From silver to gold 

How Fernhill Heath Baptist Church continued its Eco Church journey and became the second Baptist church to achieve the gold award

 
Fernhill Heath is a village in Worcestershire mid-way between the county town and Droitwich Spa. Church membership is 40 with a fellowship of about 60. In 2016 the church received an A Rocha Eco Church Silver Award.

Now minister the Revd Jeff Porter and Martin Harris, Coordinator of their Creation Care Group, (“The Green Team”) take up their story.


'We knew progression to Gold would not be easy,' says Martin. 'We needed to plan how we could achieve each module, whilst also maintaining our Silver commitments - a bit like a juggler picking-up new balls, while keeping the others in the air!'

'With unlimited finances we could have achieved all our building objectives very quickly,' Jeff adds, 'but being a small church this was not the case.'

The members agreed they would make the church as energy-efficient as possible “consistent with what we can afford.” Money was allocated each year which enabled them to progressively convert all the lighting in the church and manse to LEDs when they needed replacing, and insulate the sanctuary roof, for example, the latter being assisted by a grant from the Heart of England Baptist Association (HEBA).

Covid with lockdown brought many challenges but an IT/AV team appeared as if by magic and services were soon live-streamed and put on the church’s You Tube channel. This continues and services now have a larger audience. A tableau was installed by the main road at Easter and this now also continues at Christmas.

'It is wonderful how The Lord provides in an hour of need, and how new opportunities for witness are presented in unexpected situations!' Jeff notes.

The church has had links with a fellowship in Arua, Uganda, for many years, and teams have visited each other. Recently the church funded the building of a toilet block and two family homes in a refugee settlement.

Locally members started to support the monthly village litter-pick and hold open-air services. They also developed links with Transition Worcester and hosted talks from a County Councillor and District Recycling Officer on their environmental plans and activities.

The church instigated a variety of initiatives to achieve the Lifestyle module ('the most challenging because it requires personal commitment,' Martin explains). It invested money not immediately required with HEBA, which has an ethical investment policy, and signed a green energy dual-fuel agreement. The leadership measured the church carbon-footprint and sought to reduce it, encouraging the fellowship similarly. Finally members worked through the book L is for Lifestyle by Ruth Valerio, which provides a systematic guide to explaining and addressing global and personal lifestyle issues.

Jeff concludes, 'We were delighted to achieve our Gold Award and would encourage churches with a passion for creation care to visit the A Rocha UK website and explore further.

'It does need commitment, but for us it was a real joy, spiritually uplifting, and it broadened our vision for mission. Our journey continues.' 


Image | The Revd Jeff Porter holds the ladder while Martin Harris puts up the Gold Award plaque

Eco Church is A Rocha UK's award scheme for churches in England and Wales who want to demonstrate that the gospel is good news for God's earth.

For more on Eco Church, visit ecochurch.arocha.org.uk