A short two part telephone interview with Adrian Shaw (climate change officer for the Church of Scotland) about why and how the church should respond to climate change.
Part One:
Part Two:
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Cadder Parish Church Photography Competition
Cadder parish Church in Bishopbriggs are having a photography competition to raise funds for their Eco-Congregation activities. The competition is open to anyone, not just those in the local area. For further details please click here to download the poster and entry form.
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
Volunteers needed
On Sunday 22nd May the Church of Scotland is holding an event for church congregations, and the general public in Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh called "Roll Away the Stone" (web site: http://www.rollawaythestone.org.uk/).
Eco-Congregation Scotland will have a presence at this event including an information stall and the building of a church made from plastic bottles. If you are coming to the event please bring a couple of plastic bottles and add them to the building.
The day has been broken down into the following sections and we need two volunteers for each:
10am to 1pm setup* - 1 or 2 volunteers still needed (for this period they will need to be fit)
1pm to 4pm Event - 2 volunteers already come forward so we don't need any more
4pm to 6pm Event - 2 volunteers still needed
6pm to 9pm break down* - 1 or 2 volunteers still needed (for this period they will need to be fit)
*will not take three hours, but this is the window we have in which to get the stuff set up and taken down.
If you can help please contact Gordon at the Eco-Congregation Scotland office.
Contact details here:
http://www.ecocongregationscotland.org/about-us/contact-us/
Eco-Congregation Scotland will have a presence at this event including an information stall and the building of a church made from plastic bottles. If you are coming to the event please bring a couple of plastic bottles and add them to the building.
The day has been broken down into the following sections and we need two volunteers for each:
10am to 1pm setup* - 1 or 2 volunteers still needed (for this period they will need to be fit)
1pm to 4pm Event - 2 volunteers already come forward so we don't need any more
4pm to 6pm Event - 2 volunteers still needed
6pm to 9pm break down* - 1 or 2 volunteers still needed (for this period they will need to be fit)
*will not take three hours, but this is the window we have in which to get the stuff set up and taken down.
If you can help please contact Gordon at the Eco-Congregation Scotland office.
Contact details here:
http://www.ecocongregationscotland.org/about-us/contact-us/
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
An invitation to a Green Day Out
The South Lanarkshire Network of Eco-Congregation Scotland is hosting a “Green Day Out” at the David Livingstone Centre in Blantyre on Saturday 4th June and you and your whole church family are invited!
Click Here to view or download the flyer.
The event will run from 11am – 4pm. Come for an hour or two or for the whole day. You can bring a picnic to enjoy in the beautiful grounds or have your lunch in the centre café.
There will be a lot going on all day:
Many Christians are concerned about the environment but don't know what they can do. Eco-Congregation Scotland is an ecumenical charity which offers a programme to help congregations and parishes understand environmental issues and make appropriate practical and spiritual responses. There are now over 270 churches across the country helping the church put into practice what it preaches by tackling these key issues of our times. (see www.ecocongregationscotland.org)
The David Livingstone Centre is a National Trust for Scotland property set in 20 acres of parkland with a children's play area. For further information see http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/23/. The address of the centre is 165 Station Road, Glasgow, South Lanarkshire G72 9BY. It is close to Blantyre rail station and accessible from buses, for directions see http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/David-Livingstone-Centre/Getting-there/.
We look forward to seeing you on 4th June. For further information contact Stuart at the David Livingstone Centre: 0844 493 2207 or Margaret at Eco-Congregation Scotland.
Click Here to view or download the flyer.
Click Here to view or download the flyer.
The event will run from 11am – 4pm. Come for an hour or two or for the whole day. You can bring a picnic to enjoy in the beautiful grounds or have your lunch in the centre café.
There will be a lot going on all day:
- Children’s activities
- Guided walks for all ages
- Displays and stalls helping you to care better for creation at home and in your daily lives: find out how you can:
- - respond to climate change and saving your 5% (CO2) at church and at home
- - get young people involved and what our children want us to do to protect their future
- - help look after local wildlife
- How to become an eco-congregation
Many Christians are concerned about the environment but don't know what they can do. Eco-Congregation Scotland is an ecumenical charity which offers a programme to help congregations and parishes understand environmental issues and make appropriate practical and spiritual responses. There are now over 270 churches across the country helping the church put into practice what it preaches by tackling these key issues of our times. (see www.ecocongregationscotland.org)
The David Livingstone Centre is a National Trust for Scotland property set in 20 acres of parkland with a children's play area. For further information see http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/23/. The address of the centre is 165 Station Road, Glasgow, South Lanarkshire G72 9BY. It is close to Blantyre rail station and accessible from buses, for directions see http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/David-Livingstone-Centre/Getting-there/.
We look forward to seeing you on 4th June. For further information contact Stuart at the David Livingstone Centre: 0844 493 2207 or Margaret at Eco-Congregation Scotland.
Click Here to view or download the flyer.
Thursday, 28 April 2011
Interview with Charles Agboklu of the Evangelical Presbytrerian Church of Ghana climate change programme
Carol Finlay of the Church of Scotland World Mission Council recently interviewed Charles Agboklu about the work the EP church is doing to combat climate change. You can listen to the 30 minute interview below:
Thursday, 21 April 2011
Church of Scotland to debate Climate Change
The Church of Scotland General Assembly will be holding a debate on climate change during its meeting in May. Adrian Shaw, the church's Climate Change officer, has prepared this report for commissioners to debate. The report contains policy recommendations called deliverances which the assembly may accept or ammend.
Click here to read the report.
If you have any comments please contact Adrian Shaw at the Climate Change Project.
Click here to read the report.
If you have any comments please contact Adrian Shaw at the Climate Change Project.
To Hell and Back… on a Number 12 Bus
I was recently invited to a meeting in an office at the Gyle, the enormous office and shopping development to the west of Edinburgh. Being the proud user of a Lothian Buses Ridacard it seemed sensible to take the bus and knowing that the bus to the airport took about 30 minutes thought than about 20 minutes should do it. Bad mistake. The worrying omens started upon arrival at the bus stop on Princes Street to find that the usually excellent bus time indicators had all gone down. Eventually a No. 12 appeared, destination The Gyle, so I jumped on and off we set, on a leisurely tour of Edinburgh’s western suburbs, which eventually morph into the landscape of The Gyle. When seen from the train to Glasgow it is gone in a fleeting glance, but seen from ground level the amorphous and anonymous mass of roads, roundabouts, parking lots and corporate offices is a vast and bleak prospect. Make no mistake, this is the land of the car and of business; it is not a place to walk, or live or enjoy.
The bus eventually arrived at the shopping centre, a typical out of town development linking a large department store at one end to a supermarket at the other. From here I could see my destination but there was no direct way to reach it on foot, because of fast moving traffic on a wide dual carriage way in between. The map my hosts had kindly provided indicated a round about route through an underpass to another set of traffic lights and then a road that together described two sides of a triangle between where I was and where I needed to be. Following this prescribed route I found myself in a large car park. The destination was straight ahead but there was a beech hedge between the two and no visible way through. There was however a hole in the hedge revealing a wire fence with muddy footprints either side of it, which other desperate souls had clearly used as a means of passage. Slightly muddy, tatty and grumpy I arrived at the office a full hour after leaving George Street in the town centre.
The Gyle does not seem to be built for human beings; it is about making money. Office space is cheaper than in the middle of town and this is presumably why businesses choose to move there; this and ease of access by car. It is a landscape designed around the car, where people have to fit in and is consequently both inhuman in scale and design. Do we have to continue with developments like this? If we are serious about responding to climate change, or about reducing our dependence on the car or about protecting green space from tarmac and concrete then surely not: there have to be better alternatives.
Adrian Shaw
The bus eventually arrived at the shopping centre, a typical out of town development linking a large department store at one end to a supermarket at the other. From here I could see my destination but there was no direct way to reach it on foot, because of fast moving traffic on a wide dual carriage way in between. The map my hosts had kindly provided indicated a round about route through an underpass to another set of traffic lights and then a road that together described two sides of a triangle between where I was and where I needed to be. Following this prescribed route I found myself in a large car park. The destination was straight ahead but there was a beech hedge between the two and no visible way through. There was however a hole in the hedge revealing a wire fence with muddy footprints either side of it, which other desperate souls had clearly used as a means of passage. Slightly muddy, tatty and grumpy I arrived at the office a full hour after leaving George Street in the town centre.
The Gyle does not seem to be built for human beings; it is about making money. Office space is cheaper than in the middle of town and this is presumably why businesses choose to move there; this and ease of access by car. It is a landscape designed around the car, where people have to fit in and is consequently both inhuman in scale and design. Do we have to continue with developments like this? If we are serious about responding to climate change, or about reducing our dependence on the car or about protecting green space from tarmac and concrete then surely not: there have to be better alternatives.
Adrian Shaw
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