper bought cotton items from ten different shops or market stalls, the chances are several will be of uzbekistani cotton.

In the past decade the price of clothes has plummeted due to cheap and expendable sweat shop labour in the developing world, especially following the 1999 collapse in parts of the Asian economy which made labour even cheaper.

Only 10-20% of cast offs in clothes banks make it to UK charity shops. The rest are sold off in the developing world, undercutting local textile manufacturers: in 1991 there were 140 textile manufacturers in Zambia, by 2002 there were just eight.

Conventional cotton production accounts for 25% of global pesticide use. Some pesticides contribute to global warming and depletion of the ozone layer.

20,000 litres of water are required to produce one T-shirt.

About 50% of all emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide are derived from nylon production.

I also had a couple of new facts for the Taste and See apples from different sources:

The transport of food destined for UK consumers produced 19 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2002, of which 10 million tonnes was emitted in the UK, almost all from road transport. Local shops are more likely to stock local and regional produce than supermarkets.

The manufacture of fixed nitrogen for fertilisers involves large-scale use of fossil fuels for extracting hydrogen and heating it with air. A quarter of all natural gas consumption in the United States is devoted to making fertilisers. The nitrogen oxide emissions accompanying the use of fertilizers are also a potent source of greenhouse gases.

Ali set up the other stations
On rubbish/recycling for which she had bits of rubbish, recycling boxes and objects made of recycled rubbish, with the words:

When the five thousand had eaten their fill Jesus invited the disciples to
“Gather up the pieces left over so that nothing is wasted.” John 6 :12

Archbishop Rowan reminded us in his New Year message that God builds to last,
He does not give up on us and start again, God doesn’t do waste.


Here is some of my rubbish, what might we do with it?
How much of this could be recycled


and do you know where that can be done in your area?

On Water - with a bowl of water with glass stones by it:

“Water will be more important than oil this century”
Boutros Boutros Ghali, former UN secretary General


Remember a favourite lake or waterfall, recall the sound and smell.

Recall what it feels like to paddle your feet or
to turn on the tap for a glass of cold water when you are thirsty.


Drop a stone gently into the water and watch the ripples.

What ripples do I make across the world? Am I careful with the water I use? How often do I stop to be thankful for the water I have such easy access to?

Pray for countries that are water- stressed, with too much or too little.

Travel - with my four-year-old's bicycle as a prop

FOOTPRINTS

What sort of mark are you leaving behind on this earth?



Are there changes to your life style that would be more gentle to this planet and that you are prepared to make…for yourself, your family, your workplace?


Draw round your foot or shoe and cut out a foot print. Write a prayer or commitment that you would like to move towards making and leave it for others to consider.


Cars account for 15% of the carbon emissions produced in this country


71% of road trips by car are <5miles
46% are under 2 miles


20% of rush hour traffic is children being driven to school.


Car parking in Britain covers and area twice the size of Birmingham.


Develop good driving techniques, where safe, accelerate gently and avoid sharp braking, this can save 25% of fuel. Driving at 40-55mph uses 30% less fuel than driving at 70mph

We had far more people than we were expecting, which meant we had to move furniture and the space for prayer was not ideal, but I think it was still helpful. I was surprised that several people said the young people at church were fed up with hearing about climate change because they do it too much at school. There were a couple of people from other would-be Eco-congregations who were able to help inspire and contribute other ideas which was great.

After the workshops Martin Salter MP received questions. He told us that a Defra survey was told that only 3% of people are prepared to do things which cost more or significantly inconvenience themselves to avoid damaging the climate. He also pointed out that our demand for cheaper consumer goods from China and Inda is what is causing them to build more coal-fired powerstations.

Action Plan

On 20th November the PCC agreed that we should carry out the Eco-congregation Enviromental Check Up which we did on 23rd January. After this we produced the following action plan:

The Church at Present
Environmental concerns are already raised in occasional services and we regularly give thanks to God as Creator in prayer and song. Among the children’s work the 8-11s group have spent some time discussing ecological issues. The church building, which is quite modern and shared with St John’s school, is kept in a generally energy and water efficient manner and has good access. There is no churchyard. We are a Fair Trade church and use crockery rather than disposable cups and plates. We provide facilities for recycling stamps and printer cartridges and the office uses recycled paper. We support a number of development agencies including Reading 3000 in Mozambique, the Leprosy Mission, SAMS, International Nepal Fellowship, Tearfund and Christian Aid both financially and in promoting their campaigns. The church is very conscious of issues of importance to the developing world and has important overseas links, especially with Nepal. Many individuals in the church are taking steps to green their own lives, eg supporting the local organic True Food Co-op, participating in organic box schemes, cycling, using environmentally sensitive cleaning materials, investing ethically, and one family have installed solar panels on their roof.

Eco-congregation Initiatives so far
We have arranged a Sacred Space evening service on the theme of Care for Creation which considered the interdependence of life on earth and celebrated God’s love for his Creation and the innate goodness of the created world expressed throughout the Bible and most powerfully in the Incarnation. The congregation were invited to move between ‘stations’ on specific environmental themes – road use, recycling, food choices, clothes and water use. At each point there was information about the impact of our choices and about green alternatives, pointers for prayer and an activity such as tasting apples that were locally grown and imported, organic or not; using a footbath while meditating on all that we appreciate about water; looking at literal and metaphorical ‘strings attached’ to cheap clothes; or making models out of rubbish.

We have also started including green tips in the weekly news sheet and have a space on the notice board for Eco-congregation matters (which is currently displaying Tearfund climate change information).

The Action Plan
Spiritual life
Worship – we hope to encourage more thought about our relationship with Creation in worship, beginning with a Worship Together service on 1 July. This service will be in three parts – 1. Celebration: giving thanks for Creation 2. Confession: considering the current crisis 3. Action: praying for the healing of Creation and providing opportunities to explore what each of us might be doing as individuals (encouraging those who already do things to tell others about it) and what we would like to add to the church’s action plan.
The increased awareness of green issues through the green tips in the news-sheet and information on the notice board will hopefully help to keep this in our prayer life.

Practical activities
Recycling – boxes for stamps, cartridges, batteries, foil and possibly bottle tops will be at the back of church [Rosemary]. Exclaimers (aged 8-11s) will be organising a Clutter Sale to raise funds for Christian Aid on 13 May [Joanna].
Energy efficiency – when the refectory is finished we need to ensure the committee prioritises energy efficiency in stocking the kitchen, including the most practical dishwasher and other A++ rated white goods. [Ali]
Investment – we need to hold a meeting with the Treasurer about our investment and find out about the environmental policy of our current bank [Joanna]
Educating ourselves – we plan to arrange termly talks before our shared lunches on the first Sunday of the month – speakers have so far been suggested on investments, green electricity and clothing.
Cleaning – try to arrange for more environmentally cleaning materials to be used.

Community
Talk with the school, asking them to become involved with our initiatives, starting with recycling and making sure lights, computers etc are switched off.
Consider the possibility of green electricity for the church but this is currently decided by the council because it is also the school building so this could be an opportunity to lobby the council to reconsider its policy.
Discuss with RE-Inspired the possibility of including sessions on Creation/Environment issues.
Publicise events by Newtown’s environment group GLOBE, particularly the Kennet clean up, and publicise Earley’s Green Fair.
Promote Christian Aid and Tearfund’s campaigns on carbon reduction.
Produce a blog of our activities attached to the church’s website.

In the Beginning

Report of meeting held on 3rd October 2006 to discuss Eco-Congregation

Why did people attend?
We agreed that those present share the passionate belief that respect of and care for God’s created universe is fundamental to a right relationship with God Himself and with our fellow human beings.

We are deeply concerned about the current threats to the natural world. This is an abuse of a most precious gift from God and in distancing ourselves from the rest of Creation we distance ourselves from ways of understanding God. Moreover, to quote from Tearfund’s latest publicity, ‘Climate change is not just an environmental issue – it’s a threat to people living in poverty’.

We are conscious that Tearfund, Christian Aid, Cafod, Oxfam, WDM and other development agencies have joined the Stop Climate Chaos coalition precisely because the most vulnerable people on this earth are those whose lives and livelihoods are already being destroyed by climate change. It makes little sense to support fair-trade initiatives without also responding to the impending environmental catastrophe. We are also aware that the Church of England has launched a national environmental campaign, Shrinking the Footprint, endeavouring to reduce the Church’s energy consumption by 40%.

We take heart from the fact that experts in the environmental field assure us that meaningful action can still be taken. The substantial reduction in water consumption in the Thames Valley this year is indicative of people’s willingness to act for the greater good in such matters. The Church of England’s website cites the feeding of the 4,000 (Mt 15:32-39) as an apt parable: ‘At Jesus’ request, the disciples gave up what little they had (which was still more than the rest) for an apparently impossible task. In the end it was more than enough.’


What is Eco-Congregation?
Eco-Congregation is ‘an environmental toolkit for churches’ produced by ENCAMS and Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. Becoming involved with Eco-Congregation entails undertaking their ‘Churches environmental check-up’ and producing an action plan as a result which endeavours to develop environmental awareness in three areas;
Spiritual – linking environmental issues with faith eg through worship
Practical – eg energy consumption, recycling
Community – working with or through the local community on environmental issues eg litter pick, project with a school or similar, getting positive publicity.
When this threefold environmental commitment can be demonstrated we can apply for an Eco-congregation award.
Eco-congregation provide a range of resources which we can use if we find them helpful.

Summary of issues covered by environmental check up:
1. Life and Mission of the Church – does care for the environment have sufficient weight within the church’s mission? This is assessed by looking at the five marks of mission formulated by the 1988 Lambeth Conference -
a. To proclaim the good news of the Kingdom
b. To teach, baptise and nurture new believers
c. To respond to human need by loving service
d. To seek to transform unjust structures of society
e. To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation; to sustain and renew the life of the earth

2. Worship
3. Theology
4. Children’s work
5. Youth work
6. All-age and Adult education
7. Church property
8. Church management
9. Church land
10. Personal lifestyle
11. Community outreach
12. Overseas concerns
This document is available in full on the eco-congregation website

Do we think Eco-Congregation would be good for St John’s?
St John’s is clearly already environmentally aware, obvious examples being last Sunday’s Harvest Service, Oasis’s contribution to the forecourt garden and through our overseas interests – Rosemary brought along Tearfund’s latest campaign card which calls on the government to play its part in stopping climate chaos. Nonetheless, there are many other things we could do and which the Eco-congregation ‘tool-kit’ would help with.

We feel it is particularly useful right now as we embark on the ‘Lost for Words’ course. Getting involved with the wider community on green issues would be an obvious ideal opportunity for conversations with non-church goers in which we can begin by explaining that our involvement is inspired by our faith.

We are conscious that young people especially see much of church as irrelevant to the real world. However, they are concerned about what is happening to the planet and would be attracted to the church if it was seen to be engaging with issues whose importance they understood.

Observing the enthusiasm in the room, Jo commented “this is what it means to be ‘energised by faith’” – this is something that would be good for St John’s as a congregation.


What next?
Sacred Space – use 19 November’s Sacred Space service to explore ideas about Care for Creation and to distribute Tearfund’s booklets For Tomorrow Too (on ways to reduce our impact on the climate). This would enable more of the congregation to discuss these issues.
A planning meeting for this service will be held on 7th November.


PCC – Give a copy of this report to all members of the PCC and ask them to consider a proposal to work towards an Eco-congregation award at their 20 November meeting.