The Holy Redeemer Lamorbey : Eco Church

Eco Church

Holy Redeemer is an A Rocha UK 'Gold' Award Church. It is the first one in the Diocese of Rochester.

392762944 649681340633839 3655

‘Lord God, the earth is yours and all that is in it. We pledge ourselves to your service in caring for your creation, that your kingdom may grow from seed of hope into the tree of righteousness and justice for the world.’ Though Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen (Romans 8:21)

Our Engagement

Our church mission as an Eco Church under Caring for God's Creation is centred around these five key areas:

Worship and teaching
Management of church buildings
Management of church land
Community and global engagement
Lifestyle

We work really hard to restore nature and increase biodiversity in our family friendly garden which is a haven of peace for everyone. Our worship and teaching reflect our love and passion for the environment which is spiritually embedded in all we do. We support and promote many local and world wide organisations that care for nature and God’s creation on earth. Each year we take part in outdoor services, special projects and events and we make an Eco Act of Commitment to pledge to care for creation during a green communion.

394733375 652200207048619 4577 475308510 934038005531503 5883

Our Eco Principles

As Christians in our community we adhere to the 9 Ways of Living Gently. We reduce our food waste and buy less clothing to prevent as much as possible going to landfill. We encourage all to follow a sustainable lifestyle following the principles of the 7R's:

Rejoice - in all that God has given us
Refuse - to believe the adverts
Reduce - buy less, travel less, worry less
Reuse - avoid single-use items
Repair- don’t bin it, fix it
Rent - borrow and share, ownership is over-rated
Recycle - as a last resort

LOAF: Local, Organic, Animal Friendly and Fair Trade

Bread is full of symbolic meaning for Christians. In the gospels Jesus described Himself as “the bread of life”. We support and adopt Green Christian’s LOAF principles? LOAF stands for food that is: Locally produced, Organically grown, Animal friendly and Fairly traded.

We work in partnership with A Rocha UK and Green Christian.

475019389 931952059073431 5025 475082949 931955622406408 2327

Which organisations do we support?

We engage with and support a wide variety of wildlife charities and environmental organisations. We raise funds and highlight the work God is doing through those who work on projects during our community cafe and mid - week time together and through our worship and on our Eco Activity Days. Organisations and charities we support and continue to promote:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/
https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/
https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/
https://www.mcsuk.org/
https://www.orangutan.org.uk/
https://www.wateraid.org/uk/
https://www.rspb.org.uk/
https://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/

476553699 942153041386666 5192 462364422 855901086678529 5512

Our Leaders

Ingrid Riches is our Eco Church Rep and our link to A Rocha UK. She oversees our Lifestyle and Global Engagement and uses her art, creativity and research skills to inspire and help us engage with our earth, its wildlife and our natural world. Mell our vicar plans and delivers the Worship and Teaching element which leads into our mission throughout the year. Together they agree a set of objectives and themes to work on during the church year.

All ages engage with these on Sundays, during the week and during the seasons. Mell teaches our pre-school children, leads our Green Communion, Green Week and Creation-tide learning alongside Ingrid and the church and involves the wider community.

Ingrid and Mell are supported by the Church 'Green Team' who tend to the Buildings and Land and our beautiful garden and green spaces. Our Green Team link up with outside organisations and assist with prayers and worship on 'Green Sundays', they will facilitate art projects and other ideas at key times of the year.

69955879 2096576927315358 8214

Ingrid Riches with Mell and our Eco Partners A Rocha UK

Come along and join in, help out, or just relax in the restorative power of nature. Be part of our loving eco family as together we live lightly on the planet.

Find out more about Eco Church below:

https://www.churchofengland.org/about/environment-and-climate-change/eco-church.

Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Visitors click here.

Planning your Visit

Welcome

The following information is specifically for those planning a visit, so that you know, beforehand, what to expect on a Sunday morning.

When do we meet?

In the church building for our Sunday Service starting at 10:00am. For your first visit, we recommend arriving 10-15 minutes early to ensure you get a parking space and find somewhere to sit before the service begins. When you arrive, you will be greeted by someone on our friendly welcome team. You can speak to the Vicar or the ministers before coming so they can look out for you.

Facilities: There are toilets, baby changing facilities, a creche and the church building is always warm.

Accessibility: There is wheelchair access, and a sound loop for anyone who needs it. Please let one of the Welcome Team know on your arrival and they will help you to get set up. There are disabled toilets in the church.

What happens during a service?

images: Services

🙂 The main service begins at 10am with a warm welcome and opening prayer.

🎵 We have songs in our worship. We typically have three songs and a piece of music during the service.

📖 People read a passage from the bible. One of our leaders will give a sermon (a short talk) that is bible based, about the Christian faith with teaching and wisdom that we can apply to our everyday life.

👫 Sometimes the talk is interactive and we can all join in. Children might help the Vicar with the talk too. This might seem strange the first time you see or hear it but it’s all part of connecting with our beliefs and spirituality. It helps people learn, grow and stay engaged.

🙏 Someone will then say some prayers for the world and our community.

🍞🍷 We receive holy communion, the bread and wine or the holy sacrament of Jesus Christ. If we are new to the Christian faith we learn about this while we receive a special blessing.

💡Afterwards we share news or notices, usually about what’s going on in the life of the church.

🕯 There is sometimes an opportunity for private prayer or healing at the end of the service.

☕ We serve tea, coffee and biscuits after the service. Often cake, plus drinks and snacks for the children. It is a great way to get to know people, and what is going on. There is no pressure to stay, just take time to find your bearings. You can also chat to the Vicar or the lay ministers. All refreshments are free.

What about my kids?

Find out more about families and children at church here.