Didcot Green Team

Update on Green Faith Day

2011-06-14T14:27:00.000-07:00

We are sorry to announce that the Green Faith Day planned for 18th June is no longer taking place. However, we are planning some alternative networking events for churches in the area - watch this space.

Our Green Faith Day, Saturday 18th June 2011

2011-05-07T09:42:00.000-07:00

Updated 4th June - more information on speakers.
As part of our Eco-congregation project, we are holding a Green Faith Day at Didcot Methodist Church on Saturday 18th June. The theme for the day is: 'Why - and how - should Christians care for the environment?'

We are planning the following programme, which will run from 9.30am to 4.00 pm. We will add more details when available.

Plenary session: 'Why - and how- can Christians care for the environment?'
Jo Rathbone, Christian Ecology Link Trustee and former Eco-congregation co-ordinator Ben Niblett, Head of Campaigns at Tearfund
Jo and Ben will speak on our theme, followed by a question and answer session.

Morning workshops - choose from:

-Is the environment a mission issue? Speaker: Matt Freer, Environmental Officer for Diocese of Oxford.
-Climate science. Speaker: Andrew Kaye, climate scientist.
-The global perspective: communities affected by climate change. Speaker: Ben Niblett.
-Introduction to Eco-congregation (for churches considering the programme). Discussion led by Maranda St John Nicolle, Christian Concern for One World.

Lunch

Afternoon workshops - choose from:

-Faith and the environment
-Carbon reduction for churches (panel discussion). Philip Burns, Didcot Methodist Church and Carbon Reduction Advocate for Northampton District; Colin Bemrose, former Methodist District Property Secretary; Mary Hancock, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Design, Oxford Brookes University.
-The global perspective: food security. Speaker: Maranda St John Nicolle, Christian Concern for One World.
-Eco-congregation: where next? (for churches already on the programme. Discussion led by Penny Dakin Kiley (Didcot Methodist Church Eco-congregation co-ordinator)

Closing worship.

If you would like to attend, please email us for a booking form. Email address: didcot DOT ecocongregation AT gmail DOT com. The cost for the day will be £5, including tea/coffee. (Attendance will be free for members of Didcot Methodist Church.)

Our Lent course on Creation Theology

2011-03-16T12:28:00.000-07:00

This week we started our Lent course on Creation Theology. It promises to be an enlightening experience. We started with 'Biblical view of creation'; in coming weeks we will look at 'Humankind and creation' (including stewardship), 'Goodness of creation', 'Who owns creation?', 'The politics of creation', and a retrospective on a 'Biblical witness of creation'.

Our new(ish) minister, Revd Dr David Rankin, has an academic background so along with Bible study and extracts from church documents (this time, an extract from Hope in God's Future), we also got insights from his knowledge as a church historian.

We thought about different views of creation over the years: What do we mean by God the creator? Was the world created from nothing, or from something? What does scientific understanding add to this? We thought about the relationship between creation and redemption (re-creation), and what it means for God to be outside of time and space.

I enjoyed having to really think about these ideas, and the challenge of ideas I had not come across before. But the thing that I will remember most is this: of the two main Greek words used in the Bible for 'creator', the first also means 'poet'.

Lent and 'surviving consumerism'

2011-03-09T14:27:00.000-08:00

As we begin Lent, I'm pondering some of the things I heard at the Christian Ecology Link conference last Saturday. Titled 'End of the Age of Thorns: Surviving Consumerism', this was an inspiring event that included worship, workshops and talks, focused on consumerism and the environment.

The first speaker was Peter Owen Jones, vicar and TV presenter, who gave a challenging and radical talk calling for 'a new environmental model of Christianity' based on communion, not stewardship.

He suggested that we use festivals as a way of 'synchronising our lives with the life of the planet' and pointed out that, because it encourages abstinence, 'Lent is one of the most important counter-cultural festivals we have'.

Interestingly, the main speaker in the afternoon also talked about festivals as a powerful way forward. Tim Cooper, Professor of Sustainable Design and Consumption at Nottingham Trent University, spoke on 'green economics'. In a discussion of sustainable consumerism, he said that 'Christians should be distinctive by their shopping baskets' - and asked why, according to the latest academic research, that is not usually the case.

He finished by inviting a discussion on the role of festivals. How can we redeem Lent, Christmas, the Sabbath, Harvest? Should we propose banning hot cross buns before Lent; refuse to go Christmas shopping before Advent; re-engage opposition to Sunday trading; celebrate a sustainable Harvest? (We're struggling in our own church to find a way of celebrating Harvest that actually connects us to the real harvest, so this was an encouraging sign.)

It was a day of prophetic voices and one that I will continue thinking about as I go through Lent this year.

The CEL website now has a report of the event, including Tim Cooper's presentations, and (to come) the text of Peter Owen Jones' talk.

Book review: Cherishing the Earth

2011-01-20T11:21:00.000-08:00

Martin J Hodson and Margot R Hodson
Monarch Books

I must admit an interest in reviewing this book as Martin Hodson was one of our Eco-congregation assessors. However, I would have recommended it anyway.
Subtitled 'How to care for God's creation', the book sets out its aim as 'explaining the value of this world and how we should relate to it as something that is precious to God, its creator'.

There are a lot of books available about Christianity and the environment. What is different about this one is that one of the writers (Martin) is an environmental biologist and the other (Margot) a vicar, so it brings together two different, complementary perspectives.

This covers a wide range of issues including the global ecosystem, biodiversity and environmental degradation, alongside Biblical discussion and the history of Christian thought on creation. It also looks at possible responses to these issues, at a personal, community and national/international level. And the last chapter - because this is a Christian book - is about hope.

The book is a mixture of study material (both scientific and theological), personal anecdotes, and case studies of Christians who are trying to make a difference. The Hodsons are members of Sage, the Oxford-based Christian environmental group, and many examples in the book are about people and projects in the Oxfordshire area - which is particularly interesting for those of us in Didcot.

There are lots of footnotes, resources and a Biblical index for those who want to go further, along with a supporting website on www.hodsons.org/cherishingtheearth.

Dreaming of a green Christmas

2010-12-09T12:53:00.001-08:00

Here are some green tips to make your Christmas more eco-friendly.

Choose your food
Use the ‘LOAF’ principles when buying your Christmas dinner: that’s Local, Organic, Animal friendly, Fairtrade. For local produce, try a farmers’ market - the one closest to Christmas is in Wallingford on Tuesday 21st December - or the weekly Wallingford Local Producers’ Market every Saturday. And make the most of your food - there are lots of things you can do with leftover turkey!

Say no to consumerism
Remember when it was ‘the thought that counts’? Put more thought and less money into presents. A few years ago, in a move to cut stress, our family pledged to give small presents. That could be a stocking filler or something you’ve made yourself. There are some great ideas on the Buy Nothing Christmas website.
These are some of the presents I’ve given in recent years:

A home-made recipe book of family recipes for a student.
A calendar of family photos for a proud grandmother.
Hand-decorated (by me!) candles.
Home-made biscuits.

Reduce, re-use, recycle
Buying second-hand is a great way to re-use, and means lower carbon emissions and resource use from manufacturing and packaging. One year I gave everyone a second-hand book - you can find some really interesting items in second-hand bookshops. Green Metropolis is good website for buying and selling books.

Cut down on waste
Don’t buy wrapping paper that will be used once and thrown away. I was brought up to collect wrapping paper and iron it the year after. Or you can use pages from newspapers and magazines - travel supplements are great for snow scenes. My family love the way I choose specific pictures for each individual person.

Say no to landfill
After you’ve opened your presents, don’t throw away the old stuff. Take to a charity shop or put on Freecycle, a website where you can pass on things you don’t want. A recent email from our local Freecycle moderator said: ‘To reuse is better than recycle, to recycle is better than to waste. To offer a gift is part of Christmas. To expect nothing in return makes the spirit of Christmas come alive.’

More green Christmas tips

Friends of the Earth

The Guardian

Directgov

Daily Telegraph

2010 Climate Service

2010-12-09T11:45:00.000-08:00

We marched behind the Christian Ecology Link banner at last Saturday's climate change march in London. It was good to be part of that Christian witness. The coverage on the Operation Noah website includes details of the climate change service beforehand - and some musical inspiration.

Our Christmas Craft Party

2010-12-08T11:46:00.001-08:00

Our ‘Reclaim Christmas’ event at the Didcot Street Fair on 25th November went well. Barbara reports:

We were set up in the church hall where parents were having coffee after taking their children to see Father Christmas. We were a bit slow to start off - some parents found it hard to cope with the concept of ‘free’ - but lots of families had great fun. We estimate we had about 40-50 children, with 30-40 accompanying adults. Some stayed much longer than parents had expected and a number of grandparents took off with ideas of things to do with visiting grandchildren in the run up to Christmas.

Some folk remembered us from doing the craft at the ‘Treasure Times’ summer events and commented on the recycled craft ideas we’d used then and how they had been able to use some of those again. They said it had got them thinking about ways to use ‘junk’ in play situations. With others we chatted about how we wanted to show that children can have fun being creative without it costing a lot and - where dads were helping children to do the craft - what fun it can be when families do things together

What we made:

Pen pots made out of decorated cans.

Photo frames made of cardboard decorated with rolled-up paper ‘beads’.

Christmas tree ‘bells’ made out of clear plastic pudding pots.

Peg doll fairy/angel decorations.

The cans and the photo frames used 100% recycled materials - apart from the glue of course. The bells used some new glittery decorations (about 50p worth) and the dolls some new material (bought remnants) but next time we will collect scraps of fabric.

We ran out of material by around 8.30, when the smaller children were heading home. Now we’re planning for next year.

Uniting on climate change

2010-11-28T08:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I attended, in a personal capacity, the Coalition of Resistance conference in London (a campaign against government cuts). I won’t say more about that as this blog is non party political. But I was inspired to see many people acknowledging that there is an environmental perspective to issues about jobs and the economy.

I was glad to see that one of the workshops was about ‘responses to climate change’ - and that there were more people interested than the organisers had expected! The small room allocated to us was packed.

We heard first about the newly-formed Climate Alliance, an organisation which has close links with Operation Noah. Their aim is to bring together groups and individuals campaigning on climate change into a mass movement. They are keen to encourage grassroots activity and are organising regional events to help with this - there is one planned in Oxford on 8th January.

Organiser Peter Robinson describes the alliance as ‘a broad church’ that will include people of many different backgrounds and viewpoints.

We then heard of an example of environmentalists and trade unions working together, in the campaign for ‘one million climate jobs’. This group has produced an interesting and informative report detailing the benefits of this approach both to the economy and to the environment. Report editor Jonathan Neale argued that the roots of the current economic crisis and the roots of the current climate crisis are actually the same, meaning that environmentalists and those in the labour movement should find common cause. Amid the current gloom, it was good to find people putting forward a positive alternative, and the report is persuasive and hopeful. The Oxford launch of the pamphlet is on 25th January at Oxford Town Hall.

There were also plenty of plugs for the climate march next Saturday which will be preceded by a climate service organised by Christian Ecology Link. I hope to be there.

Prayer point

The 2010 climate march coincides with the United Nations climate change conference in Cancun, Mexico. The Christian Ecology Link website says this: ‘Despite the disappointment of Copenhagen, CEL and Operation Noah continue to support efforts to keep climate change high up on national and international agendas. With numbers for the march expected to be considerably less than in 2009 it is even more important for Christians to be present with our prayers.’

Reclaiming Christmas on 25th November

2010-11-22T13:10:00.000-08:00

It's Didcot Street Fair this Thursday, which is always a big event for us as a town centre church. We'll be hosting Father Christmas as usual along with offering refreshments and stalls in the church. This time round we will also be doing something different.

As Christians, we often talk about ‘the real meaning of Christmas’. But that’s not always enough to stop us from getting caught up in the hustle and, often, actual stress of preparing for the big day. For many of our friends, family and neighbours, who may not have that Christian celebration at the centre of the day, the stress can often override the celebration.

There are Christians around the world looking at different ways of approaching Christmas. In North America, the ‘Buy Nothing Christmas’ movement advocates present-giving without consumerism.

Closer to home, Operation Noah runs a campaign called ‘Reclaim Christmas‘ encouraging us to say no to the materialistic Christmas. Their view is that less consumerism means more time and money for the things that matter, and a smaller impact on the earth.

The Green Team has picked up this idea for something new we can offer the community at the annual Didcot Street Fair - exactly one month before Christmas Day.

We will be inviting visitors - particularly children - to ‘reclaim Christmas’ by making their own Christmas presents using recycled ‘scrap’ materials. Our team on the day are expert in making attractive items from scrap, having previously done this at summer holiday kid’s clubs. We displayed examples at the church Open Day in June and some visitors asked where they could buy them. The answer was: ‘You can’t, but you can make them yourself!’

We want to show that making your own presents is more personal, more fun, more economical, and better for the environment.

As Operation Noah say: ‘Advent was traditionally a period of penitence and quiet anticipation. But now it seems no more than four weeks of frenzied consumption in which stress, needless debt and damage to God’s creation have become its defining hallmarks.125,000 tonnes of plastic packaging will be thrown away this Christmas. We’ll use 83 square kilometres of wrapping paper. Countless unwanted “gifts” will end up, at best in the charity shops and at worst, in the landfill. If Jesus returned in December 2010, what would he make of us doing all of this in His name?’

Community and climate change

2010-11-21T08:49:00.001-08:00

When you’re trying to help the planet it’s a help to know that you are not alone. I’ve been to two interesting events this month that have opened my eyes to what can be done when 'two or three' are acting together.
On 6th November I attended the Christian Ecology Link Annual Members’ Meeting in which they launched their new Ecocell 2 programme. The original Ecocell programme was a toolkit designed for small groups (such as church house groups) to help you to live a more simple, more Christian lifestyle, working through different modules such as food and transport. Ecocell 2 is more ambitious and is intended to help you work towards zero-carbon living. It’s a long-term (probably five-year) programme, working within a support group in your area although possibly not your local community. Described as ‘journeys in carbon-free discipleship’, it’s a kind of pilgrimage to a more joyful way of living on the earth. It’s a very inspiring vision although obviously extremely challenging.
It was also good to meet other members of CEL, a more diverse group than you might expect and coming at the issues from many different viewpoints. One thing that everyone seemed to agree on was the connection between Christian faith and environmental concerns. Quoting everything from Micah to John 3: 16 (‘God so loved THE WORLD‘), the view was that living sustainably is not an add-on or a hobby: ‘It’s about being truly Christian’.
A week later I was at Oxfordshire’s annual community climate conference. Aimed at community groups, it was a chance to learn and share ideas and information. There are some inspiring stories coming out about what communities can do when they act together, from the village-wide energy-reduction project carried out by Hook Norton Low Carbon Limited to, closer to home, a hydro-generation project at Abingdon weir which grew out of Abingdon Carbon Cutters.
There was also a mini-workshop on ‘faith responses to climate change’ where we looked at the barriers to engagement (tradition, suspicion of the ‘political’) and the opportunities (experience of dealing with ethical issues, ready-made communities).
My personal vision is that phase 2 of our Eco-congregation programme will be to work within the wider community. I hope these connections and examples will help us on our way to doing this.

10:10:10

2010-10-10T05:54:00.000-07:00

Today is 10:10:10 - 10th October 2010 - a day designated by the 10:10 campaign, in partnership with the international campaign group 350.org, as 'a global day of doing'. We're not doing anything specific for this day, but instead here is an update on our own 10:10 project from Philip:

Last Autumn, the director of the climate change film “The Age of Stupid”, Franny Armstrong, invited governments, organisations and individuals to sign up for the 10:10 challenge: to cut their emissions of carbon dioxide by 10% during 2010. The Church signed up to the challenge with the aim of reducing emissions by decreasing the amount of energy we use to light and heat the premises. Obviously, reducing our energy use also has the added benefit of lowering costs.

Firstly, we worked out how much electricity we used in a year, using the meter readings taken in September 2008 and September 2009. From this, the quantity of carbon dioxide that was emitted in producing this amount of electricity was calculated. After reducing this figure by 10%,our target for 2010 was obtained: a maximum of 9852 kg of carbon dioxide.

The redevelopment project included the installation of gas boilers to provide much of the heating, which give off less carbon dioxide for the same amount of heat and should therefore work in our favour.

Since the building work should have been finished by the end of March, it was decided to run the “year” from April 2010 to March 2011. We are monitoring energy each month to see how we are doing.

Because we have not used gas before, we have had to estimate the quantities of gas and electricity we will use. Obviously, we use less energy in summer months than in winter months, so to allow us to monitor progress, we have estimated the proportion of energy used each month. These figures range from 3% of the total in each summer month to 15% per month in the winter.

Unfortunately, we missed the targets in April and May because of the continuing building work but since then we have been just below target. The real challenge comes with the darker and colder months ahead – and we will need everyone’s help. Simple things like not leaving external doors open and not leaving lights and heaters on when they are not needed could make a significant difference to our progress.

We are reporting results every month on the church notice board, and hope this will encourage church members to do what they can to help us continue to meet our goals.

Publicity for our Eco-congregation award

2010-10-06T12:37:00.000-07:00

Things have been a bit quiet from the Green Team since we got our Eco-congregation award. But during the summer we have been gathering some publicity for our project.

On 25th July - the day we had our award presentation - Philip from the Green Team got up early to be interviewed on BBC Radio Oxford’s Sunday breakfast show.

There has been an article in the Methodist Recorder.

And we were featured in the Creation Challenge website - the environmental network of the Methodists, Baptists and URC.

The Green Team met last week and there are some good projects in the pipeline - more about those later.

And things have not been quiet at the church over the summer. We've launched a new church magazine - with a regular Eco-congregation slot. And we have a new minister, and we've already got him involved in the Green Team.

Our Eco-congregation presentation

2010-07-27T13:10:00.000-07:00

We held the official presentation of our Eco-congregation award on Sunday 25th July 2010. We invited Steve Hucklesby, Policy Adviser for the Methodist Church advising on climate change and environment, to present the award. Steve preached at our first-ever ‘green service’ in 2008 which kicked off our participation in the Eco-congregation programme. We also had our Eco-congregation assessors Richard and Martin as our guests.

Sadly, it was the last service with our minister Helen White, who is moving on, but it was good to have her with us to celebrate this achievement. Helen has been a great supporter of the Eco-congregation project.

Methodist Church announces carbon reduction policy

2010-07-04T08:25:00.000-07:00

The Methodist Church signed up to a series of carbon reduction commitments at its annual Conference last week.

The Conference pledged to reduce Church’s carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 in line with Government targets.

The church is also asking for views on 'Hope in God's Future' - the draft Methodist Conference Statement on climate change. The results of the consultation will determine the recommendations that are put to Conference in 2011.

We are an Eco-congregation - official

2010-06-12T04:23:00.000-07:00

Good news! The Eco-congregation assessors have recommended us for the award.

We had our assessment on Tuesday (8th June). The church was represented by eight people so we had a good cross-section who could talk about the different aspects of the project: spiritual, practical and community.

After showing our assessors, Martin Hodson and Richard Riggs, around the church, we had two hours of fairly probing questioning. It was definitely more than a formality, although as Martin pointed out afterwards, after all the work people put into the award it would be a let-down if the assessors just turned up, said ‘well done’ and left for home.

It was good, anyway, to be made to think about what we have done, to get an outsider’s perspective and to put it into a wider context.

At the end of the evening they summarised their findings and gave particular commendation to our redevelopment project, our green services and (particularly gratifying for me) our team work.

We are now planning a service to celebrate getting the award.

Consider the lilies of the field...

2010-05-10T14:22:00.000-07:00

A small group from church has been meeting for the last few weeks for a discussion based around The Age of Stupid. Each time, our conversations seem to come back to one thing: consumerism.

And questioning consumerism seems to be something that’s growing. I recently came across two interesting articles on the subject.

In the Winter 2010 issue of Green World, the Green Party magazine, there’s an article headed Consumer Drift which also uses The Age of Stupid as its starting point. It argues that the problem isn’t stupidity, it’s that ‘we’re embedded in cultural realities that make it natural to lead high consumption lifestyles.’.

The article argues for ‘a wholesale transformation of dominant cultural patterns so that living sustainably will feel as natural tomorrow as living as a consumer feels today.’ And the it calls on us to be ‘cultural pioneers’ working to make this happen.

The writer singles out six culture-shaping institutions that can be used to this happen: education, business, the media, government, traditions and social movements. I think we can add a seventh!

And to prove it... I came across an article in the Winter 2009/2010 issue of Green Christian, the Christian Ecology Link magazine, that also allows the possibility of refusing the consumer dream: by living ‘in the world, but not of the world’. The article, ‘God, Monsters and the Promise of Life’, introduces Breathe, a Christian network for simpler living. Their aim is to challenge consumerism with contentment and community. Their website is inspirational. And they have an event in Oxford on 10th June - so watch this space.

More resources on consumerism

Ethical Consumer magazine
Buy Nothing Day
Buy Nothing Christmas
How to live a simple life (BBC TV)

Election debate in Didcot

2010-05-05T12:03:00.000-07:00

With two days to go before the election, Churches Together in Didcot and District organised an Election Debate at the Cornerstone last night (Tuesday 4th May). It was great to see an almost full house of people in the theatre, and all but one (UKIP) of our candidates present to take questions.

It was, though, pretty disappointing to find out quite how little most of the candidates have engaged with the issue of the environment. Climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing the world yet only two of the four even mentioned the environment in their introductory speeches. They were, unsurprisingly, the Lib Dem and Green candidates.

I’ll try not to be party political about this but it was good to see that the Green Party candidate, Adam Twine, got more applause than anyone else. And not just for talking about the environment (people may be surprised to find the Greens have policies on other issues - although you could argue that they are all related).

I was keen that someone would ‘ask the climate question’; someone else got there before me which saved me from stage fright. It was slightly frustrating that the chair did not invite a follow-up question (as he had for the discussions on previous subjects), as we just got each candidate’s standard spiel, without a chance to challenge it. They definitely needed to be challenged.

Adam Twine explained that the Green Party policy on climate change is a ten per cent reduction in carbon emissions year on year - not unreasonable given that many people have voluntarily signed up for just that via the 10:10 campaign.

The other three seemed to think that a bit of loft lagging would save the world. Oh, and individuals ‘doing their bit’. They might think that’s a palatable message when they are worried about scaring the voters, but it bears no relation to the reality of the situation.

The Labour and Conservative candidates - closer together than they would like to admit - both talked nervously about people not being ready to change their lifestyle.

Adam Twine talked about choices, values, priorities - and the need to be serious. And that is the crux of the matter. I felt that none of the other candidates was actually taking this issue seriously at all.

More election resources

Friends of the Earth list of the candidates who have signed their climate pledge

Guardian article by ‘The Age of Stupid’ director Franny Armstrong on how Greens should vote.

Election briefings from the Methodist Church Joint Public Issues Group, including a summary of the three main parties’ manifestos.

Disclaimer: this is a personal view.

Looking ahead

2010-04-26T12:55:00.000-07:00

We have sent off our Eco-congregation application and had an encouraging reply. Now we're waiting for a visit from an assessor before we find out whether we have gained the award.

Meanwhile, there's lots happening at Didcot Methodist Church. The mood at our AGM last week was optimistic as we looked forward to the opening of our new extension very soon. We're planning the opening celebrations for the weekend of 22nd-23rd May, when we'll be inviting the town to come and see what we've been doing and what we have to offer. The main attraction will be the much improved facilities for community use, but I hope it will be a good showcase for our Eco-congregation project as well. A few weeks after that, we're planning a Vision Day to look at what happens next. I'm looking forward to it.

It was great putting together our Eco-congregation application: it really showed how much had happened in the past year or two, how far we have come, and how many people have been involved - whether they realised it or not! There was much that we wrote down that was not a ‘green team’ project, and that’s how it should be.

Our Eco-Congregation project: How it started… and what next

2010-03-01T05:03:00.001-08:00

We have reached an exciting time at Didcot Methodist Church. Our building redevelopment, which has taken so much energy (and money!) for such a long time is almost complete: we are planning now for an Open Day and celebration. And the Green Team met last week and decided it is time to apply for our Eco-Congregation award.

It’s almost a year since we officially registered on the programme, but the process has been going on for longer. It all started in January 2008 with a challenge from a Churches Together/Prayer for Christian Unity service. As part of the service we were invited to choose one of three action stations: green for Planet Earth, white for Justice and Peace, red for Hospitality. I chose green, got a neighbour to tie a green ribbon round my wrist, and looked at the list of actions to choose from.

One was ‘organise a green service at your church’ and one was ‘encourage your church to become an Eco-Congregation'. In practice, one grew out of the other. And I found out I was not alone in our church in caring about the environment.

Things started moving. The church's house group started an environmental Bible study, and out of it grew another ‘green’ service. We set up a Green Team to move the Eco-Congregation project forward. Many people in the church got involved in the environmental audit or ‘Church check-up’ that is ‘Module 1’ on the programme – they had to, because we were asking them questions.

This was an incredibly useful exercise. It was encouraging to find out about the good things that were already happening, but which perhaps had not been shared with the wider church before. We were even more encouraged when we found people rising to the challenge without us even asking them to. We asked, for example, about purchasing decisions – and the people who made those decisions changed what they bought. We ended up ticking a lot more boxes than we thought we would be doing.

By the time we officially registered on the Eco-Congregation programme in early 2009 the momentum was already growing. Since then we have seen projects large and small take place in church. The redevelopment of course was one – in progress before we started Eco-Congregation but very much in the spirit of environmental responsibility. Then there was our film show of The Age of Stupid – a big event for us and a successful one.

There have been smaller projects too – an all-age service involving Girls’ Brigade and Junior Church, the creation of a lending library. Most important, the programme has meant more people within the church taking an environmental perspective into church activities and their own lifestyles. We always said we wanted to be an Eco CONGREGATION rather than delegating responsibility to a small group: that’s not something that happens overnight (very little in church life does), but it is happening.

The great thing is that if and when we get the award, it won’t stop there. You only keep the award for a few years: this is just the start.

The environment and the election

2010-02-20T01:21:00.000-08:00

The Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Churches joint public issues team has launched a website in advance of the General Election www.churcheselection.org.uk, aimed at helping Christians to prepare for the election.

Resources on the site include Faith in Politics, a 16-page guide to some of the key policy areas likely to be debated in the run up to polling day. One of these is, of course, the environment.

This says:

At the time of the last General Election in 2005, environmental issues and climate change were still regarded as a fairly low priority by both voters and the major political parties. Since then the topic has become much more urgent and important.

It goes on to outline the main issues and suggest some questions that we could ask the politicians. It also asks us a question:

Churches have a presence in every community across the UK and through the eco-congregation movement have shown themselves to be agents of change and transformation. How can Churches and the government work together to combat climate change and shift our society and economy onto a more sustainable footing?

The Archbishop's sermon at The Wave... and responses to Copenhagan

2009-12-20T01:50:00.000-08:00

The Copenhagen climate change summit has been a disappointment. Here’s a roundup of some responses:

Christian Aid

We hoped that sanity would prevail but powerful nations didn’t come to negotiate. They came to play hardball. Lives will be lost as a result.

Stop Climate Chaos Coalition

Millions across the globe mobilised to give our leaders a clear mandate to act decisively. Their collective response has been dire and utterly irresponsible. We will not rest until we have pressured our leaders to show the political courage and vision necessary, in the short time left, to pull us back from the brink of disaster.

Hopenhagen

The most powerful individuals on the planet have convened here to reach a deal. But based on the quality of the deal that emerged, I believe that the important people in the world are elsewhere.

350

Not done yet.

And to remind us why we should care, here’s the text of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s sermon at the service for The Wave.

The Big Climate Event - report now available

2009-12-13T01:18:00.000-08:00

I blogged a few weeks ago about The Big Climate Event that I attended in Oxford. A report on the event is now available online on the CAG website. It includes details of all the workshops and presentations on the day.

The Wave

2009-12-06T03:33:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was an amazing day in London. Ruth and I went down to the climate change protest The Wave to represent our church.

The day started with an ecumenical service at the Methodist Central Hall in Westminster, an inspiring and moving event. With over 3,000 people there united for one cause, how could it not be? Leaders from many different churches took part, and representatives from Bangladesh and Burkina Faso highlighted the effects of climate change in their own countries: not theory, not in the future, but happening now.

The march was equally inspiring (and a lot of fun). The organisers estimate that 50,000 people attended, and it was great to be part of this huge and varied group. Just in the section we were walking in we saw banners from Christian Aid, CAFOD, Tear Fund, The Co-op, the Salvation Army and more. There were people from the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party, the Socialist Workers (but I didn’t see any Conservatives). There were young people and students, families with children, older people and veteran campaigners, cyclists - and the occasional eccentric.

But it doesn’t stop there. The United Nations Climate Change Conference starts on Monday and continues until 18th December. Let’s pray that it delivers a fair deal.

The Stop Climate Chaos website has a roundup of coverage of The Waves.

This is the act of repentance from the service:

Loving God,
We confess
That we have sinned through
Thoughtlessness and greed
By the destruction we have caused
And by the actions we have failed to take.

When we look you in the eye,
Do not forgive us if we excuse ourselves
For our ignorance, for our weakness
For our own deliberate fault.

We are truly sorry.

We repent of all that we have wasted
And the bounty we have squandered
Knowing that it is the poor who have paid
The greater price.

Create a new willingness within us
To turn back the tide of impending judgement
To honour international agreements
And to play our part in your future.

Grant that we may serve you in newness of life,
To the glory of Your name, through the wonder of Your creation.

Amen.

And the photo? The paper cut-out blue praying hands were given out at the service so that we could display them on the march.

The Methodist Church’s prophetic voice

2009-12-01T05:48:00.000-08:00

It was nice to see John Wesley get a mention in the Guardian’s ‘ethical living’ supplement on Saturday.

An article on ethical investment opened with a quotation from Wesley’s sermon entitled The Use of Money: “Gain all we can without hurting our neighbour.”

Back in the 21st century Ben Bradley, the Events Coordinator for the Methodist Church has joined the climate cycle ride to Copenhagen.

The Big Climate Event

2009-11-08T03:39:00.000-08:00

I spent yesterday in company with hundreds of local environmental activists from across Oxfordshire at The Big Climate Event, a conference organised by ClimateXchange and the Oxfordshire Community Action Group project. It was a day of hopes, fears, facts and ideas. Ultimately it was about communities coming together for change.

Ian Curtis from Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute opened the first plenary session with a provocative presentation that highlighted how far we currently are from winning the climate change argument. He showed that climate change deniers are highly motivated and organised, and we need to be the same. We need to use all the skills we employ in our jobs. For example, marketing is key: our ‘shop window’ is not as attractive as the status quo. He sees hope in ‘rediscovering community’.

This came up again in a workshop about Copenhagen, where Dr. Heike Schroeder from the Environmental Change Institute gave an authoritative overview of negotiations. She said that while the Copenhagen talks may not be decisive, there are signs of hope outside of the legislative process - again, it’s down to communities. Many cities, because they see their local area as vulnerable, are taking practical action unilaterally.

The final session - a discussion involving everyone - highlighted what can we done on a local level, whether it’s awareness raising or practical projects. Some groups used a thermal imaging camera to identify heat loss from houses and motivate people to reduce their energy use. Other groups are planning ambitious power generation schemes. There are projects for community gardens, sharing land or produce. There’s no shortage of inspiration...

More food for thought

The Science Museum’s Prove It campaign

Leaders of nine major faiths have presented 60 ideas to lessen carbon emissions to the United Nations after Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon singled out the religious community as key in fighting climate change.

Methodist church lobbies EU leaders about climate change

2009-10-30T06:41:00.000-07:00

Church leaders, including the Methodists, have been lobbying EU leaders ahead of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference.

The Conference of European Churches has sent a letter to MEPs stressing the need to reduce dependence on the consumption of fossil-based energy.

The Methodist Church press release says:

The Methodist Church, the Baptist Union of Great Britain and the United Reformed Church have urged the European Union to agree cuts of at least 40% below 1990 levels by 2020 and for these cuts to be made within the EU without extensive use of carbon offsets.

Martyn Atkins, General Secretary of the Methodist Church in Britain, said: “Europe must not be afraid to lead on climate change. This challenge will not be solved by nations sitting back and waiting for others to act first. Developed nations have benefited most from cheap fossil fuels and we must now lead on developing low carbon futures for all. Caring for God’s planet earth is today a crucial expression of Christian discipleship.”

The three churches have produced a report and study guide called Hope in God’s Future. The booklet, available from Methodist Publishing, takes the reader on a journey using the changing mood of a worship service as a framework for considering climate change and people’s effect on the planet.

You can read the full press release on the Methodist Church website.

Meanwhile, Didcot is in the news again. Our power station is increasingly on the hit list of campaigners as a ‘climate crime scene’.

We've joined 10:10

2009-10-11T05:48:00.000-07:00

Didcot Methodist Church has just signed up to the 10:10 campaign. The Green Team took the proposal to Church Council last week and it was approved.

For organisations, they ask for ‘a commitment to aim for a 10% reduction across four key areas of your carbon footprint’. These are: grid electricity, on-site fossil fuel use, vehicle fuel use (vehicles owned by the organisations) and air travel. The last two are not applicable, so that makes things even easier.

We know there are other aspects to our carbon footprint - for example, a refurbishment project which will add to our carbon footprint in the short term (although it will make us more energy-efficient in the long term). But this simple methodology allows us to quantify things where we can start to make a difference immediately. Watch this space for how we get on!

How to be an armchair activist

2009-10-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

Since our screening of The Age of Stupid, people have been asking questions - which is great. And one of the questions is: what can I do as an individual?

The answer is: a lot! Here are some wise words from Chris Goodall’s book ‘How to live a low-carbon life’.

Individually, of course, we are powerless. But our actions influence those around us.... Neither governments nor companies have any choice about climate change...They will follow what the voters ask for or what purchasers require.’

We are used to the Biblical image of the church as a body, made up of different parts. It’s the same with any group of campaigners: the group is what is strong.

As an example, a concerted campaign took place a few weeks ago by many different organisations to ask Gordon Brown to attend the Copenhagen summit in December. A few days later he announced that he was prepared to go to Copenhagen to clinch a deal, and called on other world leaders to do the same.

December's UN climate summit in Copenhagen is, of course, the focus of most of the campaigning at present. The aim is to ensure the politicians come up with an effective deal to tackle climate change. And they are more likely to do it if there is plenty of public support - which is where we come in.

If you’re not used to writing to politicians, there are a lot of campaigning groups making it easy for you to stand up and be counted - in many cases, at the click of a mouse. Here are a few. Of course, you should read the small print so you know what you are signing up to!

Christian campaigns:

Christian Aid’s Copenhagen pledge

You can email the Prime Minister through this site. (You can also pick up a campaign pack at back of church. It includes a pledge card, a postcard to send to the PM, and a DVD - some of which was shown at our Harvest Festival parade service last Sunday).

The Tear Fund’s ‘Seal the deal’ campaign

You can download a letter to the PM here.

UK campaigns:

The 10:10 campaign

On this website you can join the campaign (pledging to take action) and can also email your MP.

Friends of the Earth’s campaign for the Government to set a minimum requirement for all councils to take action to cut emissions in their area.

Government campaigns:

Act on Copenhagen

UK government website for a global deal on climate change. You can sign up to ‘back the bid’.

Ed’s Pledge

Ed Miliband’s campaign for a climate change deal at Copenhagen. Again, you can sign up to support this campaign.

International campaigns:

TckTckTck

Global campaign aiming to mobilise public opinion in support of rapid action to save the planet from dangerous levels of climate change. You can sign an online petition in support of these aims.

350

Another global campaign inviting you to add to their numbers.

Hopenhagen

A UN climate petition.

And if you want to get out of your armchair:

...think about attending The Wave in London on 5 December. This is a huge demonstration organised by the Stop Climate Chaos coalition, starting with a Christian service in Westminster Central Hall.

Book review: How to live a low-carbon life

2009-09-27T12:53:00.000-07:00

Chris Goodall
Earthscan

Having signed up to the 10:10 campaign I am now committed to reducing my carbon footprint by ten per cent in the next year. So now I need some help!

Chris Goodall is known for his work in this field, and wrote some useful notes on the subject for the Guardian’s launch of 10:10. He talked of ‘easy wins’ that can cut your footprint by ten per cent without much difficulty. They probably are easy for the ‘average’ person. But there are people in our church who are already doing a lot and that makes it harder to know what the next step might be.

So I turned to his book for help. It’s a useful mixture of theory and practical – and it goes a lot further than a ten per cent reduction. He promises: ‘Carefully thought out and implemented, almost everybody’s emissions can be reduced by 50 per cent or more.’

The opening chapters look at the scientific and political context. The book then devotes several chapter to the major sources of greenhouse gases in our lifestyles: energy use, travel, food and other indirect sources (ie the things we buy). There are recommendations, and there are robust arguments for those recommendations. And if you’re short of time there’s a handy ‘conclusions’ chapter summarising what you need to do.

Chris Goodall has done a lot of sums, and he explains how he’s done them so we can make our own choices. There are some surprising facts in there too. Here are some examples:

Plastic bags are a litter problem, not a carbon problem. One plastic bag is so light that its manufacture doesn’t count for much carbon; paper and biodegradable bags create more landfill gas.

Those less-than-two-mile car journeys that we worry about are similarly negligible (so you don’t have to feel guilty if you need to drive to church). Commuting is more important.

You won’t cut your individual carbon footprint if you take a bus carrying fewer than seven passengers instead of driving.

Of course, I found myself saying ‘yes, but..’ a few times. Nonetheless, it’s useful to get some scientific perspective instead of the conventional view of what’s ‘good’ or ‘bad’.

And the advice here is definitely helpful. The main lesson is: tackle the biggest sources of emissions first. These are things like heating, electrical appliances, driving and air travel (‘only when absolutely necessary’). Then deal with ‘indirect’ sources of emissions: this means buying local, organic food; reducing meat and dairy; avoiding items that contain large amounts of metal or weight of plastic…

There's more on the related website http://www.lowcarbonlife.net/ and on Chris Goodall's own website http://www.carboncommentary.com/.

And take heart from what Chris Goodall says in the book: ‘In acting as examples to others, and showing companies and governments the support for genuine changes in lifestyle, your actions can be powerful.’

A full house (almost)

2009-09-14T14:20:00.000-07:00

They came by bike, they came by mobility scooter, they came by taxi, they came on foot (and I think some came by car). Nearly 100 people attended our screening of The Age of Stupid in the church hall on Saturday.

Some were from our church but many more were from elsewhere: Wallingford, the local villages and further afield - one couple came from Bracknell (by motorbike). Everyone seemed pleased to have the opportunity to see the film, and I hope it will make a difference to how they think about climate change and what they choose to do about it. First reports are that it has got people talking, which is always a good sign.

We had agreed we would not have speakers or ‘preach’ to people after the film. The film packs a powerful emotional punch when you first see it, and we wanted our audience to have time to deal with it at their own pace. So we had tea and biscuits, and many people were happy to stay and talk it over among themselves. (On the ‘how to’ list for indie screenings it says ‘go to the pub’ but we are Methodists after all!)

Having seen The Age of Stupid before, I was able to enjoy it more this time just as a very well made film: fast-paced, entertaining and, despite its hard-hitting message, life affirming in many ways. And it wouldn’t have the impact it did if it wasn’t a good film in itself. That combination of professionalism and passion has to be key to the success of The Age of Stupid - and their campaigns - in reaching to so many people. They are coming up to their global premiere next week and I am sure it will go well.

Stewardship

2009-09-11T05:49:00.000-07:00

There’s an interesting article in the Guardian by Mark Dowd from Christian climate change campaigners Operation Noah.

Looking at the action required on climate change, he highlights the concept of stewardship as a motivator for both Christians and non-Christians and says ‘I believe virtue and example are contagious’.

Over to us to be the example!

The Age of Stupid

2009-09-11T05:32:00.000-07:00

One day to go to our screening of The Age of Stupid.

Tickets are going well and there should be a good mixture of people from the church, the town and further afield. I'm looking forward to hearing what they think of it.

For anyone reading this who wants to come here are the details:
Date: Saturday 12th September, 7.30pm.
Place: Didcot Methodist Church
Tickets: £2 from Muriel Gudgin, 01235 812458.

10:10 campaign

2009-09-02T05:42:00.000-07:00

I'm excited about the new 10:10 campaign launched by the ‘Age of Stupid’ team yesterday. Their aim is to get people and organisations signing up to cut their carbon emissions by ten per cent in 2010.

They say: ‘Cutting 10 per cent in one year is a bold target, but for most of us it’s an achievable one, and is in line with what scientists say we need over the next 18 months.’ There’s also lots of practical help on their website on how to do it.

The great thing about this vision is that it cuts across all those arguments for individuals not doing anything about climate change. Firstly, by acting together in this visible way it also acts as a campaigning tool – sending a message to politicians and decision-makers. Secondly, knowing that other people are doing something means you are not just a ‘drop in the ocean’ – there are enough others doing the same to actually make a difference.

There’s an interesting interview in the Guardian with Franny Armstrong, director of The Age of Stupid and the brains behind 10:10. She says: ‘If you’re not fighting against climate change and you’re not doing a job – like a teacher or a doctor – that is about improving the world, then you’re wasting your life.’ That’s quite a challenge.

The Age of Stupid

2009-07-19T05:27:00.000-07:00

We're delighted that we have booked the climate change film The Age of Stupid for screening in church. I saw the film at its launch earlier this year and found it inspiring.

The drama-documentary stars Pete Postlethwaite as an old man living in the devastated world of 2055, watching ‘archive’ footage from 2008 and asking: why didn't we stop climate change while we had the chance?

The Guardian called the film: ‘The first successful dramatisation of climate change to reach the big screen’ and The Ecologist magazine said: ‘Knocks spots off An Inconvenient Truth.’

The people behind the film have an innovative way of spreading their word: they are making the film available to community groups for what they call ‘indie screenings’. Their aim is to get the message across to as many people as possible before the climate change talks in Copenhagen in December.

To my knowledge, this is the first time the film will have been shown in Didcot. Our screening is on Saturday 12th September. More news when tickets go on sale!

Book review: Christianity, Climate Change and Sustainable Living

2009-04-26T05:34:00.000-07:00

Nick Spencer & Robert White
SPCK

This is a must-read for Christians looking for an insight into the issue of climate change: a readable and informative introduction to the subject from a specifically Christian viewpoint. The book is in three parts: ‘The nature of the problem’ (the science), ‘The Biblical perspective’ (the theology), and ‘The Christian response’, and is very thorough on all aspects.

The book was conceived by the Jubilee Centre, which puts relationships at the root of social reform. The authors’ premise is: ‘Our failure to love God means we fail to care for the things God cares about, including the earth... Failure to care for creation is also symptomatic of a breakdown of love of neighbour, whether near or far in space or in time.’

The most inspiring aspect of the book is its ‘biblical vision of sustainable living’. The authors argue that social and environmental sustainability go hand-in-hand. They then set out how this could be achieved, through principles (eg decisions that reflect the bond between society and environment) and through practice (eg ‘easy wins’ for saving energy, local responses to food shopping).

But this is not just about individual behaviour: a communal response is also needed. That means action on a national and international level, and the book is hard-hitting on the urgency for this and on the importance of the mandate that we as individuals give to politicians. The problem also demands a response in our local communities: churches should ‘showcase how sustainable living is not only possible but is also beneficial and joyful’.

The book closes with a challenge: ‘Faith, by itself, if not accompanied by actions, is dead (Jas. 2.17). Christians in Britain and around the world are in a distinct and key position to turn their faith into collective action...We need to do so now.’

I think this is where we come in!

Our Eco-Congregation project

2009-04-18T11:39:00.000-07:00

Eco-Congregation is an ecumenical programme helping churches make the link between environmental issues and Christian faith, and respond in practical action in the church, in the lives of individuals, and in the local and global community.

In October 2008, Didcot Church Council approved the suggestion that we take part in the Eco-Congregation programme. In March 2009, following a ‘church checkup’ to identify our priorities for action, we officially applied to join the programme.

To get an Eco-Congregation award we need to carry out environmentally friendly activities under three broad themes:

spiritual - worship, theology (e.g. study, teaching, preaching), children’s work, youth work, all-age and adult education (e.g. Bible study, speakers).
practical - Church property (energy, water, maintenance); Church management (financial management & purchasing policy, catering, waste minimisation); Church land.
community/mission - personal lifestyle, community outreach, overseas concerns.

We have lots of hopes and plans. We hope to use this blog to record the journey and share our ideas and inspiration.