Care for Creation and Active Prayer on St Cyprian’s Big Parish Walk
Members of St Cyprian’s, Nottingham, brought together their care for creation and their desire to see God’s kingdom come in their parish as they embarked on their Big Parish Walk on 23rd May.
They were joined by a team from Walk Notts, who filmed a video as a way to encourage others across the county to get to know their neighbourhoods and to feel more comfortable walking to local destinations, rather than taking a car.
Watch the video below:
Sally Dunleavy, Net Zero Carbon Officer for the diocese, spoke to Walk Notts on the day of the walk. She said, “Part of what we want to do is encourage everyone in the congregation to be as active as possible, for their own health and for the planet as well. We want to support Sara at Walk Notts in being able to provide walks that they can do straight out of their doors or the church door.
“The Big Parish Walk has many purposes, one of which is to identify those walks in our parish that might well cover people’s front doors so that they can walk to and from church. It’s also about mapping the environment so that we can see how easy it is for wheelchair and scooter users to use the roads in and around the church and the parish as a whole. And to see where there are green spaces with bees, wildlife and places for children to play. Everyone has a clipboard and we’re asking them to write down the interesting things that they find in the environment as they move around.”
Father Lee Dunleavy, curate at St Cyprian’s, spoke about being able to understand the parish itself better, saying that there’s a desire to, “understand the whole parish – the whole area – that we have a certain degree of responsibility for, and then understanding what else we can do to support the community, and the ways that they can support us in our ambitions to reach net zero.”
But the walk wasn’t just about encouraging people to be more active. It also integrated with the church’s pre-existing cycle of prayer, which already covers all roads in the parish. By travelling around these roads, the group from St Cyprian’s had the opportunity to be out, ‘on location,’ praying for new disciples on every street.
How can your church join in?
The best thing your church can do to support the diocese’s net zero targets is to complete the Energy Footprint Tool by 30th June – this data is crucial to our efforts in reducing emissions across the diocese.
We also encourage you to join A Rocha’s Eco Church Scheme, or continue to progress through it if you are already a part of it.
If your church has hosted or taken part in events and initiatives to show your care for creation and love for your parish community, then we would love to hear about it and share it to inspire others. You can email the comms team here.
About Net Zero Demonstrator Churches
St Cyprian’s is a Net Zero Demonstrator church, which means that National Church funding has been provided to help it reach the target of net zero carbon emissions, and to do so in such a way that learnings from the process can be shared for the benefit of all of our churches, both here in the diocese and more widely across the country.
Find out more about the initiative on the National Church website, or get in touch with Sally Dunleavy if you want to find out more.
Use the link below for more information, visit our caring for Creation resource page: