The Scots Kirk in Paris is an Eco-Congregation

The Scots Kirk Paris is a Church of Scotland congregation outside the boundaries of Scotland – one of the fourteen Churches of Scotland in the Presbytery of Europe. Our congregation is not limited to Scots but consists of people of many different nationalities and backgrounds. Some of the congregation are long-term members, having made France their home, whereas others have come to Paris to work or study for a fixed period of time before moving on to work / live elsewhere.
There has been a Church of Scotland in Paris for well over 100 years, most of that time on our current site at 17, rue Bayard. Having suffered damage during the war, the church was rebuilt in the 1950s. Unfortunately, serious structural problems became apparent in the 1980s and after many years of investigating possible solutions to the problem, a project to build a new church was approved and our current building opened its doors in 2002. We are fortunate in that our modern building has been designed to conform to many “green” principles. One of the constraints imposed on us was that a certain proportion of the surface area be devoted to a patio and garden area. So although we are a stone’s throw from the Champs Elysées, we have a small “haven of peace”, undisturbed by the noise of traffic. As you can see from the photo, a robin has found refuge on the bird table installed on a tree in the garden at the back of the patio!

Last year our congregation decided to register as an Eco-congregation with the idea of trying to follow up the Eco-modules and gradually introduce new ideas and small changes into our congregational and private lives. We have a small group of four people who meet a few times a year, check on our progress as Eco-congregation and plan ahead.

What started out as one person's initiative has turned into a collective and conscious effort throughout all levels in our church. The young and not so young, the nature-lovers and city dwellers and the creative and practical people are all doing their part to look after this glorious God given world. How?

1. By reducing energy consumption. Ex: the use of low energy light bulbs, lowering
the overall room temperature by 1 degree, switching off unnecessary lights and
keeping doors shut to avoid heat loss.

2. By making a conscious effort to sort rubbish properly and putting it into the relevant bins.

3. By encouraging the various groups/associations (which use the church to worship or to meet)to buy and use Fair Trade items. All coffee, tea and biscuits served after the service come from Fair Trade producers.

4. By planting flowers, shrubs and by installing a bird feeder to attract birds to this safe haven.

5. By printing and selling small eco-guides (Christmas 2009) and another one planned for Spring.

6. By regularly mentioning the Eco-congregation progress and achievements in our Church newsletter which comes out four times a year.

7. The Scots Kirk's carbon footprint – last year at our church here in Paris we used 19,430 Kilowatt Hours of Electricity (and no gas or oil). We multiplied this figure by 0.5, giving 9715kg of CO2.We would like to try to reduce this total.

8. Our Eco-group has invited Peter Rayner, a Climate Scientist and a member of our congregation, living here in Paris, to come and talk to the congregation about his research into global warming and what it all means, on 11 April.

9. The children of our Young Church will study the eco-module after Easter, starting with Peter’s talk which will be part of our Eco-day in our congregation.

As you can see, we're on our way!