What is an Eco-Congregation? Internationally, the eco-congregation concept is an ecumenical environmental project providing free resources and support to churches. Their resources are available directly on the World Wide Web at www.ecocongregation.org.uk. Locally, Kate Davies has produced a booklet called Creation Care, to assist faith communities to engage with environmental issues. In addition, the JAEI has produced a program that churches can follow in order to become a full-fledged eco-congregation. In order to develop a long term and sustainable approach to the eco-congregation concept in the diocese, JAEI has approached several parishes to be part of an initial pilot project. The eco-congregation material is essentially a toolkit with begins with a parish environmental audit. The audit covers 12 areas of congregational life, such as mission, worship, theology, children’s work, youth, adult education, property, management, land use, personal lifestyle, community outreach and global concerns. They offer further modules to be used as needed depending on the outcomes of the initial audit. Although JAEI is approaching specific parishes to involve themselves in the eco-congregational exercise, if there are other parishes who feel that they would like to explore the idea, they can contact Tim Gray at (011) 486-1436 or email JAEI.info@global.co.za. They can also join the JAEI Eco-congregation Google Group by emailing eco-congregation-pilot-subscribe@googlegroups.com. Pilot churches:
Click here to download the >> Route map for Eco-congregations (v1.5) << Click here to download >> Earthcheck - An environmental audit guide for local faith communities << |
