The Chew Valley Nature Photography Festival brought photographers, conservationists and local residents together to celebrate the biodiversity of the area and reflect on the call to care for God’s creation.
The Chew Valley Nature Photography Festival brought photographers, conservationists and local residents together to celebrate the biodiversity of the area and reflect on the call to care for God’s creation. More than 400 entries were submitted .
The words of St Augustine, to read the ‘great book, the very appearance of created things’, were used throughout the exhibition, inviting visitors to see creation as a place where God’s presence, creativity and generosity can be glimpsed. This invitation to stop, step back and pay attention to nature shaped the whole weekend.
The festival began with a Friday evening preview of the photographs and included the screening of a local film about Robin Prytherch, who studied the Common Buzzards of the Gordano Valley for more than 40 years and knew each of them by name. His work was described as ‘citizen science’ at its finest and offered a reminder of the need to observe and appreciate the wonder of creation.
The weekend culminated in the Festival Service on Sunday, which took as its theme the image of living water from Ezekiel 47, reflecting the Chew valley’s lakes and reservoirs.
Revd Richard Greatrex, Vicar of St Andrew’s Church, Chew Magna who organised the festival, said, “The Festival brought together a wide range of people, young and old, many of whom who wouldn’t usually attend church, to celebrate creation, lament its desecration and take up the challenge of living more lightly in, not on, the Earth.”
For the festival, Richard created a new altar cross and candlesticks using recycled pallets and fencing posts. Decorated with gold leaf and acrylic paint, they feature images of local flora and fauna, each carrying symbolic Christian meaning. More elements will be added as the church moves through Creationtide into Harvest.
The weekend combined photography, film, worship and locally made church furnishings to invite a wider conversation about biodiversity, faith and responsibility for the natural world.
A group of angel statues with links to kings, queens, Sir Christopher Wren and Westminster Abbey are being celebrated by a Somerset church community, two centuries after they first arrived in Somerset.
The group of 17th centaury angel statues with links to kings, queens, Sir Christopher Wren and Westminster Abbey arrived in Somerset two centuries ago.
Members of Holy Trinity Hamp in Bridgwater welcome the BBC to their church for the forthcoming harvest edition of Songs of Praise.
Across the country and throughout our diocese farmers are struggling to deal with the effects of the intense heat, lack of rainfall and the outbreak of the disease, bluetongue.
The service in Porlock highlighted the story of community, forgiveness and reconciliation.
The arrival of the Bride at a recent wedding at Holy Cross, Mark caused a something of stir both locally and in the national and even international press.
A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to complete the Energy Footprint Tool (EFT) this year.
Tony O'Mara, who has overcome his own 40-year addiction, has been nominated for the BBC award for his work supporting others in the place that helped him change his life.
On the first Sunday in August, Bishop Fiona joined the South Quantock Benefice Lammas service.
The Church of England is introducing the Building Management Portal, a new national digital system for managing applications relating to…
