Churches go ‘green’ with practical policy launch

Church-goers across Nottinghamshire are being urged to be more ‘green’ in a bid to reduce their carbon foot print and help grow greener churches – starting with a clean-up session in Sherwood Forest.

The Diocese of Southwell & Nottingham – including Church of England parishes across the county – will launch its new Environment policy this month, which will be distributed to every church in the diocese with an action plan to appoint ‘environment champions’ for parishes and reduce energy by 3 per cent a year.

Photo opportunity:
Volunteers will be marking the day with a practical clean-up session on Saturday, 14th June 2008 at 9.30am in Sherwood Forest, when the Bishop of Southwell & Nottingham, the Rt Revd George Cassidy, will take part in a litter pick and weed clearing session with the rangers near Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre, Edwinstowe.

Bishop George said: “I am very pleased that this Diocese has agreed to take action to help safeguard our environment, locally and globally and I hope that it will encourage us all to take a close look at our lifestyles to find ways to recycle, cut down on fuel and energy and work together with others to make a difference.”

The new policy, called ‘Growing Greener Churches’ aims to help develop a coordinated response from the diocese to the widespread and growing concern about the impact of human activity on the natural environment, particularly in the area of climate change.

Diocesan Environment Officer, Shelagh Baird-Smith said: ”Growing Greener Churches has been designed to help churches to take action where they can, to encourage and enable rather than to dictate. Climate change is one of the greatest threats to the well-being of society and the world as a whole, although it isn’t the only environmental issue facing us today. We have included a whole range of actions and suggestions in the green packs we will be giving to churches.”

The practical clean-up session will be followed by a launch meeting at Thoresby Miners Welfare at 10.30am on Saturday, June 14th, with national speakers including Paul Bodenham, who is chair of Christian Ecology Link and founder of Operation Noah, the Christian climate change campaign, as well as David Shreeve, the Church of England’s Environment Adviser and author of the booklet – ‘How many Lightbulbs does it take to change a Christian?’ - which is included in the policy packs.

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