Pictured (inset) David Moser and Cate Valpiani accept the awards from Jessica Morthorpe on behalf of the congregation and (main photo) The church’s creation inspired mural painted by local artist, Meg Minkley.
Northern Beaches Uniting Church (Balgowlah) has received an environmental award.
Five Leaf Eco-Awards Founder and Director Jessica Morthorpe visited the church to present the Basic Certificate award. This award recognises their focus on renewable energy, with the installation of solar panels and the switch to 100 percent GreenPower. It also acknowledges the many actions the Balgowlah church has taken, including completing an energy audit, recycling, using reusable cutlery, reducing their paper use, discussing the climate impacts on Vanuatu in services, hosting nature activities for children in their Little Footsteps program, establishing water-efficient church gardens that include forage plants for bees and creating a beautiful environment-themed mural full of native flowers, painted by local artist, Meg Minkley.
Cate Valpiani applied for the awards on behalf of the church.
“The church motto is ‘Reflecting God’s Love in Community,’” she said.
“As awareness grows of the vital connection between caring for Creation and loving our neighbours, our community recognises that taking positive environmental action is a practical and meaningful way of ‘reflecting God’s love within our community’ – whether that be local or international.”
Ms. Valpiani said that many members of the church are involved in secular or faith-based environmental groups, including Common Grace, Uniting Earth and the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change. Others are on personal journeys toward more sustainable living. She hopes that involvement in the Five Leaf Eco-Awards will help the congregation learn from the experiences of other faith groups, formalise and recognise what they have done so far, provide encouragement and inspiration for further action, and begin positive and productive conversations with our local community.
The congregation’s former Minister, Rev Mata Havea Hiliau, Moderator Elect of the Uniting Church in NSW and ACT Synod, congratulated the church on this award, acknowledging we all have a responsibility in caring for God’s creation.
Ms. Morthorpe encouraged other churches interested in earning awards to apply, “Many churches have already done enough to earn Five Leaf Eco-Awards, they just don’t realise it,” she says, “If your community is doing something to be proud of, even if you think you have only done a little, please let us know. We can’t give you an award if we don’t know what you’ve done!” Churches can enter the awards by filling out the survey here: www.fiveleafecoawards.org
Balgowlah Uniting Church is part of the Northern Beaches Uniting Church (NBUC), which includes churches at Freshwater and Cromer.
The Five Leaf Eco-Awards are an ecumenical environmental change initiative for Australian churches and religious organisations founded in 2008 to assist, inspire and reward churches for environmental action. The Five Leaf Eco-Awards are non- competitive, with churches completing task from a list of flexible criteria to earn each certificate. There are currently seven awards of varying difficulty available. The Five Leaf Eco-Awards operate nationally and across denominations.
Jessica Morthorpe
