Eco Church is an award scheme to demonstrate that the Gospel is good news for God's Earth. It's championed by an organisation called A Rocha - a global network with a Christian ethos, dedicated to conservation. The Awards Scheme looks at different aspects of church life: Worship & Teaching; Buildings; Land; Global & Community Engagement and Lifestyle, then scores the church on answers to questions in these categories. We are pleased to announce that we were awarded Bronze status in March 2024 and now we're looking at what we have to do to achieve Silver...
The Church in the Garden project started early in 2021 with the idea of converting a piece of wilderness at the back of the vicarage garden into a place for the whole community to share. Thanks to a number of grants, donations, and much hard work by the team of volunteers and helpers, the garden is now open for all to enjoy. Most recently, we've added some signage in the garden with a double-faced noticeboard which will allow us to post updates - or even just a list of jobs to be completed!The garden is made up of different zones, with raised flower and vegetable beds; a central area with a labyrinth (still in progress); a children’s area; a sensory area and mixed beds with shrubbery plants and trees. There's even a corner ready for wild flower seed sowing. The children's area has had a giant floor clock installed, decorated with bright painted pebbles and stones. The willow tunnel has matured and there is a new wooden children's kitchen in place. One of the raised beds has been transformed into a herb garden and a peace pole has been installed to mark the first year anniversary of the project. The peace pole is what it says: a lvery big pole with the words, "Let peace on earth prevail" in different languages. We have been encouraging lots of wildlife with bat and bird boxes, a bird feeding station, a log bug hotel and (eventually) hedgehog homes. As the garden is some distance from a tap, there’s also an ingenious water collection system devised by one of our church members.Our hope is that the Church in the Garden becomes a place of enjoyment and peace for anyone in our community. Come and sit, come and carry out some gardening, come and enjoy, but most importantly just come!
Our podcast aims to be a light - hearted easy listening 30 minutes featuring a different guest each week. There's also a quick quiz as well as informal conversations, e.g. about our favourite TV series!Episodes feature a range of topics from our local Food Bank, to the Plastic -Free Bingley campaign and the sterling efforts of the coaches at Eldwick Juniors Football Club. Listen on AnchorListen On SpotifyListen On Apple PodcastsListen on Google PodcastsListen On Castbox If you are new to podcasts, it's probably easiest to use the Anchor link as this hosts the podcast on a website page, with no need to sign in or sign up.
