Shipley Baptist Church gains Silver Award from A Rocha 

Shipley Baptist Church, West Yorkshire, has been working hard over the summer months to complete requirements for the award of a silver level from A Rocha, which runs the eco-church award scheme, writes Keith Jones 

With help from Shipley in Bloom, our garden areas have been developed as an eco-friendly environment. Internally the church has worked hard at re-cycling and introducing environmentally friendly features.

This autumn a series of services over eight weeks were devoted to "Creation Change" using materials from the Joint Public Issues Team (JPIT), and our weekly news sheet has had features focusing on personal advice for members of our congregation.

The journey towards Silver Award has been led by two of our deacons, Caroline Whitehouse, as eco-champion and Martin Butterworth as property deacon.

From the youngest to the oldest member of the church, we have been engaged in Sunday worship and in Junior Church with looking at the Care of Creation, issues around potable water, air pollution, re-cycling, sustainable and environmentally appropriate forms of transport - including "walk to church" Sunday.

The church members celebrated the achievement during a special Church Meeting on Sunday 17 November and in a pie and peas community lunch.


Image | Caroline and Martin with the Silver Eco-Church Award
 

The Revd Dr Keith Jones is part of the leadership team at Shipley Baptist Church