Churches networking for climate resources and action
Representatives of two Anglican parishes, two independent evangelical churches, a Methodist church and another URC, met with the hosts, Avenue St Andrew’s URC (ASA), Southampton, and the Catholic City Centre Parish, on 5 September, to hear what each other has been doing regarding climate change and environmental sustainability, to learn from each other’s experience, and to discuss ideas for future action.
Some of these had already met in the last 5 years through one or other of the courses that used the Dorset Green Living Guide: the first on Zoom during Covid lockdown, the second face to face, the third run in Winchester by Portsmouth Diocese which had two speakers on each subject to present parts of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si alongside Dorset Green Living chapters.
For follow-up reading after those sessions, and to reach more people with the key points of each chapter, we compiled illustrated leaflets, with current examples from Southampton and Hampshire instead of Dorset. We called these Green Living interactive leaflets, to browse websites, to discuss issues, and to plan action. These leaflets updated last year, were the starting point for another Zoom course, with people from five churches.
From that experience, A Green Living course outline was compiled, offering a framework to any who would like to organise such a course, for study at home between eight small-group sessions, in ways to suit the needs and circumstances of the participants. The latest editions of the Green Living interactive leaflets (September 2025) are now available via ASA’s Declaration of climate emergency and commitment to action on https://asaurc.org.uk/climate-change/, and the latest edition of A Green Living course outline by email from berniecollins868@gmail.com.
Some highlights of activities spoken of by guests at the Gathering: organised a Green Event in the park for their community, put weekly tips in their newsletter, set Boys Brigade challenges, fitted nest boxes for swifts, made eco-bricks to build garden furniture, Installed a heat pump and solar panels, arranged litter-picks, planted trees locally and overseas, handle specialist recycling, and hold a regular repair café. Two churches this year had evening speaker events with professors from Southampton University on environmental issues they are tackling. Possibilities were raised for more events, projects and gatherings in the coming year.
