God's Green Fingers Environment E-news
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Note: Some of the articles below link to the Church Times. You can read up to four Church Times articles each month free of charge by registering on their website. | |
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All churches in the second round of the Give To Go Green have successfully completed their fundraising, raising some £80,000 for projects to help churches reduce their carbon footprint. Applications are open now for round three of this match-funding project and will close on the 16th March 2025.
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The Diocese of Leeds is committed to sharing and supporting Fairtrade, and has launched a refreshed website page with resources for parishes. The refreshed Fairtrade page has information including ten steps to becoming a Fairtrade church; a Bible study guide introducing the ten principles of Fairtrade; some answers to common questions about Fairtrade; and links to more resources, information and supportive organisations.
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One of our Ripon area churches has become the 67th church in England and Wales to be awarded the A Rocha Gold Eco Church award. The Priory Church, falling within the Bolton Abbey Estate, has taken advantage of their opportunity to share the eco message with thousands of visitors each year. There are now over 8,000 churches registered with Eco Church, and by 2025 A Rocha UK aims to engage at least 10,000 churches in ongoing efforts to protect nature and address climate change through the free program.
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Schools across the diocese will be able to help plan for the sustainable future of their buildings, thanks to some £40,000 of government grant funding. Some 47 diocesan Voluntary Aided (VA) schools have secured the funding from Phase 5 of the Low Carbon Skills Fund, a government fund which will allow each school to undertake an energy survey.
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St Giles’ Pontefract has been awarded some £74,000 in a grant to implement energy efficiency measures in their community building. The grant will allow the church to discreetly install solar panels to provide for their electrical needs, as well as replace wasteful lighting in the main body of the building with a new energy efficient system. It also will allow them to replace the synthetic insulation with a natural material insulation to promote the overall health of the building.
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The Church of England’s Energy Footprint Tool is now open for churches to enter energy use from 2024. The data collected from the tool will help your church understand its carbon footprint and will mean you may be eligible for grants to help kickstart your net zero projects. The easy-to-use online tool will reveal your carbon footprint, based on the energy you use to heat and light your buildings.
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A new resource aimed at keeping climate change issues at the front of people's minds has been published by the Church of England. The 2025 Environment Days and Key Events Calendar features key days, weeks and months which are associated with the environment, climate change awareness, and reaching net zero carbon.
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Christian groups and representatives of developing countries have expressed disappointment with the outcome of the COP29 climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, which ended in November, saying that countries in the global North had failed to commit to sufficient finance to support vulnerable nations.
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Events and Webinars - Local | |
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12pm online. In this webinar, experts from the University of Leeds will explore the outcomes of COP29, priorities ahead of COP30, and discuss how to support these as a research community and beyond. Topics will include Nationally Determined Contributions, the political context, and youth engagement, amongst others.
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Tuesdays, 7-9pm online. 8 week course. For those wishing to upskill in their own eco journey or be better equipped to fulfil a Parish Environment Officer or similar role. Register your interest now.
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Get ready to indulge in a delightful celebration of all things spring. Join for a day filled with incredible food, inspiring home furnishings, and stunning garden plants and accessories.
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Bradford Cathedral. 42 cathedrals, 42 days, 2000 miles, starting from Bradford the UK city of Culture 2025. The ride is a total of around 20 miles. The distance to Dewsbury Minster is around 12 miles with an additional 8 miles to Wakefield Cathedral. Participants in the ride are welcome to cycle some or all of it, and can return back to the start by train from either Dewsbury or Wakefield.
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Events and Webinars - National | |
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7pm online. In collaboration with Operation Noah, Christian Climate Action, Christian Aid, the Laudato Si Movement, SCM, Tearfund and Uplift, come and hear how we can have our say in the government consultation on new drilling and end new fossil fuels in the UK.
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12pm online. The A Rocha UK churches team will lead a short reflection, and there will be the opportunity to meet in breakout groups to connect and pray with others in the Eco Church community – for the work of caring for creation in our churches and for each other.
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7pm online. In this workshop Jane Ripley will discuss with us the danger our oceans are in, starting with local, and moving global, and then exploring what responses we can make.
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A new resource has been launched to help churches celebrate God’s beautiful world on any Sunday of the year. Choose Life has been written and compiled in the Diocese of York by Diane Craven and the Revd Johannes Nobel. Picking up on the theme that creation care is not just for the Season of Creation, it contains suggestions for prayer and worship, combined with ideas for practical action for creation, during every season of the church year.
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“Jesus Died to Save the Planet” is the title of a recently published essay by Paul Kunert which reclaims the foundational truth that the gospel is good news for the whole of creation. Kunert argues that by focusing on human interests over all else God has made, we fail to recognise the full redemptive reach of Jesus’ sacrifice. We need to embrace the full, holistic scope of the gospel – living in line with the truth that Jesus is King of all things, and came to save all he has made.
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JustMoney Movement has released a new Greener Fairer Banking guide for churches. The updated guide compares four of the more ethical banks with current accounts suitable for churches and charities in the UK, including an analysis of the banks’ climate policies. The guide can be downloaded for free.
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Find out more about what’s going on across the Church of England. Get monthly news, webinar listings, resources and stories to help inspire you to take action to care for God's creation.
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The next round of Give To Go Green has started and we are encouraging all churches, those already on their Net-Zero Carbon journey as well as those just starting out, to get involved. Give To Go Green is a match-funding grant project from the National Church, matching locally raised donations for carbon-reducing building projects. Applications are open now and will close in March 2025. The Application Pack includes full details and the GTGG team are holding two information webinars in November.
Details here
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The Stobart Sustainability fund is currently open to applications and is looking to support community-led sustainability projects and initiatives led by non-profit organisations, community groups and educational facilities, such as schools and colleges. They want to fund projects that transform their local community through tackling climate change, reducing carbon emissions or protecting or enhancing the environment.
Details here
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A suite of resources is available on the diocese of Leeds website to help you plan and deliver your church creation care plans. Watch the webinar on Planning & Delivering Your Net Zero Carbon Fundraising Appeal, use the template Case for Support document to gather all your funding information in one place and review the lists of grant funders to see where you might be able to best find the funds you need.
Read more.
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A ready to print magazine article for your Parish Magazine! | |
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'I AM the true vine. You are the branches.'
Diana Chambers considers what Jesus being the true vine can mean for us in environmental matters, and how we can reduce our carbon footprint.
Read the article here
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More magazine articles?
All our eco magazine articles are archived on the Diocese of Leeds Environment Magazine Magic webpage.
Click here
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Eco Top Tips
Find a weekly top tip here for your parish newsletter:
Year 1
Year 2
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Please join our discussion group on Facebook by following the below link! | | | | |
