On a fiercely hot mid-June weekend, the Heart of Norfolk benefice welcomed over 125 people to its very first Eco Fair and Creation Care Sunday service. Rector, the Revd Sally Kimmis reflects on the journey to this point and some of the lessons learned along the way.
“At the end of June last year, we had a group service for the Heart of Norfolk benefice, focusing on care of creation,” Sally recalls. “At the service, Dave Appleton, from North Elmham, spoke movingly about the ‘Towards net Zero’ conference he had recently attended, where the keynote speaker was Bishop Graham. Dave said, ‘Why are we interested in this as Christians? Really, it’s because it’s about God’s world. It’s God’s creation, which he has entrusted to us as stewards of creation.‘
“Susan Moore, churchwarden of Stibbard, also spoke at the service about Stibbard’s Eco Church bronze award, and the journey the PCC took towards achieving it.
“This is where the germ of the idea for holding an Eco-Fair began. We wanted a platform to engage the wider community; to demonstrate that the Church takes the climate crisis seriously. We invited a wide range of environmental groups, wildlife groups and other organisations protecting the land and our rivers. We also had exhibitors whose passion is about recycling and upcycling, re-using materials that would otherwise go to waste, or offering a repair service for products to extend their useful life.
“We are blessed with two Church of England primary schools in our benefice – North Elmham and Stibbard (federated as The Flourish Foundation). We set them the challenge of creating models out of recycled materials and they did not disappoint! We were so impressed by their creativity and imagination. I know from the staff that the children really enjoyed the project and engaging with the eco-theme.
“It was a lot of hard work! Especially as this was a ‘first’ for the Heart of Norfolk Group. I’d say we needed a larger core team than the four we had, committed though they were. However, we had positive feedback from the exhibitors and visitors on the day and have invited them to give written feedback to inform any future plans for running another Eco-related event.”
The weekend continued with a creation-care themed service on the Sunday morning, also at St Mary’s, with Bishop Graham as lead bishop for the environment.
A few extra observations from Barbara Bryant, Diocesan Environment Officer, who also took part in the Eco Fair:
“I spoke with Dave Appleton, Norman and Jean Johnson, who were the main organisers of the event to pull out the highlights and lessons learned. Early preparation was key and they thought they should have started organising earlier and putting out publicity further ahead of the event. Remembering to “tag” the other organisations in social media posts in the publicity would have helped with a wider reach. Although there were no facilities in the church, the nearby Memorial Hall was used for providing refreshments and toilets and the ingenious involvement (it helps to have a school governor on the event committee!) of the two local schools encouraged all to follow the recycled models trail to reach there. This also ensured that many of the children involved in these creations came along to see them in situ with their families. They also enjoyed the “poo trail” and net zero snakes and ladders game (which can be borrowed from the Diocesan Resource centre!)
“Another idea the team will be considering for the future (along with recruiting more volunteers onto the organising team) is to move the hosting of an eco event around the churches that make up the benefice: Bawdeswell, Bilingford, Bintree, Foulsham, Foxley, Guestwick, Guist, North Elmham, Stibbard, Themelthorpe, Twyford, Wood Norton and Worthing.
“A well-designed, clear programme leaflet (printed on recycled paper!) both told attendees what there was to see and offered an opportunity to give feedback and/or make a donation via QR codes. It also clearly stated why the Church sees environmental issues as integral to its mission: ‘You’ll notice this Eco Fair is in a church. Christians believe God created the world and instructed us to care for it – something we haven’t done well. We should all be concerned about climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. As a church, we have added motivation – we care because we believe God cares about us and our world.‘”
Have you started your Eco Church journey yet? Register as an Eco Church or find out more at: https://ecochurch.arocha.org.uk/
Sign-up for our Eco Newsletter here
Join the conversation on our Facebook group here
Watch the message from Bishop Graham here
For any further help, contact barbara.bryant@dioceseofnorwich.org