On Saturday 19 October, over 70 people gathered at Christ Church Winchester for the diocesan Creation Care and Sustainable Buildings Day. It was an opportunity to consider God’s call to care for creation and what it means for parishes to join in Christ’s work of the renewal of all things.
We heard case studies from three different parishes around the diocese: St Peter and St Paul, Somborne and Ashley, Christ Church, Winchester, and St Denys, Southampton.
St Peter and St Paul in Somborne and Ashley shared how they’ve been caring for their churchyard with wildflower pilots, birdfeeders and birdboxes. Phil Carr spoke about how this has supported their work with the local school.
Christ Church, Winchester, also shared about their experience of engaging with creation care through the Eco Church award scheme, which helps churches to build a plan for creation care in their context. Felicity McEldery spoke about how Christ Church have achieved a Silver award by teaching about creation, making efficiencies and sharing learning amongst their congregation. Liz Ord explained the process of reducing their carbon footprint and precuring solar panels for installation in the next few months.
Sera Rumble and Mike Strickland from St Denys, Southampton, shared their story of making energy savings through small, consistent changes. We heard about their process of gathering information which can lead to small, medium and big shifts, and how to maintain those changes. Through this process they’ve been able to make big savings on their energy bills – for more about their story click here.
As well as case studies we heard from organisations who can support parishes in caring for creation. Hazelnut Community spoke about their network of church community gardens/farms, which are focused around worship and mission in creation. In joining their network, churches gain access to practical resources for creating community gardens as well as resources for worship in creation. The Diocese of Winchester are partnering with Hazelnut Community to support a pilot project of community gardens – if you’re interested in finding out more email Sam Scott.
Parish Buying also shared their work to support parishes moving to net zero. They have greatly increased their procurement of low carbon alternatives and services, from EV chargers, to energy audits, to heated cushions! We also heard from Community Energy South and WINACC about their support for community organizations looking to access low carbon energy generation like solar panels. Finally, we finished the day with a Q&A with the DAC about the permission process for energy efficient changes to our buildings.
The day was a great opportunity to connect and share, learning from around the diocese about creation care, as well as hearing about the support available for making practical changes to our buildings and engaging in God’s call to care for creation in our worship and mission. If you’d like any further information about the opportunities listed above or want to learn more about creation care, contact Sam Scott or Lucy Howlett.
