|
Welcome to the last EcoNews of 2024! Thank you for all you continue to do in your locality to ensure that we strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth. Every blessing for Christmas season and as we look ahead to 2025, we share the following prayer:
The earth is not our own but yours, and we are your creatures.
Put us to what you will, rank us with whom you will;
put us to doing, put us to suffering;
let us and all your creatures be employed for you,
or laid aside for you, exalted for you, or brought low for you;
let us be full, let us be empty, let us have all things, let us have nothing:
We freely and wholeheartedly yield all of creation all that we have
and all that we are to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, glorious and blessed Creator,
Maker, Redeemer and Sustainer,
You are God and the earth is yours.
So be it.
And the covenant now made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen
(this prayer is taken from "chooselife" - see under resources section below)
| |
Next Eco Forum: Ethical finance
5 February | 7 - 8pm | online
Come and engage with the sometimes complex issue of ethical investments and banking for churches and individuals. We're delighted that Adam Matthews, the Director of Ethics and Engagement for the Church of England Pensions Board will be giving us some insights and inspiration. There'll be time for discussion and questions. Open to all - do invite anyone who may benefit from joining along, or perhaps view together as a small group. You could then discuss it afterwards!
Teams link below. Meeting ID: 398 818 728 016
Passcode: CP62Lw79
| |
Last Eco Forum: Changing Perspectives - seeing creation differently
About twenty people experienced an immersive creation pilgrimage around Norwich Cathedral in mid-November. In the stillness of the evening this ancient building helped us get a fresh perspective on our present day environmental challenges.
Creatively led by Canon Andy Bryant, we lay on the floor of the nave to gaze up at the ceiling, climbed the spiral staircase up to the Triforium, and lit candles and prayed at the peace globe. We saw the cathedral in new and unusual ways and left with a refreshed view of God’s wonderful creation. You can download Andy's eco pilgrimage reflections and prayers HERE.
| |
Nature Recovery in Harleston - new film | |
|
St John’s Church in the Norfolk market town of Harleston is at the heart of an initiative encouraging nature recovery throughout the local community and its spaces. St John’s Church in Harleston is a bronze-awarded Eco Church.
We made and released a short film about the community biodiversity initiative to showcase the inspiring story of how a grassroots environmental programme in a market town can bring together a parish church, local school and the wider community. The initiative has given rise to what is now known as the “Harleston Model” of nature recovery. This approach has been officially adopted by their district council, with Norfolk and Suffolk County Councils also in the process of integrating it into their frameworks.
The Revd Nigel Tufnell says: “Although this initiative may seem to have changed little on the surface, it has significantly altered the local community’s attitude toward nature recovery. It is now widely accepted that it is a good thing to help wildlife to thrive in or all of your garden and to leave some verges and public spaces for the grass and wildflowers to grow.”
Do contact Nigel if you would like to discuss how you might replicate in your area, or take a look at the website. Please do use and share the short film!
| |
Energy installations
This Xmas we are celebrating and saluting three churches that have switched from their existing fossil-fuelled heating to new electric solutions.
Fakenham Parish Church and St Cuthbert's in Sprowston have installed far infra-red heaters that are divided into zones so that they can just heat the areas they are using as opposed to the whole church. The result is likely to cut their CO2 emissions by over half and allows them to derive all their heating and lighting energy from renewable sources by signing up to a green electricity tariff.
St John’s in Harleston have installed an air source heat pump that feeds warm air blowers that have been sprayed brown to match the colour of the roof (see pic below!). After an initial warm up period, the blowers can be switched to a lower setting to lower the noise levels during services. Air to Air heat pump solutions can be very efficient with every unit of electricity generating over four units of heat.
We will be working closely with all three churches over the coming months to tease out all the learnings from the bold steps they have made.
| | |
|
List B for electric heater replacement
Upgrading your churches old electric wall heater has just got easier!
An Additional Matters Order has been approved that designates the like for like replacement of electric heaters a List B matter instead of requiring a full faculty. This will save a significant amount of time and expense for all those churches looking to upgrade their old systems with new, more efficient models.
| | |
East of England dioceses schools
The Eastern cluster of Dioceses continues to look at ways in which the five members can work together. In November it was the turn of the schools estates managers to get together with the Net Zero Carbon officers and share information of ongoing and completed projects, successes, challenges and a wish list for the coming year. All the attendees found it a really useful exchange of ideas and knowledge and further meetings are planned for the 2025.
| |
Energy Footprint Tool re-opens on 6 Jan | |
|
The Energy Footprint Tool reopens on 6 January 2025 for 2024 energy data. There is a longer window for submitting your data next year, and the tool closes on 30 June. Submission is made through the Parish Returns website. This really is a critical bit of information gathering for the Diocese as we look to understand our emissions and plan for the coming year of Net Zero Carbon projects. A number of Net Zero Carbon grant schemes are in the pipeline for the coming year and a completed EFT will be a required part of the application process. They don’t take a lot of time and they can really help in understanding your energy use. As always, we are here to help, please contact Ed Cotterill. Find a step-by-step guide and more at the button below.
| |
Permissions for Eco Plaques | |
|
It's so important to share the good news of achieving an Eco Church award, and one way is through purchasing and displaying one of the recycled-pews plaques, but we've been waiting on clarity for the permission of the placement of these. The Diocesan Chancellor has now approved an Additional Matters Order in respect of Eco Plaques . This means that applications for such proposals are treated as ‘List B’ matters i.e. they can be approved by an Archdeacon, rather than requiring a Faculty.
The installation of wooden A Rocha Eco Church plaques, subject to the following conditions:
- The Church has been awarded the relevant level of award by A Rocha.
- Installation shall not damage any historic fabric.
- The Archdeacon gives his or her written consent to the installation of the plaque in the location proposed and with the fixing method proposed.
- Any application shall provide with it a photograph of the proposed plaque in the proposed location without fixing it – for example being held by a person in the proposed location.
| |
Eco Church awards & newbies | | |
|
|
Welcome to those who've just started and congratulations to those who achieved their awards.
SILVER - St Botolph's, Trunch, St Peter & St Paul, Knapton, and St Margaret's, Paston
BRONZE - St John's, Harleston
NEWLY REGISTERED - St Peter's, Swainsthorpe, St Nicholas, North Lopham, St Mary's, Tharston, St Andrew & St Peter, Blofield, and St. Cuthbert's, Sprowston
| | |
Cop29 summary
The 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) recently took place in Baku, Azerbaijan. Bishop Graham said, “COP29 ... delivered some steps forward, including the $300 billion climate finance commitment by 2035, and the UK has shown positive leadership in signalling ambitious climate goals and fostering dialogue. Yet for those most vulnerable to climate disasters, this agreement will still feel insufficient. Many individuals and nations work tirelessly for change, yet deeper forces of greed and apathy too often hold us back. To care for God’s creation as we are called to, we must move beyond self-interest and reimagine our approach to finance and resources, with a constant focus on what is sustainable.”
You can download a summary of the conference, written by Jo Chamberlain, national environment officer for the Church of England, here. She covers agreements and commitments reached, as well as some of the disappointments and concerns that still remain unresolved. You can also visit the official COP29 website for more detailed information and responses.
| |
Flying high with the western yellow-breasted chat
A bird called the western yellow-breasted chat has helped Norwich student Liz Allocca win this year’s Bishop of Norwich Prize for Ecology.
Liz wanted to understand how climate change affects species in vulnerable ecosystems, and studied the impact of extreme weather on the American songbird. It lives in areas of dense vegetation in Canada and the USA, migrating to Mexico and Central America every winter.
“By refining our knowledge of how extreme weather and environmental changes affect their survival, we can better predict the threats they face and develop strategies to protect them in the future,” said Liz. Read full story HERE
| | |
|
A memorial garden designed by children to celebrate the lives of classmates has won the £1,000 Bishop of Norwich First Nature Award. The children of the Clare School, on South Park Avenue, Norwich, helped create the garden as a place to remember friends and enjoy gardening and being surrounded by the natural world.
The idea for the garden came from pupils at the school for children and young people, aged three-19, with complex physical, medical and sensory needs. They helped design and create the garden from re-used and recycled material, and are planting it with insect-friendly and native species. Read more here
| |
|
Support the Climate & Nature Bill | |
|
The Church of England is supporting the Climate and Nature Bill as it progresses through Parliament and nears a crucial stage – its second reading – on Friday 24 January 2025.
The campaign group behind the bill, Zero Hour, now needs your help to ensure at least 102 MPs attend the second reading and vote in support of the CAN Bill to ensure it continues to the next (committee) stage. Simply email your MP and ask them to support the bill here.
| |
|
The new survey endeavours to take into account the diversity of our church buildings, land, styles of worship, and available resources, embracing rural, suburban and urban contexts and the different challenges they each present.
- For a summary of all the information available to support you in the new survey, read this recent article.
-
Explore the new survey questions and category overviews on the Eco Church survey summary page.
-
For support navigating the Eco Church platform see the help guide and for more general enquiries see our website help page.
- Explore their resources for support in answering the survey questions.
-
A transition phase will allow churches to finish their work on the existing survey - you have until the end of January 2025 to apply for an award using the existing survey.
A Rocha UK will be offering opportunities to learn more about the updated Eco Church survey from February 2025 with events, training and more!
The next A Rocha UK Eco Church Prayer Forum is on Thursday 13 February 2025, 12 Noon-1pm. A great opportunity to connect with others from the national Eco Church community and pray for work in our churches as well as wider environmental issues. Book your place here.
| |
Environment calendar for 2025
To help us all plan our eco services, events and outreach for the year ahead, the national C of E environment team have produced a calendar for events and days in 2025. It lists various special interest days, events, and liturgical days related to the environment. Each listing is linked to the relevant website, and is available as a PDF, so it can be printed off and displayed if preferred. Click here to download the PDF.
| |
Love our Yew Week - February
February 2025 marks the launch of Love Your Yew Week: 8 -14 Feb, a new initiative dedicated to the care and preservation of ancient yew trees. This annual week encourages those caring for these special trees, most of which are within churchyards, to focus on simple yet impactful ways to safeguard these remarkable living monuments. The theme for 2025 is ivy growth on yews. Ivy, while valuable to wildlife, can impede a yew’s ability to thrive, especially on old trees. Love Your Yew Week 2025 will provide guidance for carefully removing ivy from yew trees, ensuring these fantastic trees remain healthy and resilient for generations to come.
Russell Ball of the Ancient Yew Group has written a useful article HERE
| |
January 2025
January is often referred to as Veganuary, a month focused on the vegan diet and lifestyle, especially encouraging those with meat-based diets to consider the environmental impact that the food industry has – a third of all greenhouse gases come from the food industry. It’s an opportunity to try out some plant-based meals (for example, take a look at the wide range of meal ideas produced by Bosh!) and move towards a more healthy and sustainable diet.
Also taking place in January is the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. Over 600,000 people in the UK took part in last year’s Birdwatch, counting a whopping 9.7 million birds! Everyone can get involved, setting aside a short time each day to count the various birds that visit your garden, grounds, patio or street. Click here for full details and to sign up.
| |
New resources for creation care in worship
ChooseLife – worship and action for creation, by Diane Craven & Johannes Nobel
Creation isn’t just for Creationtide! In this newly-published e-book Diane Craven and Johannes Nobel take a creation-focused journey through the whole liturgical year, inspiring churches to link prayer with action to care for creation. The accompanying website contains printer-friendly liturgies for you to adapt and use in your own context. This resource is free to all dioceses in the Church of England. Click here for details and to download the book in PDF format, and access the accompanying resources. We hae secured funding to provide one hard copy for each of our 150 benefices - watch this space for more news!
| | | |
Papua New Guinea high-value fisheries model | |
|
As Papua New Guinea is our link diocese, it's good to hear of some encouraging environmental progress being made there. The following is from climate scientist Katherine Heyhoe's blog:
Close to 10,000 people live on the island of Manus in Papua New Guinea. Fishing is the primary way they provide food for their families and communities: but many fish tend to congregate around coral reefs, which can be damaged by nets and other fishing equipment. To help people catch the fish they need without damaging the reefs, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) scientists are partnering with local communities to install fish aggregating devices. These are floating mats or rafts that can be anchored or designed to drift in the ocean. The shade and shelter offered by the mats attract pelagic species like marlin, mackerels, and bluefin tuna, directing them away from coral reefs to a more convenient area that fisherman can easily paddle to in their canoes.
A year’s worth of fish catch data shows that this method is working—and that’s not all! TNC is also providing solar freezers to the three coastal communities, enabling fishermen to freeze their fish and sell them. It also reinforces our focus on equity by empowering local women’s co-ops within the community. “The daily operations of each solar freezer will be conducted by women’s groups within each community and agreements will be developed to guide this process,” says Jane Wia, TNC’s Marine Program Manager in Papua New Guinea. [Image: Madang, Papua New Guinea. Photo by Junior Akai 05.0324]
| |
Remember to share your eco stories with us! You can see latest environmental stories from across the diocese here | |
You are receiving EcoNews because you either have an active role in the diocese (e.g. are an Eco Rep) or you have subscribed to receive it. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link below and you can read our Privacy Policy here. | |
Norwich Diocesan Board of Finance Ltd is a limited company (no. 88175) and charity (no. 249318) registered in England and Wales. Registered office: Diocesan House, 109 Dereham Road, Easton, Norwich NR9 5ES. | | | | |
