St Philip's, Dorridge & St James', Bentley HeathCaring for God's Creation
At St Philip's and St James, we include caring for God's creation as an integral part of our mission in Dorridge, Bentley Heath and beyond.
We are seeking to live out the 5th Anglican mark of mission:
"To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation,
and sustain and renew the life of the earth "
Picture by Elsie Clay from Bentley Heath School - winner of the Eco competition
So, how are we doing this ?
Parish Environmental Policy
We have adopted a Parish Environmental Policy, seeking to embed creation care in the everyday life of the church. You can read it here
We are an "Eco Church"
Eco Church is a programme run by A Rocha UK, that provides a comprehensive structure to help churches and church communities express their care for God’s world; in our worship and teaching, in how we look after our buildings and land, in how we engage with our local community and in global campaigns, and in the personal lifestyles of our congregation.
There are three levels, Bronze, Silver and Gold, for both individual churches and for dioceses. You can find out more on their website ecochurch.arocha.org.uk
We registered with the Eco Church programme, and obtained our first award, Bronze in September 2021. In June 2024, we were delighted to achieve our Silver award. To achieve a Gold award, creation care needs to be reflected across all areas of the life of the church. Watch out over the coming months for opportunities for you and your families to get involved
Eco Group Meetings
Why not join our Next Meetings: 21st October
We meet on the fourth Tuesday of every month in Gateway Studio, at St Philip's Church Centre at 7:30pm
Do you have a passion for preserving and sustaining God’s creation? Following on from the Advent sermon series, want to get more involved in caring for God's creation? Whether that’s the natural world, reducing our carbon footprint or working with the local community, our Eco Group needs you!
If you are interested, or would like to know more, contact Caroline Egan, Laura Bates, Carol Linfield, Penny Parker, or Roger Williams, or email us
Everyone is welcome, just come along.
Engaging with our MP
In August 2023, Duncan joined with ministers of the Churches Together churches in Knowle, Dorridge and Bentley Heath to write to our MP. In their letter, they called on him to urge the government not to backtrack on tackling climate change.
- Click Here to read the letter.
- Click Here for Saqib Bhatti's response to this letter.
- Click Here for the clergy's reply to Saqib Bhatti letter.
If you would like to add your voice to calls to protect God's creation, you can email Saqib Bhatti at saqib.bhatti.mp@parliament.uk or write to him at
The House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA.
Writing to our MP For 'Top Tips' on writing to our MP - just click here
Article of the Month
LIVING GENEROUSLY FOR OUR NEIGHBOURS AND GOD’S CREATION
In our prayer for growth, we acknowledge Jesus’ call to share in his mission to all creation, and to recognize that we are called to outrageous generosity, not just in our giving, but in our living.
for more information on why and how we can live more generously, including some easy tips on ways we can make a difference, and details of the Church of England’s Great Switch for Creation campaign.
Making a difference/ the Great Switch for Creation
Giving, of our money, time and talents, is a core part of our Christian discipleship. However, the money we give is only a fraction of the money we spend. Imagine the impact we can have in following Christ’s call to love our neighbours, whether next door, on the other side of the world, or yet to be born, if we live out the generosity we are called to in how we spend our money. Because everything we buy and do can potentially have either a positive or negative impact on other people and the rest of God’s creation.
Click here for some tips on how we can live more generously. Maybe pick one that you aren’t already doing, let it bed in until it becomes your “new normal”, then move onto another one.
And if you want to start with a simple change that can make a meaningful difference, the Church of England has an idea for you.
A lot of companies claim to have a “green” energy tariff, but only relatively few are making a meaningful contribution to increasing renewable energy generation. So the CofE has done a deep dive into which companies have both a genuinely green tariff and are otherwise ethical.
The result is the Great Switch for Creation, the CofE’s recently launched campaign to encourage and support churches to switch to genuinely green providers. Of the established companies, they have identified three electricity providers that best meet their criteria – Ecotricity, Octopus and Good Energy.
The Church Centre is already with Ecotricity, but this is also a step we as individuals can take to make a small but meaningful difference in caring for God’s creation. Click here for a two page explainer about why we should switch and who we should switch to. It also explains how we can switch, but we need to get quotes directly from suppliers, as the Parish Energy option is only available for churches.
Thought or Prayer for the Month
‘When Christians take the earth seriously, people take the gospel seriously.’
Rob Frost