COMING SOON … cREATIONTIDE WEEKEND
All around Europe extreme weather is the new normal, including in the UK where we experience flooding and heatwaves. This will get worse if we do not adapt our lifestyles. There really are things we can all do and it’s important for Christians to play their part. St Mary’s has already received Bronze and Silver Eco Church awards but we want to be ambitious for Christ and go for gold! So we have invited our friends Margot and Martin Hodson to lead our Creationtide weekend once again.
It will begin with a seminar Living Life to the Full at 7.00pm on Saturday 27th September. Its aim is to encourage us to adapt our lifestyles to help tackle climate change, in particular by reducing our individual carbon footprints. Margot’s opening talk will explain why Christians need to adapt their lifestyles. Martin will then introduce five specific areas where we can have an impact: finance, food, consumerism, travel and household energy, after which there will be breakout groups on each area, including some lovely recipes from Margot! In the final session we will share, discuss and summarise what we’ve learned. The evening will finish at 9.00pm.
On Sunday 28th September at 10.30am, we will hold our annual Creationtide Communion service. Martin will lead the worship, Margot will talk to the children and preach, and Richard will preside at communion.
Booking via Eventbrite will be available soon.
The latest CLIMATE EMERGENCY GROUP FLYER can be found here giving the latest news from the parish on this topic.
Photos from the Climate Conference 2024 held in St Mary’s Church.
making watford green
Check out the website https://greenwatford.uk for all the latest news on making Watford Green including local groups committed to working together to improve the local environment and fight climate change at the same time.
Details of those local groups can be found here
Some photos from our Day on climate change during Creationtide
Sunday 24th September 2023
More details about what we are doing and why will be coming shortly - watch this space ….
In the meantime …
A press release following the Bronze and Silver Eco Awards being given to St Mary’s can be found here
You can download a copy of St Mary’s Climate Change Declaration here
St Mary's Swap Shop - sharing and swapping fruit and veg has been a great success throughout the summer so we would like to continue reusing any unwanted goods. Swap an item or take an item that you could make use of. Anything left at the end of each month will be donated to local charity shops. NO electrical equipment please.
Recycling - tablet blister packs and spent make up items can be dropped in bins in Superdrug; empty biros and ball point pens can similarly be dropped off at Rymans; printer INK cartridges can be dropped into a Recycle4Charity box held in Tapestry Cakes in Market Street (not open Mondays) and St Mary’s receives a small amount of money for each one (over £40 has been raised in the last twelve months but with your help we could do better! – original HP and Canon do well; they take Epson, too).
St Mary’s Climate Emergency Group encourages the following actions, if you are able to carry them out:
> As far as possible, travel using public transport, bicycle (a bike rack is provided if you cycle to church) or on foot rather than using a car
> Reduce your amount of waste material by reducing, reusing, recycling the amount of material used
> Buy food which is produced locally (i.e. UK), organic, animal friendly (e.g. free-range), Fairtrade certified and in-season
> Invest savings and bank with organisations which have a commitment to ethical values.