A sizeable part of St Michael’s Church's 170th celebrations involve celebrating the concept of a country church in a town. Last week, children from the adjacent St Michael's day school enjoyed a nature walk around the churchyard as well as nature-themed crafts and quizzes inside the church itself. We created a ‘follow the bee’ trail and produced information sheets at various stages along the route. Bees in particular have been in decline in the UK for many years, mainly due to habitat loss, pollution and the use of pesticides. If the trend continues, some species of bee may be lost altogether which would have devastating consequences, including preventing the growing of certain crops for food.
Eco church diaries: October 2021
This month, St Michael's eco church welcomed children from St Michael’s School to their Bee Trail to learn all about these important pollinators.
St Michael's eco church
More than 100 five and seven year-old children and their teachers from St Michael’s School spent the morning with us. It proved to be both a wonderful and exhausting experience! We hope that some of them will have been inspired to look at nature and think about caring for creation.
We are also grateful to Mrs Hart, the head teacher of St Michael’s School, for providing a fantastic new notice board for the church and school to share. It incorporates a poster illustrating some of the plants and animals that can be found in the churchyard, as well as raising awareness of the conservation project.
The new notice board at St Michael's eco church
To remind you, the Churchyard conservation project at St Michael’s sets out to offer the people of Great Lever a small, tranquil oasis where they can appreciate the natural environment and wildlife. It is proven that being out in nature is good for both our physical and mental wellbeing, and at St Michael’s we believe it is our responsibility and joy to care for creation, especially at this time of climate breakdown and frightening loss of biodiversity.
St Michael’s is registered as an Eco Church with A Rocha (the Christian conservation organisation), to be a champion for caring for the environment. The Church sits within a heavily urbanised and multicultural area with pockets of deprivation. It is flanked by two main roads and a railway line but, despite this, the churchyard forms an important link in a chain of green spaces stretching across Great Lever and Farnworth.