A Stoke church’s Easter plans celebrated new life in more ways than one. Echoing the morning service’s ‘New Life,’ theme, a common Easter theme denoting the resurrection of Christ, St Philip and St James Church, Milton also spoke about being an Eco Church, promoting the care of creation in the church and the parish.
Not satisfied with having just received a bronze-level Eco-Church award from national charity Arocha, the church decided they would spread some new growth around their community with the gift of wild flower seeds to everyone at the end of the service. The seeds encourage the presence of birds, bees and butterflies, including some declining species.
Revd Karen Petherick said: “Everyone will be asked to plant them at home and report back on the progress of the 'new life'. By planting seeds around the village and in gardens, we hope to bring about positive change and wellbeing in our village. We hope that this will benefit the local community and develop awareness of environmental issues. Doing it at Easter might also remind people of the new life of the resurrection when they plant the seeds. The local Coop was very generous and donated funds from a raffle towards this project”
The church also shared packets of seeds with the local schools they work with: the local pre school, Messy Church and ‘Little Fishes’ the church’s toddlers worship group.
Safeguarding the integrity of creation is core to Christian faith and part of the mission of the Anglican Church across the world.