Presentation by Liz and Janet in church on Sunday 28th April 2024
The Eco-Church group has been busy recently, and we held a meeting this week. We are aiming to be awarded a Silver Eco-Church award as soon as we can, and to do that we need to improve on a few things. (Just as a reminder, this award focuses on 5 aspects of our church life – worship and teaching, buildings, land, community and global engagement and lifestyle.) One of these is to try to ensure that all the food we buy is as ethically and sustainably produced as possible. Of course, to do this, we have to try out a few samples – such a sacrifice! – and this week we got off to a good start by sampling a new brand of coffee for possible use at church functions. We were all impressed by our consumer testing and have recommended to elders that we trial what we sampled to see what you think. Inevitably, it is a little more expensive than our current brand, but we need to balance the need for economy with the wish to do our best to make sure that we know where it comes from and how it is produced. We will also have to trial other things, such as biscuits!! Are you sure you don’t want to belong to this group?
Talking about food, the group is planning a visit to Boug’s Meadow Nature Park for a picnic, after church on Sunday May 12th. This is a lovely, quite small, wild place, looked after by Prestwood Nature volunteers. We went last August, but right now, it looks a little different, because the River Misbourne is really running through the park, whereas when we were last there, it was a dry bed. You probably know that our local rivers are chalk streams, fed from underground water, and only flowing when the water table is high enough, which unsurprisingly, it now is! We hope for good weather on the day, but if it is raining, we will find a new date. There will be a list to sign on the board, and fuller details in the next notice sheets and Family News. We will bring the food. There will be an activity for children, and indeed for anyone who likes finding out things. The access is easy, from the carpark in Great Missenden where there are public toilets.If you would like a lift, we can arrange it. There are seats there, but we will bring a few more, although you may have a camping chair which would be more comfortable. Our hope is that by visiting places like Boug’s Meadow together, we can get a clearer idea of how important these wild spaces are, big and small, for our own wellbeing, for wildlife, and because they make us aware of how interconnected all creation is.
A small group has been working hard on our own land, in particular the garden. We are keen not to use aggressive chemicals to keep weeds down, both in the
garden and elsewhere. As long as they don’t get out of control they are a valuable source of food for insects which in turn pollinate the plants, and help keep the balance of nature as it was intended. If you haven’t looked at the garden, do go round and admire it, because obviously it is changing all the time. There will be up to date pictures on the website, and in a leaflet that is just being produced to tell you more about Eco-Church at Amersham Free Church. We also bring nature into our church building with our regularly changing nature table. Visiting children can often be seen looking at this, and playing with it! We would encourage you to play with it too! Recently, an Energy Audit has been done, which has helped our thinking about matters such as insulation, heating and lighting. They’re the kind of things we’re only too aware of in our own homes. We have been feeding our thinking into the elders’ deliberations. Watch out for developments in this area.
Something else to tell you about – we are again hosting an EcoFair, this September, on 14th. We have invited groups and individuals who are concerned, as we are, with enjoying and looking after our environment. Amersham in Bloom will be there, with some plants to sell. Bucks Council will bring a display about how they turn our food waste into energy. The local branch of the Wildlife Trusts will bring an interactive display. There will be lunch! We are exploring where to find the most tempting locally grown and made food to offer. There will be videos from the local wildlife expert who made such a hit last time. Our Hands Together group is working on items for a Loving Earth exhibition, which will feature art and craft with that theme. The Fair will run from 10.00am to 2.30pm. please put it in your diaries, and tell others about it.
Thank you for your encouragement of this group, as we try to help bring some focus to the desire of us all to look after our environment – God’s good earth.
Bug Hotel in Church Garden
Church Garden in the Spring
Eco Church Picnic 2023
Eco Corner in vestibule
Eco Fair in 2022
Eco Fair in 2022