Eco-Congregation News


		What is an Eco-Congregation? It is a congregation which has registered with Eco-Congregation Scotland, an ecumenical programme designed to help congregations understand environmental issues and make appropriate practical and spiritual responses. It therefore provides structured guidance for those many Christians who are concerned about the environment but don't know what they can do. For those wishing more information on the Eco-Congregation concept, the official website is www.ecocongregation.org/scotland and the blog is http://ecocongregationscotland.blogspot.com.

SLPC are now in the final stages of preparation of their first Eco-Congregation Award Application. An award is given to churches that have:

Worked through the churches environmental checklist

Helped the whole congregation to make the link between their Christian faith and environmental concerns(growing in faith and understanding)

Taken practical action in the church and/or church grounds(putting God’s house in green order)

Had a positive impact on and/or worked with their local or wider community(changing lives: changing communities)

In preparing the Award Application, a number of things became apparent to those directly involved in it.

Firstly we were struck by the number of environmentally good things the church was already doing which only becomes evident when an environment focused exercise like this is carried out.

Secondly, and paradoxically perhaps, it was clear that there is still much, much more that can be done, and this is the hard part, because it will involve something which often doesn’t come easily to many of us- CHANGE!

And finally it has become very clear that we will never be able to call ourselves truly an Eco-Congregation unless the majority of the congregation embrace the ideal. That is what our efforts in the future will concentrate on.

Caring for the environment is a never ending road so although we at SLPC have taken the first few steps, it could be said that we’ve still got a long way to go! It would be nice to have company on our journey so if you’d like to join us please contact the SLPC secretary, Marsine, who will be able to point you in the right direction.

SLPC
Eco-Traveller