At the end of 2006 our church enrolled in ECO Congregation Scotland - an ecumenical programme linking environmental issues with our Christian faith. We aim to celebrate the wonderful creation that God has given us and by our actions ensure that we sustain it for future generations.
Our activities include:
* Worship (both indoor and outdoors).
* Regular tips on saving resources.
* Coffee and fair trade shops (profits supporting local, national and international charities).
* Recycling (spectacles, mobile phones, computer cartridges + stamps).
* Environmental study walks.
* Children’s awareness activities
* Good management of our church & halls.
Award Gained in 2009.
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September.
I hope everyone enjoyed their summer break.
You have donated another 42 ink cartridges and more spectacles. Thank you.
You have also donated 600 + assorted bulbs for planting .
Some of the money raised from the Garden Quiz has been spent on shrubs and replacing plants lost by last winter's frosts.
The Watch House slates have been repaired and we have had two families of blue tits fledge from the nest boxes we put up.
I will be looking for volunteers to help plant the autumn bulbs. Wednesday 8th September at 10:00 am at the church.
Thank you for your support.
Billy Gilchrist
June, July and August.
Thanks to everyone who has helped with the church flower beds. We have cleared the right hand side wall going up to the church. Our aim is to plant this area with bulbs for next spring. If anyone is clearing out this year's bulbs please pass them on to the church.
The Garden Quiz has gone really well. We now have some funds for our projects.
I hope everyone enjoyed the challenge of the Quiz and I am looking forward to checking the answers coming in! Thanks to all who took part.
I attended an ECO meeting at Wellington Church this week. The speaker was Mark Irwin from Glasgow ECO Education. There are now 3,300 schools with the eco Green Flag Award. Litter is the biggest problem and how to deal with it.
This months challenges are:
(a) Collect your rain water for summer garden watering
(b) Walk more this summer and leave the car at home
Have a lovely summer.
Billy Gilchrist
ECO Coordinator (762 2607)
May 2010
Hello Everyone,
We are still looking for a few volunteers to help look
after some of the planted areas in the Churchyard.
Anyone interested in helping, please contact either Irene Walker or myself.
We are currently running a Garden Quiz Competition at £1 per sheet, available from the Church, the Coffee Shop, or myself. It's a fun Quiz, so please have a go and enjoy it.
Irene and I attended the ECO Annual Gathering in Stirling recently. There are over 4000 Churches in Scotland, but so far only 235 have registered with the ECO Group. The aim is to get more churches involved.
Here are two small challenges for you this monthy -
(a) Try growing your own lettuce seeds and enjoy eating fresh homegrown produce.
(b) Turn down your gas and electric theremostat by 2 degrees and see the difference
in your monthly meter readings.
Finally, please remember all our recycling projects are still on-going, so keep up the good work.
Billy Gilchrist
ECO Coordinator (762 2607)
April 2010
Fair Trade Fortnight: Well done to those who made the effort to purchase fair trade goods and brought the labels from lots of different items to church. The children have produced a large collage from them which is on display in the South Hall so do pop in for a coffee and admire their handywork. Now that you have tried fair trade goods please make them an essential purchase in your weekly shop.
Kenmure Ramblers: On the 13th March we had a lovely walk from Blackness to Carriden in glorious sunshine. (This had been postponed from end February because of inclement weather).
The walks scheduled for April are:
10th – The John Buchan Way, Stobo – 7 miles modest climb (8.50 am start)
24th – Gladhouse Reservoir, Pentlands – 5 miles easy walking (9.20 am (start)
At the March open meeting of the West of Scotland ECO Network Group, we were given an illustrated talk by Ron Gilchrist from Fairlie Parish Church (our Guild link) on Community Gardens. What began as a few people making their own mini allotments with their own compost produced from kitchen waste (and worms) has grown into a large community garden on an old boatyard site producing superb fruit and vegetables. All ages are involved and as well as being productive has become a social gathering point bringing the village together. Now people as far as Malawi, Cameroon and New Zealand are taking the idea on board.
If you are down Fairlie way you are welcome to visit their garden. You can view it on www.organicgrowersfairlie.co.uk Could this be a future happening in Bishopbriggs?
Finally this will be my last report to you as I am pleased to say that Billy Gilchrist has agreed to take over as Convener of our ECO Group. I wish him well as he co-ordinates our congregational efforts towards our next award in 2011. I am sure you will give him your support as you have me in the past four years in showing Cadder people really do care for God’s creation and will by all our efforts secure it for our future generations.
Irene Walker
March 2010
Holyrood Reception: Last month I attended an evening reception in The Scottish Parliament hosted by Sarah Boyak MSP to thank The Church of Scotland and in particular ECO Congregations for their support of the Climate Change Bill.
The Moderator spoke on why as Christians we must preserve our resources for future generations and reaffirmed the Church’s commitment to continuing and indeed stepping up its encouragement to congregations and individuals to do their part – highlighting the current instruction to churches to reduce energy costs by 5% a year, something which our Kirk Session are working on. Other speakers included Stewart Stevenson, Government Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change and three people from very different ECO Congregations on what they are currently doing.
Yes - this will have started by the time you receive your Gazette but you still have time to participate. This year you are being asked to join in The Big Swap. The idea is to swap one of your usual items of shopping for a fair trade equivalent. There’s lots to chose from eg teas, coffees, sugars, jams, cereals, bananas, biscuits, clothing and jewellery. It may cost you a few pence more but surely worth it when you know the producers are getting a fair deal and not being exploited. So please participate in The Big Swap - and you might find you wish to continue purchasing fair trade in future. Some goods are available in our own Coffee Shop so make a special effort to be part of this event.
WWF Earth Hour 2010
It is hard to believe how time has flown by since we participated in this event in 2009 along with 50 million people worldwide. Once again individuals, governments and local councils are invited to switch off lights (where practical) for one hour between 8.30 pm and 9.30 pm on Saturday 27th March to demonstrate commitment to tackling climate change.
Ramblers: It was great that some of you were able to join Kenmure Ramblers for their first meetings of the year in February, enjoyed the experience and intend to do more. All are welcome and all you need is outdoor gear, sensible walking shoes and a packed lunch. Cars are pooled and no need to worry if you don’t have transport, there’ll be room for you.
Their programme for March is:
13th Dunkeld – The Inver Walk – 5 undemanding miles – see the tallest tree and Ossian’s Folly. (Note this is an earlier start than usual - 8.50 am at Kenmure Church car park)
27th March – Doune Ponds and Castle: 5 miles easy walking meet as usual 9.20 am at car park.
Batteries: Please note as from 1st February all outlets selling more than four batteries a day must provide in-store take back facilities for recycling batteries.
Christian Aid and Climate Change
Christian Aid has produced material regarding aspects of climate change and this is the first of a series of short articles which highlight areas of concern. Over the next few months additional articles will appear in the “Gazette” which taken together will increase the awareness of these critical issues.
Today, scientists are more convinced than ever that our planet is warming at an unprecedented rate, and human activities are a significant reason for the change.
By burning coal, oil and natural gas, we have released billions of tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere, locking in warmth in what is known as the ‘greenhouse effect’. If current trends continue, atmospheric carbon will be double pre-industrial levels by the end of the century. This could mean a global temperature rise of as much as 8°C, but even a much smaller increase will have unpredictable and variable results:
The pressure that increasing floods, famine, and drought will put on the populations of poor and vulnerable countries will be devastating. The changing climate is already starting to prove catastrophic for some developing countries – as the examples from El Salvador, Senegal and Bangladesh in this pack show. The progress that has been made towards the millennium development goals – which aim to halve world poverty by 2015 – could stall, or even be sent spinning into reverse.
However, by taking action now we can limit the amount of damage we are doing to the world around us. If we can stabilise atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations by the end of the century, it is possible that the temperature rise could be limited to 2°C. However, this will require a drastic reduction in global emissions – by as much as 80 per cent – and even if we manage to curtail the rise in temperature, the effect on the poorest communities will still be significant.
Therefore, climate change presents two challenges: carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced, and the poorest nations in the world must be supported as they seek ways to minimise and adapt to the destruction climate change will inevitably bring. It is time to change the climate of apathy that prevails in our privileged communities, and take action to stop global warming devastating the world’s most vulnerable countries.Ian Watt, Convener Christian Aid
February 2010
The snow and ice is thick on the ground as I write this, but your ECO Group are already thinking ahead to the spring. Apart from looking forward to seeing the rewards of our efforts over the last couple of years with the bulbs and plants coming to life in the graveyard we are considering the possibility of undertaking a similar project over the next couple of years. At present we have a few willing helpers who maintain a section each. However, before we agree to further enhancements we would require another two or three people willing to help. It is not an onerous task merely keeping a small area weed free etc. If you can spare a very little time to assist in improving our church surroundings, please let me know as soon as possible.
Ramblers: If you have made a new year’s resolution to get out and about more and explore the countryside why not join the ramblers from Kenmure Church who have been going ‘walkies’ for a number of years now once a fortnight from February to June and from September to November. They meet at the church at 9.20am on a Saturday and the furthest they drive is about one hour before they walk (no need to have a car). The walks are not too long and not strenuous. This is a pleasant way to encourage our church groupings so if you are feeling energetic why not give it a try – you will be made very welcome. The first walk is on 14th February (destination unknown at time of writing).Our recycling centres in the church and south halls continue to be well used and from July – December 2009 we collected:
Mobile Phones 16
Spectacles 46
Computer Cartridges 191
Keep up the good work in 2010.
Irene Walker
Eco Congregation Coordinator
January 2010
I write this having just returned from participating in ‘The Wave’ the Climate Change March on 5th December. I was a little apprehensive but what a great day it was. It began with coffee and fellowship followed by worship in St Leo the Great RC Church. The theme of the service was from Micah chapter 6 to act justly, show love and live humbly with God led by the Moderator Right Rev Bill Hewitt with readings and addresses by His Eminence Cardinal Keith O’Brien of the Roman Catholic Church.
Catholic Church , The Most Rev David Chillingworth Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church and Rev Kathy Galloway Head of Christian Aid Scotland. It was lovely to have a full church of Christians of different denominations uniting in a commontheme to acknowledge the need to care for God’s creation.
We then made our way to Bellahouston Park to be overwhelmed by the amount of people gathered there. Our West of Scotland Network Group chair Sheena Wurthman from Netherlee Church had made a colourful hand stitched ECO Congregation Banner and she and I carried it for the duration of the march to Kelvingrove Park. Lots of different people chatted with us along the way from toddlers to teenagers to grannies and grandpas, the wheelchair bound and even puppies – folks from Argyll, Ayrshire, Stirling, friends from Lenzie Union and Bearsden South Churches and Sally Beaumont (promising not to lie in the road this time!!). We were accompanied by pipe bands and drum groups and at various stagesalong the route other music groups helped us on our way. At Kelvingrove the religious leaders were joined on the platform by a gentleman from the Muslim community and a lady from Bangladesh who all addressed the crowd on the need for rich nations to act justly to assist the poor. There followed more musical entertainment. All in all it was a most enjoyable day and we can only hope and pray that the world leaders meeting in Copenhagen take heed of the message.
We will once again be recycling your Christmas Cards for The Woodlands Trust and boxes will be available in Church on Sundays 11, 18th and 25th January.
On behalf of the ECO Group may I wish you all a Very Happy, Healthy and Peaceful New Year and when you are making your resolutions, hope you will include making a special effort to reduce your own personal carbon footprint in 2010.