Congratulations to St Nicholas Church in Henstridge who have gained a Silver Eco Church Award. St Nicholas is one of only 11 churches in the diocese to receive the silver award.
Jane Jeanes, Churchwarden at Henstridge, said, “It's not as difficult as you think it is. You can register, look at it and you can see what you need, or what you’ve already done or doing and what you could do. Actually, it's very little work.”
Jane shared her journey with us in the hope the experience of St Nicholas will inspire others.
"I attended the Net Carbon Zero workshop in November, which was run in Flourish House in Wells, and learned more about the Eco Church awards. By the time I had driven home I was very keen to have a more detailed look and see if it was something we might as a worshipping community and parish attempt to gain.
I thought we might be able to gain a bronze award. I talked to our incumbent and he and the PCC were in agreement that I could try as long as none of them had to do any work for it. Spurred on by this I registered and began to complete the application. I soon realised that we were already doing a lot of things and very soon it became evident that we were on track not for bronze, but silver.
We are fortunate that we are a rural parish and although we have a small regular congregation, a large proportion of us wear many hats and are involved with projects in the wider community. We have a community fridge in the church and are part of a local food share scheme which is helping to prevent food going to waste. We are hoping to have a seedling share this spring to help those who may be new to gardening to grow salad crops.
Our local primary school has a garden and children enjoy tending their class patch and watching the changes during the year. We include our natural world in our weekly intercessions and pray for the farmers and growers in our parish.
We are lucky that our oil-fired boiler died nearly 40 years ago and was replaced with quartz ray heaters and more recently under pew heaters were installed in the centre aisles. Our electricity supplier uses some green energy.
As a gardener and still very much part of the farming community I am very aware of the need to look after and improve our soil, which will then give us so much more. I am also sure that being able to get our hands into soil and being outside is good for everyone’s mental health.
I am hoping that we can continue on our Eco Church journey and am looking forward to using the outside space for worship this summer."
Images: Community Fridge, Larder and Foodshare projects
Find more information about Eco Church from the Environment pages of the diocesan website.