New resources for Creationtide are now available on the Church of England website here. In addition to the existing materials there are now some new liturgies and a daily actions and reflections sheet thanks to the DEO Liturgy Group.
Energy and Transport
- Some dioceses have teamed up with Ecotricity to create a scheme through which both churches and individuals can sign up to switch to green energy.
- Other green suppliers include Good Energy and Green Energy.
- The national procurement service Parish Buying now has a renewable energy deal in addition to the general energy basket making the best use of the combined buying power of the Church to provide competitive green energy rates for parishes. Parish Buying now has over 9000 users so it doesn't yet have complete coverage but it is expanding rapidly. They also have discounts on office products, IT, telecoms and fire safety amongst other areas and are working their way through to things like insurance, LED lamps and boilers.
- Marches Energy Agency is a local organisation offering good advice.
- Sustainability West Midlands also provide support for Low Carbon Energy Generation schemes.
- Another useful source is the Energy Saving Trust
- Some innovative local sourcing initiatives are also underway, such as Sharenergy
Many of the large energy companies now include greener tariffs in their portfolio. It is always worth reading the small print to assess what is actually renewable energy sourcing and how much is merely about 'offsetting' emissions.
Don't forget, once a church has moved across to green energy sources, the next step is to encourage PCC and congregation members (and the vicar!) to do the same with their home supplies, making faith action count seven days a week.
Other worship and preaching resources from the national church can be found here https://www.churchofengland.org/about/environment-and-climate-change/environment-prayer-worship-and-teaching