Judgment Day – Church Times Green Awards

On 26^th September Church Times will be hosting their Green Awards ceremony. The awards have two objectives: to celebrate the remarkable efforts made by individuals and congregations to offset the damage being done to the earth, and to set good examples and be an inspiration for others.

There are seven award categories and as BRF ministries Messy Church are sponsoring the training and education award, Aike had the privilege of being one of the judges. Back in July, she spent an afternoon at the Church Times office in London, meeting with other judges, some of whom were joining via Zoom from around the UK.

She writes: Other than judging who was the last person to hit the floor in a game of musical bumps, I’ve never done any serious judging before, so the whole process has been a fascinating experience.  With over 200 entries, the judging panel were sent a short list of six entries for each of the seven categories. I spent a happy afternoon reading through each entry, with the task of deciding my top three for each category, alongside a set of judging criteria. It was inspiring to read about the wide variety of projects run by committed people who prompted by their Christian faith and desire to care for God’s creation, are making a difference for the environment in their local communities.

The gathering of judges felt a bit like results time at Eurovision, with each judge invited in turn to give three, two, or one point (I was desperate to say ‘nil point’ but this wasn’t required) for their top projects, leaving us with a winner and two highly commended projects per category. I’m pleased to say that each category had a unanimous winner, and I really look forward to meeting all the teams that made the final short list at the awards ceremony on 26^th September.

You can read more about their inspiring projects here:

https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2024/30-august/features/features/shortlisted-entries-to-the-2024-church-times-green-church-awards-green-shoots-to-green-plants

https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2024/6-september/features/features/shortlisted-entries-to-the-2024-church-times-green-church-awards-healing-touch-of-green-champions

If you are thinking about how to ‘green-up’ your Messy Church and help your community appreciate God’s amazing creation, check out our Messy Church Goes Wild resources or keep an eye out for an online Messy Church Goes Wild masterclass.

If you live in the Oxfordshire area, come along to some free hands-on Messy Church Goes Wild training and experience a session on Sunday 29^th September 2024. Hosted by Aike and Sally and the local team at St. Swithun’s Kennington near Abingdon, book here to secure your place.