Children lead church to “greener” outlook
NORTH BAY, ON—Children at St. Brice's Anglican Church have started a weekly environmental club dedicated to teaching themselves and the congregation how to be more environmentally friendly.
High-school guidance counsellor Colleen Point coordinates the group of nine, who range in age between six and13 years old.
"We are called Creation Keepers," Point says. "It's an active group. They are taking the leadership and initiative—generating their own ideas—and are really eager to work on changing the environmental practices in our church."
The young people are currently developing two research campaigns, one focusing on greener Christmas gifts and one on eco-friendly gift-wrapping. They plan to present their findings to the congregation.
"I have also given the students flash drives to save their research on. We are going paperless as much as possible," says Point, who is known as St. Brice's "green lady."
"After Christmas we are planning a bag campaign, including looking at what plastic bags cost our environment and also designing environmentally friendly bags to sell."
Point says that along with learning about the environment, Creation Keepers also helps young people learn about positive group dynamics, brainstorming, presentation skills and being leaders in the church.
The group was started after St. Brice's pastor, Richard White, was inspired by an interdenominational initiative called Eco-Congregation Ireland that developed a series of teaching modules on how to increase congregations' practical and spiritual environmental awareness.
"The prophet Isaiah said that a little child shall lead them," says White, who is preaching a series on the Bible's call to care for creation. "I am thrilled about Creation Keepers. As Christians we are called be wise stewards of God's creation, and instead we have for too long taken God's world for granted.
As churches we need to go back and look at what the Old and New Testament has to say to us."
David Humphries, of Eco-Congregation Ireland, says they never expected their initiative to reach all the way to Canada.
"I think what they are doing is brilliant, absolutely brilliant," says Humphries, rector of Stormont in Belfast, the first parish in Ireland to win the Eco-Congregation award.
"One thing we have found in Eco-Congregation Ireland is that [environmental awareness] is a big attraction for young people. They are the natural people to lead it in our congregations and it is a great way of getting young people involved in church."
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