As God’s people, we want to show his love for others and for the world he’s made. We want to play our part as individuals, in our church, parish and town, and also as citizens of the world.
God created the world ‘very good’, and it’s humanity’s privilege to use and enjoy it. It’s also humanity’s duty to care for it and use it so that it is available for future generations. Sadly our sin – selfishness and greed – have messed that up in a big way.
St Mary’s is a member of A Rocha’s Eco Church scheme and achieved their bronze award in May 2021. In recognition of our further progress in making creation care part of the life of the Church, we received the silver award in January 2023.
We would welcome people who wish to join our small Creation Care Group which leads St Mary’s efforts to make the church more creation-friendly. If you are interested, please contact a member of the group.
In addition to our newsletter Green Shoots, we also have a Facebook page to keep you updated with our latest news and information.
Putting it into Practice
St Mary’s has its own leaflet listing some of the practical responses we can each make to reduce the harm we do to the environment.
To see how you’re doing, try our Lifestyle Audit.
For more information on lifestyle issues, see the leaflets at ecochurch.arocha.org.uk/resources/lifestyle.
We also have a couple of our own leaflets on practical issues:
– Green Horizons 1 – Personal Carbon Footprints
– Green Horizons 2 – Asthma/COPD Inhalers
Churchyard
We work with St Neots Town Council to make the Churchyard a welcoming place for both people and wildlife. We’re grateful for many volunteers who help to maintain it.
We are delighted that The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire have given us the bronze award of the Cambridgeshire Churchyard Conservation Award Scheme.
See the Churchyard page for more information, or if you’d like to help care for it
Updates
Reading
There are lots of books that help us to understand the problems, to gain a clearer Christian perspective, and with practical ideas for our own lives.
These two are recommended for an introduction:
- L is for Lifestyle by Ruth Valerio – chatty bite-sized chapters of Christian reflection and practical advice (IVP revised 2019)
- Planetwise by Dave Bookless – a readable survey of the Biblical basics (IVP 2008)
These and others are available to borrow from Church members.
Study material
Extracts from a video series on Creation Care by A Rocha International were shown in our Church services in September 2020. The complete series can be accessed via the Lausanne Global Classroom; an accompanying study guide can be accessed here.
Creation Care Group
A small Creation Care Group has been established by the PCC to apply creation care principles to the life of St Marys. It aims to help both St Mary’s as an organization, and its members as individuals, to show love, care and respect for God’s creation as an essential part of Christian discipleship.
The members are Anthony Harris, Audrey Hedges, Roger Peppiatt and Margaret Tabone.
We would be pleased to hear your views and suggestions – please email the Creation Care group or contact the church office.