St Mary’s and Creation Care
The Earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. Psalm 24 v1
The Church of England’s Fifth mark of mission is ‘To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth’
Creation care is our response to God’s work – Dave Bookless – A Rocha International’s Director of Theology
40 Actions since the pandemic.
We have: –
1. Put Eco Encouragements into the church newsletter each month.+.
2. Been measuring our energy use and seeing how we can reduce it, especially our use of gas.
3. Continued our long relationship with A Rocha Portugal by supporting them in prayer and giving. A Rocha is an international Christian conservation organisation which started from St Mary’s in 1983.:
4. Been looking after our Conservation Area at the bottom of the church carpark.
5. Moved the Wednesday Communion Service from the church to the West Room to save energy.:
6. Given financial and prayer support to Hannah Pearson who works part time for A Rocha, UK, supporting the Partners in Action programme.
7. Taken our preschool children out regularly for nature walks, including into our Conservation Area.
8. Done litter-picks each summer in Upton Meadow in connection with the Woodland Trust. SMART men and individual church members do regular local litter picks in Upton Village and other areas.
9. Put out bird food in the Conservation Area every week, all through the year.
10. Taken part in the ‘Church’s Count on Nature’ of plant and animal species, including insects, birds and mammals, in the Conservation Area in June 2021.
11. Taken part in Net Zero Sunday, when we measured energy used and had a questionnaire on transport to church, in November 2021.
12. Enabled our Preschool to gain a Silver Level, Green Tree Schools Award from the Woodland Trust. Preschool subsequently planted 40 or so trees in the wild area at the bottom of the St Mary’s Salacre Lane Cemetery in November 2021.
13. Had a PCC morning about St Mary’s and Net Zero carbon in February 2022.
14. Given presentations about St Mary’s and energy reduction at the APCMs in April 2022, 23 and 24.
15. Taken part in the Church’s Count on Nature in the cemetery in Salacre Lane in June 2022.
16. Interviewed Peter Harris, the founder of A Rocha, at Sundays at 7 in June 2022.
17. Saved energy when the services moved from the church to the hall from November to March 2022/23
18. Planted a damson tree in the garden behind the Atrium, as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy in November 2022.
19. Welcomed Marcial and Paula Felgueiras from A Rocha Portugal, who visited for the weekend in November 2022.
20. Had a Tots’ Children’s Clothes Swap each year, showing the importance of reusing not throwing away, starting in November 2022.
21. Collaborated with Upton Village Community Group, Flourish Community Gardening Project and Friends of Warwick Park, to discuss and produce dramas about Environmental Issues with students from LIPA (Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts) in November and December 2022.
22. Had a six-week Sunday evening sermon series on Creation Care in January and February 2023.
23. Talked to Year One from Overchurch Primary School, who visited the Conservation Area in June 2023, and also learnt about creation care from Revd. Alec in Church.
24. Put solar panels on the roof of the Bank in May 2023 and in September an air source heat-pump was installed inside.
25. Had a “no-mow” policy in May to July 2023 and 2024, in parts of the Cemetery, to be repeated annually, in order to protect biodiversity there.
26. Delivered a creation care series, through our 0 to 18 team, as part of collective worship in Woodchurch High School every three years.
27. Held a Living Lightly and Sustainability Fair in September 2023.
28. Been holding Repair Cafes most months to reduce unnecessary waste of the Earth’s resources, since September 2023.
29. Pruned shrubs and weeded in the car park border by the laurel hedge in November 2023 and November 2024.
30. Had a creation care series called ‘God’s World’ for those aged from 0 to 4 (Seed and Grow) to those aged 14 during the Autumn Term 2023.
31. Been putting Climate Change articles taken mainly from Christian websites onto the Eco Church noticeboard regularly since December 2023.
32. Taken part in Caring for our World, Living Lightly and Reducing our Carbon Footprint Actions, as part of our 40 Acts of Service for Lent, February and March 2024.
33. Encouraged the congregation to fill in a Lifestyle questionnaire in May 2024 and analysed the results.
34. Had monthly working parties in the Cemetery from June to October, inclusive, 2024 to tend the area and also protect wildlife where possible.
35. Attended a Big Wirral Environmental Debate, hosted by Wirral Environmental Network, where parliamentary candidates, apart from those from the Labour and Conservative Parties, answered questions about their policies in June 2024.
36. Agreed, through the PCC in July 2024 to give £2,000 from the Tithe Fund for repair of the solar panels at Cruzinha, the A Rocha Centre in Portugal, to add to the £12,000 from the Tithe Fund for the original panels.
37. Taken part in the Can Do Food Club, which some St Mary’s members belong to and which has the aim of reducing supermarket food waste and helping provide affordable food.
38. Set up a Carbon Neutral Church group in the autumn of 2024 to investigate ways of reducing our energy, especially our gas use.
39. Made two visits to other churches to investigate Chandelier electric heating for the Parish Church in Autumn 2024.
40. Collected plastic sweet tubs in January 2025, as part of the Tub2Pub recycling scheme, having encouraged church members to take part themselves previously.