6 March: Great Missenden (St Peter and St Paul Church and Great Missenden Church of England Combined School) from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm

A wonderful opportunity for anyone who wants to think about care for creation in their church or school.

Join leading Christian theologians, environmental experts and members of other churches interested in how we live out our call to enjoy and care for Creation . . . and how we respond to the threats that imperil both the natural environment as a whole and, within that, the neighbours whom we are called to love.

The day will also include a Fairtrade "Big Brew," a marketplace and worship.

Keynote speakers include:

• Dave Bookless, A Rocha UK and author of "Planetwise"
• Paula Clifford, Christian Aid, and author of "Angels with Trumpets: The Church in a Time of Global Warming"
• Chris Sunderland, Founder of Earth Abbey and author of "The Dream That Inspired the Bible"
• Richard Weaver, Tearfund's senior policy officer on climate change and disasters

Workshops led by experts and practitioners include:

• presentations by churches and schools that have installed renewable energy
• opportunities for "Eco-Congregations" and "Eco-Schools" to share experiences
• a session on working with community groups and initiatives such as Transition Towns
• an energy advisor's "clinic" on easy energy saving for homes, churches and schools
• Revd. Professor Ian James on the science of climate change and answering questions related to climate
• the CEO of Traidcraft on Fair Trade and sustainability
• reflection on spirituality, community and reconnecting with the earth
• working with children and young people on environmental questions
• experiencing and constructing a "green" prayer walk
• a practical workshop on creating worship that includes environmental themes
• Richard Weaver with an explanation of what happened at Copenhagen and what the "big picture" is on climate change negotiations
• a road-map for campaigning on climate change in the year ahead

The marketplace will include stalls from agencies, church and community groups, environmental service providers and Traidcraft.

Paul Chandler, CEO of Traidcraft, will open our "Big Brew" as well as offering his workshop on Fair Trade and Sustainability.

The cost of the conference is £5, payable on the day. The fee includes coffee, tea and all workshop materials. Register using the form (below -- click on the title of this post to get the full post with the forms).

For further information, email maranda@ccow.org.uk or webmaster@grtmissenden.bucks.sch.uk, or ring 01235 850267.

Once again, we're encouraging everyone to join in "The Big Brew" during Fairtrade Fortnight. To join "The Big Brew" all you need to do is register and hold an event (called a "Big Brew") at which Fairtrade refreshments are served. Your event can be as simple as a special coffee after services or as elaborate as a village party! 

The Big Brew is a great way both to promote Fair Trade and to further the mission of your church. You can use it for outreach, to raise funds for a project or cause, to bring together groups that don't normally get to meet . . . . whatever best fits your interest. When you register, you get a free publicity pack with attractive materials to publicise your event. CCOW can also send you further materials about Fair Trade so that people learn more about its importance while they're having fun. Just let us know what you're doing and what you would like to be able to share with people.

To register, simply email CCOW to indicate your interest. We'll send you a registration form, and you're on your way. Register soon -- if you could let us know of your interest by 15 January, that would help to speed the processing of the materials.

If you'd like some ideas for your Big Brew, below is a list of some of the interesting things churches and schools have done in the past. Send us yours, too!

• Fair Trade/local meals -- great for showingcasing a wide range of Fair Trade and local foodstuffs . . . and for proving that it's possible for food to be both sustainable and delicious!

• A Fair Trade and local foods baking competition (people bring in cakes made with fairly traded and local ingredients)

• Offering "Fairtrade cuppas" to local shoppers either in your church or on a stall in a shopping precinct . . . always appreciated on a chilly morning! And you can offer information about Fairtrade and your church on the stall, as well

• A "Fairtrade tea dance" -- perhaps with a variety of different teas?

• A "Mad Hatter's [Fairtrade] Tea Party" -- with some of the organisers dressed as Alice in Wonderland and her friends

• A "Fairtrade Puppet Show" (there is a Punch and Judy show that does Fairtrade themes . . . or you can make up your own!) Great for combining education and fun.

• A Fairtrade tasting party with different stalls for different kinds of products -- go beyond coffee, tea and chocolate with different fruits, jams and biscuits. Does your church have a link with a particular area? Why not focus on that area's Fairtrade products!

• A favourite film . . . . with Fairtrade refreshments -- you could try showing a film with a Fairtrade theme, such as "Black Gold" . . . or one with an environmental theme, perhaps, to help link Fairtrade and sustainability? One Mothers' Union group even did a sing-alonga to a favourite film, with organisers dressed as old-fashioned cinema refreshment sellers bearing Fairtrade goodies.

• A Fairtrade children's tea party (Fairtrade biscuits, juices, fruits)

• Fairtrade refreshments at a concert

• A book club reading of the "No. 1  Ladies Detective Agency"  with Mma Ramotswe's favourite "redbush (rooibos) tea" (fairly traded, of course).

PRESS RELEASE                        31st May 2007

A church in Reading is aiming to be carbon-neutral by 2015. It is one of the first churches in the south
 of England to take this step.

The church committee of St. Peter’s Caversham  Reading included the aim in a wide-ranging resolution
on using energy more efficiently and reducing the church’s carbon emissions.  This followed a
comprehensive energy survey that the church commissioned earlier this year.

“The survey identified a number of ways in which the church can cut its carbon emissions. Some can
be done soon - installing low energy light bulbs, improved insulation, for example, while others are
more long term”, said a church lay minister John Madeley.

The survey showed that the church is well positioned to take advantage of solar and wind power, with,
like many Anglican churches, a large south-facing roof.  A group has been set up to examine
these and other renewable energy options and report next year.

“It’s a bold aim but I think we can be a carbon-neutral church by 2015, powered by sources of
energy that do not cause global warming and damage. Climate change is not a distant threat, it’s affecting
the poorest people now”, said John Madeley.

The Church of England’s “Shrinking the Footprint” initiative speaks of  tackling climate change in
“faith, practice, and mission”.

“This is clearly part of the mission of the church”, said John Madeley.

St Peter’s Caversham, Church Committee 29th May 2007

John Madeley proposed the following resolution:

Do you have a story about what your church is doing? Send it in -- perhaps you can inspire others!

 Latest Stories:

 St. Peter's, Caversham, aims to go carbon neutral!

Supporting the MDGs can be part of the Church's broader response to the challenges of global poverty. Here are some suggestions for how your church might get involved:

• Pray. Bringing our concerns about global poverty before God is an essential part of our Christian response.
  • Micah Challenge sends out a weekly prayer email, which offers a statistic related to the MDGs as a particular point for prayer and reflection. Why not use that as a part of your weekly prayers in church? Or, if you already use another agency's prayer diary, try to link the specific projects or people that you are asked to pray for to action on the MDGs.
  • A special service can be a good way of really highlighting global poverty, our response to it generally, and the need to pray and campaign for implementation of the MDGs. Micah Challenge has special Sundays (the last was on 20 May) with liturgical materials prepared for them -- you can use these at other times, too! This October 17, too, there will be another chance to "stand up against poverty" -- could you perhaps schedule a service on that day (a Wednesday) or on the following Sunday? Or check out the "U2charist" and other suggestions in our "praying and preaching" website.

• Pray

Your church can pray for justice in trade as part of its prayers for justice throughout the world. Some suggestions for prayers can be found on our "praying and preaching on trade issues" page.

• Study

Think about the theology of trade. You might want to take the Church of England report on trade justice, the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance papers on trade, or the trade section of Christian Aid's "Act Justly" resource as a starting point. Or go back a little and take a look at some Christian theologians: does what Thomas Aquinas says about just prices have any relevance for us today? Or read Wesley's sermon on the use of money, which contains much meat for discussion. Do you agree with it? Or not?  

CCOW has published a resource entitled "To Restore Hope,"  which you can download at the bottom of this page. It offers the stories of local churches and Christians who have become involved with HIV/AIDS work. The stories are inspiring -- and you're invited to join in! Some more suggestions for action might include . . . . 

• Pray regularly for
  • people living with HIV and AIDS and for those who care for and about them
  • wisdom for government leaders to make policies that allow universal access to AIDS treatments
  • an end to the stigma and exclusion that are so destructive
  • children who have been orphaned through AIDS and are at risk
  • success for programmes that are combatting mother-to-child transmission

Be creative in your prayers. Tearfund has suggestions for creative prayer (see our "Praying and Preaching" pages . . . or you could ask people to meditate on one of the posters from the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (see our Resources page) . . .

Raising Awareness

If your church is new to debt issues -- or if it participated in Jubilee 2000 but thinks that the issue is now resolved -- it might be good to raise awareness of what the ongoing issues are, perhaps through

• including prayers about debt in theyour regular services or planning a full service around debt,
• inviting a speaker to talk during and/or after a service,
• using some Bible studies about debt in your home group,
• displaying material about debt in the church, or
• including a theological reflection or news about one of the latest campaigns in your service leaflet or church magazine

You can find the resources for all of these in our praying and preaching section or by contacting CCOW or JDC. The prayer page also has a link to Merryn Hellier's "Praying in Public Places," a prayer walk in which church groups visit local surgeries or hospitals, schools and other locations to reflect on and pray about the impacts of debt on people in developing countries. It's a powerful service -- and act of witness. 

Jubilee Congregations