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New eco-Congregation Website Launched
9 May 2008:
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Find out how to green your Church on the eco-Congregation's website |
eco-Congregation has this month launched its new website, full of free resources and ideas for churches in the UK working to protect the environment, including details of how to get started.
Link here
www.ew.ecocongregation.org to see the new website
eco-Congregation also has a blog:
www.ew.ecocongregation.org/blog as well as a full map of local networks, contacts with eco-Congregation award winners and details of how your Church can apply for an award.
Background
eco-Congregation developed eight years ago from a partnership between the
(UK Government-funded) environmental charity ENCAMS ¬ best known for the “Keep Britain Tidy” campaign, and the “Environmental Issues Network of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland”.
The aim from the beginning was to encourage churches to consider environmental issues within a Christian context and enable local churches to make positive contributions in their life and mission.
Its beginning as a simple pilot study involving churches from across Britain and Ireland was dedicated in September 2008, appropriately, with a tree planted in the courtyard of St Paul's Cathedral, following an Ecumenical service led by senior church leaders.
Six months later, eco-Congregation Scotland was dedicated in a service at Dunblane Cathedral in March 2001. Today, together with support for churches in Ireland, it is managed by a partnership between Keep Scotland Beautiful (ENCAMS Scotland) and the Church of Scotland.
Since then, eco-Congregation has received endorsements from many denominations and church leaders around the UK and Ireland. Within the first
2 years around 200 churches completed an eco-Congregation churches environmental check-up, and in March 2002 the first eco-Congregation Award was given - to Evesham Methodist Church.
By the end of 2006 there were over 100 award winning churches in Britain and Ireland ¬ representing a variety of denominations including: the Church of England, the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Church in Wales, the Church of Ireland, the Catholic Church of England and Wales, the Catholic Church in Scotland, the Catholic Church in Ireland, the Methodist Church, the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the United Reformed Church, the Church of Scotland, the Presbyterian Church of Ireland and the Religious Society of Friends.
In 2004 the management of eco-Congregation for England and Wales transferred to the Arthur Rank Centre, and three years later it came under the management of A Rocha UK, although the office remains at the Arthur Rank Centre in Warwickshire.
Link here for a series of modules about how churches can work better for the environment.
E-mail: ecocongregation@arocha.org
** Link to Christian News Headlines website
** Link to World Council of Churches website
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What does Christianity teach about ecology?
The basic environmental beliefs of Christianity. |
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May 20 2008:
For the first time, a practical Muslim Theology of the Sea
The first Theology of the Sea for Muslims has now been published. Initially compiled to promote conservation among Muslim fishing families in Tanzania threatening the fragile coral environment through their dynamite fishing, most of the theology and teachings are appropriate and useful for any marine conservation programme in Islamic areas.The authors - from IFEES - have waived their copyrights, and this material is available for all. |
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