Introduction

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they display knowledge. Psalm19

Love Creation at St James is an initiative to rediscover our mandate as Christians to work for the restoration and protection of the earth (Genesis 2:15).

For many years the two St James has supported the work of A Rocha, the leading Christian conservation charity. We are now taking up the challenge of becoming an eco-congregation:

What is an Eco-Congregation?

Eco-congregation is an award scheme set up by A Rocha. To achieve the Eco-congregation award a church must evidence significant progress in weaving creation care into the life and witness of the church. Churches are externally assessed and if they achieve Eco-congregation status it lasts for three years.

A ‘Love Creation’ team has been convened to lead the church through this process. We are mindful that rather then starting from scratch, we are in fact building on the efforts already made by many at St James. Our churchyards abound in a rich array of wildlife thanks to them being well managed. Recycling facilities on the site have improved enormously and the bike shed in Gerrards Cross is well used, particularly on a Sunday. Members of St James have initiated all sorts of projects such as: planting a wildflower meadow; writing a book (Developing a Plan for the Planet¹); starting a quiet garden; keeping bees; initiating the ‘transition town network’ in Chalfont St Peter, which among many other initiatives managed the waste for our ‘Run the Race’ event in 2012.

Love Creation at St James

Our hope is that the Love Creation initiative helps us to make further progress upon what has already been happening.

• Firstly we aim to inspire each member of the two St James to work out what it means to care for God’s creation in their own lives, not out of fear or guilt, but to glorify God.
• Secondly we aim to take a decisive step towards making the operations of the two St James more environmentally friendly.
• Thirdly we seek to build strategic local partnerships with groups or organisations committed to environmental care.

Becoming an eco-congregation is not an accolade, so that we pat ourselves on the back. It is a means through which we come to worship creator God more deeply and to bear witness to his wonderful works in creation.

We believe that as we understand the Christian mandate to care for creation we will improve our stewardship of the earth’s resources, protect its biodiversity and mitigate against climate change.

We want to hear from you...

The Love Creation team sees it as our job, not to tell people what to do, but to provoke a conversation. We are mindful within St James there are many people seeking to care for creation in all sorts of ways. We would love to be sharing these ideas with one another through the Love Creation blog .

Please contact the St James office in order to get in touch with a member of the Love Creation Team. We hope that this blog will be a forum of ideas to encourage us all in our Creation care.

¹ Developing a Plan for the Planet, Ian Chambers and John Humble, Gower Publishing, 2011