St Mary's Church Ingleton has gained its second ‘Eco Congregation’ Award. Pictured (second left) is Jemima Parker, Diocesan Environmental Officer, who visited Ingleton to unveil the plaque and was the guest speaker at the morning service (On April 19th).
With Jemima is Andy Ive of St Mary's Parish Church Council and a couple of younger members of the congregation.
In applying for the award, the church listed 28 green activities. They ranged from hosting Eco-Services to using Fairtrade Products, having a book of paintings and text on the churchyard wildflowers and hosting moss and lichen trails. They also used local suppliers for building and maintenance work, held jumble sales and wrote letters about climate change.
In her talk to the congregation, Jemima talked about references to care of the environment in the Bible and about the problems of climate change. Looking forward to the General Election she urged people to think of environmental issues when voting. She said, " Being awarded a second Eco congregation is quite an achievement for a small village church. It is very encouraging to see how the congregation at St Mary's take seriously our call to steward God's creation, acting locally for climate justice."