06 November 2024
With a congregation of 50 to 60 people who come every Sunday, many of them with children, Mortimer Methodist Church in the Southampton District has a diverse congregation. 12 to 15 young people work with the team to improve the church’s sustainability.
The church's eco-journey began in 2020 when the congregation started by installing LED lights, but it quickly evolved into a comprehensive effort to reduce its carbon footprint. The work paid off and the church immediately received an A Rocha Eco Church Silver Award.
The church's former minister, Revd David Shaw, was an environmental advocate and encouraged the congregation to go further. Donald Graham, Mortimer’s Eco Lead, did most of the heavy lifting, researching and comparing options: “I looked at what other churches have done and factored our challenges and differences.”
The team took a hands-on approach and started several initiatives such as an Incredible Edible vegetable garden, a butterfly garden and a wildflower meadow on the church's grounds.
More than installing bird boxes and bat boxes, the team also tackled the church's burial ground, transforming sections into long grass and wildflower areas to promote biodiversity. “We've also cultivated and grown big ash trees, which gave us corridors for bats and other bird species,” adds Don.
They also did a feasibility study on the church with thermal imaging camera which allow them to identify and fix, such as gaskets in the double glazing and patches of low insulation.
All this work was done with transparency, letting the congregation and the community know what they intended to do, why and why Creation Care and Eco Church are important.
Mortimer drastically improved their outreach – an area many churches struggle with but paramount to achieve Gold Award – locally and internationally. The church provided donations to five West African nations to support water irrigation systems and women's empowerment in green initiatives.
Mortimer also engaged more its local community through awareness and events such as Greening Mortimer, during which they link with local charities, provide information and tips on how to me more sustainable.
The hard work paid off when A Rocha Eco Church awarded Mortimer Methodist the prestigious Gold Award in July 2023.
But the congregation hasn't stopped there. Their plans for the future include creating QR codes and a dedicated app to showcase their eco-journey and inspire others.
They have also raised £29,000 to install 40 solar panels and upgrade their electrical supply to a three-phase system, enabling them to export energy back to the grid – the first in Mortimer. As Clive Williams, the Property Steward, enthusiastically shares, "Once that’s done, we can feed back the money to improve the church, for instance, looking at renewing flooring."
Mortimer Methodist Church's holistic approach, from grounds maintenance to international outreach, has positioned them as a leading example within the Methodist Church's environmental efforts. As they continue to push the boundaries, the congregation's dedication to creation care is an inspiration to the wider community.