Sustaining our Benefice

By Karen Gray

Climate change, fair trade, ethical investment, ‘going green’, you can’t have failed to have heard these buzzwords, but what have they got to do with our churches?

Well, if we believe that we should be responsible stewards of this amazing planet, and treat other people fairly and with respect, then we can’t afford to ignore these issues. The choices we make about how we spend or invest our money, the energy we use and the ways in which we travel have a direct impact on the lives of others, and the wellbeing of the planet.

Of course, there are many steps we can take individually in our daily lives, but we should also consider what we can do as churches. There are all sorts of possibilities, some of them simple and straightforward (such as serving fairtrade refreshments after services), others considerably more challenging (such as improving the energy efficiency of our buildings). I’m sure you can think of other ideas.

My proposal is that a group of us who are interested in this sort of thing should get together to discuss the possibilities, do some research and information gathering, and then make some recommendations to our PCCs.

We don’t need to operate in a vacuum. There are plenty of organisations we can tap into for help and advice, such as SusMo (Sustainable Moseley), FAB (Fairtrade Association Birmingham), CEL (Christian Ecology Link), Eco-congregation, and Birmingham Friends of the Earth’s Faith & Climate Change project.

If you’d like to get involved in this, please contact me on (0121) 415 4214.

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