The churches of Radcliffe and Whitefield Mission Community held two litter picking events recently, attracting a total of 115 people across two days. Starting in their own churches with a short time of prayer, volunteers then headed out litter picking in their communities. The events were a huge success with 77 litter pickers out on Wednesday and 38 on the Saturday, collecting a total of 52 bags of rubbish.
Church members shared meaningful encounters with members of their local communities whilst litter picking; some of those they spoke with on the Wednesday then joined them for the Saturday event, which was a brilliant and unexpected outcome.
This is one of many eco-activities in which Alison Hartley, Focal Leader at Christ Church Ainsworth, is involved. Christ Church has also started a Family Gardening Group that runs each Wednesday morning through the school holidays, which has so far created an EcoGarden and made bug hotels, alongside helping out their regular Churchyard volunteers with raking, sweeping, leaf collecting etc. Next up is designing bird feeders!
Alongside these practical activities, they have started a 'Wild Worship' session each Wednesday evening through the school holidays- an outdoor family-friendly worship - with a theme of 'Going On A Prayer Hunt' based on the popular book 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt'.
