Where have we been on our
Carbon Neutral journey?
Greening the church: An ecumenical breakfast
with Jessica Morthorpe in 2011
On the 5 th of September 2011, early on a Saturday morning, members of
churches in North Canberra gathered in St Columba’s Church hall for
breakfast, conversation, exchanging of ideas and stories, and mostly to
hear Jessica Morthorpe speak on “greening the church”.
Jessica invited us to take a “Journey to a Greener Church” to reduce our
impact on God’s creation. The Bible (especially the new Green Bible*)
acts as our guide: “God placed man in the Garden of Eden to tend and
care for it” GEN(2:15) Our church leaders, such as George Browning, a
former bishop of Goulburn and Canberra, also tell us that taking care of
the Earth is “core Christian business.”
So, what does it mean to be a “Green Church”? It means taking leader-
ship by:
1.
2.
putting our own house in order; and
promoting and supporting the community, especially our mem-
bers, to do the same.
The latter will clearly have the biggest impact.
Churches around the world have already started on this journey. Their
examples and shared knowledge are the tools we need. Some of those
available are:
•
•
•
UnitingEarthWeb.org.au – provides material for study and prac-
tical projects
ARRCC (Australian Religious Response to Climate Change) –
become a member!
Five-Leaf Eco Award. This is a program started by Jessica with
the mission to bring people closer to God through activities
dedicated to caring for his creation. They are looking for more
churches to join the pilot project and are also available to come
to your church to give talks and advice.
So where to start? Jessica’s suggestions include:
•
get an energy audit (their energy audit handbook should be
available soon)
Carbon Action Project
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1 March 2020