Eco-Church

“To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth.”

The fifth mark of mission for the Anglican Communion

At St Mary’s we have started our journey to becoming more environmentally friendly.  Here are some of the things we have been up to.

We are very proud to have gained our Bronze Eco-Church Award. It has helped us to focus on becoming more environmentally friendly and looking after God’s wonderful creation. There are five categories to work on in the Eco-Church awards: worship and teaching, buildings, land, community and global engagement and lifestyle.

The church hall garden has been the focus of some of our environmental endeavours. We cleared away the rubbish, brambles and nettles with the help of local gardeners, church members and volunteers from Lymm High School – thank you everyone it’s a great improvement!

New planting is underway to help pollinators, to provide a beautiful place for contemplation and to provide flowers and foliage for church flowers that have not travelled miles and are not wrapped in plastic.

There are several plants we are looking to buy (or have donated if you have some in your garden) to help us improve the sustainability of our church flowers. Our wish list includes Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’, Twisted corkscrew hazel, Pittosporum Varieagatum, Pittosporum ‘Tom Thumb’, Euonymus Emerald gaiety, Viburnum Tinus, Viburnum Burkwoodii, Eleagnus ‘Limelight’ and Pieris Flaming Silver.

Inside church we have been making some gradual changes towards using Fairtrade tea and coffee, using up old supplies and moving towards eco-cleaning products and loo roll. And we now offer a place to recycle used postage stamps, plastic bottle tops and empty blister packs.

We are encouraged to join with others who care about the environment and that’s what we did during Great Big Green Week, hosting an event for local groups taking action to support nature and the environment. It was great to work with the Co-op, local schools, Fairtrade Warrington, volunteers from Barclays Bank, M20 Refills, L.E.A.F, the U3a and Lymm Radio.

If you would like to get involved with our community eco-garden, please get in touch with Rev Jill on 07306 154741 revjillelston@outlook.com

We are thinking how to change our lifestyles to embrace caring for and appreciating creation.  We have set up regular walks from the church door around Lymm to appreciate all the natural beauty that surrounds us. You are very welcome to join us. We litter pick on some of our walks. We are challenged to think about our carbon footprint, ethical investments and we share tips on reducing, reusing and recycling in our weekly newssheet.

We regularly pray for the environment and those who are already drastically affected by global warming and we hold services with a dedicated environment focus.

Glorious God,

The whole creation proclaims your marvellous work:

Increase in us a capacity to wonder and delight in it,

That heaven’s praise may echo in our hearts

And our lives be spent as good stewards of the earth,

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.