This Volunteers Week, we are celebrating some of the great work done by remarkable volunteers in our churches, and today we are looking at those working on caring for God’s Creation.
When vicar Debby Plummer retired from ordained ministry 10 years ago, she was keen to get outdoors.
Debby serves as one of our Eco-Mission Enablers, working across the Huddersfield area to support churches in their environmental ambitions, as well as working with other groups in the community.
She also serves as Parish Environment Officer in her own parish of Newsome and Armitage Bridge and Netherton.
A passionate environmentalist, her faith had been seeded by what she calls ‘a mystical experience’ on the Norfolk Broads.
“I met God in nature first,” she said, “and there had always been a bit of me that wanted to stay in touch with nature. I have always encountered God through hills, trees and water.”
Debby decided to volunteer on Stirley Farm, a community farm just south of Huddersfield, run by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.
Over the last 10 years, she’s enabled school children from across the region to enjoy visits there, engaging with nature, learning about sustainable food production, and experiencing wildlife in new ways.
She said, “I enjoy seeing the impact that the farm has on people, seeing them excited by nature. It’s really, really rewarding.”
Her work has been with children from local junior schools and a special school, creating an introduction to the natural world that she herself loves so much.
She also sees her volunteering work as part of something much bigger: tackling climate change.
It’s this concern that has kept her volunteering for the last decade.
Debby said, “I’m really passionate about this.
“It’s important to care for creation and renew the earth. Climate change is the existential crisis of our time and keeps getting brushed under the carpet.
“God made the world and that’s why we should care for it. God loved everything in the world he created, not just the humans, and that’s why he sent his Son. God is in all of his creation.”
Debby is a supporter of the Church of England’s drive towards carbon net zero: “It’s a marvellous thing,” she said. “It’s the most important thing we can do.”
Beth Maclean, Carbon Net Zero Programme Manager at the Diocese of Leeds, said: “We are honoured to have such dedicated and passionate volunteers, like Debby, who play a vital role in supporting our parishes as they grow in their ministry and mission to care for God’s creation.
“I am deeply grateful for the way they serve their communities and inspire action.
“To all our wonderful volunteers - thank you for all that you do. Your care, commitment, and willingness to share your knowledge make such a difference to the people and communities around you.”
To find out lots more about caring for God’s Creation, and how the diocese can support you in that, please click here.