Autumn 2016 is the Season of Creation! The Archbishop of Canterbury has joined the Orthodox Patriarch and Pope Francis in asking Christians to use the time from 1^st September to 4^th October to focus attention on our call to care for creation. Around the globe, Christians will be praying and acting.  In this season of beauty and abundance it is easy to appreciate the world around us but there is more to his request than thanksgiving.  If you can, please find a minute (actually one minute and three seconds!) to watch the Archbishop’s message here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bovWrpqWcqY

To respond in practical ways, take a look at the article that Stephanie Summerell of the Love Creation team has written called ‘How to Live Sustainably’.  It’s in the latest St James Magazine on pages 14-15.  We’d like to hear what you think of it, and also collect any of your own tips that we can share with others.  We now have an e-mail address so you can contact us with your thoughts and ideas: lovecreation@saintjames.org.uk 

We’d love to have conversations about Loving God’s Creation and living in a way that supports this, so please let us know any ideas you might have on how we can achieve this. Better still join us – we’re a small team with lots of ideas and could do with some more pairs of hands!

God's Great Outdoors 

In the late 1970s Roger Ulrich conducted research to see if people recovered in hospitals better if they had something natural to look at out their window. The answer was a resounding “YES!”  Numerous studies since Ulrich’s original research have confirmed that spending time in nature has healing benefits, both physically and emotionally.


               Many times we think of nature providing us only with food and raw materials, but God’s handiwork provides us more than just the obvious.  Gardeners and nature enthusiasts will attest that they enjoy the outdoors because it makes them feel better.  So get outside!

               If you are up for a brisk 4-6 mile local walk with several other church members about once a month, you are in luck.  The St. James Walkers are a lively group of adults that enjoy the exercise, the company, the scenery, and a hearty meal at a pub after the walk.            
   For more information and to be added to the email list, contact Andrew Shingleton andrew@shingle.gotadsl.co.uk

Fairtrade Fortnight 29th February-13th March: Choose products that change Lives

Fairtrade Fortnight 2016 will be featuring Fairtrade breakfasts: 

to inspire the UK public to sit down for breakfast in support of the farmers who grow the food we have every morning, such as coffee, tea, cocoa and bananas. As Martin Luther King once said, ‘before you finish eating breakfast in the morning, you’ve depended on more than half the world’.

 Lack of food security is one of the world’s most critical issues. Despite millions of farmers and workers in developing countries working hard every day to grow the food we eat, many don’t earn enough to know where their next meal is coming from. The Fairtrade system ensures 1.5 Million farmers across Africa, Asia and Latin and Central America receive a fair price for their work, as well as an additional Fairtrade Premium, used to invest in their communities. The community then decides what the premium is spent on, whether that’s building a new school or hospital, or investing in better environmental business practices.

 When people are paid a fair price, they can have more control over their lives when times are hard, and worry less about how they will feed their families. Whether it’s having the money to spend on food or being able to expand their farms to grow more food to eat, Fairtrade means many farmers and workers are able to do what we take for granted – put enough food on the table for the people they care about, all year round.

 Farming is the backbone of the world. It’s simply wrong that whilst farmers work hard to produce what we eat so many of them should go hungry themselves.

 The UK is one of the world’s leading Fairtrade markets, with more products and more awareness of Fairtrade than anywhere else. St James Church is a fair-trade church: we use Fairtrade coffee and tea at all our events.

 There is an enormous range of Fairtrade products available, including clothing, jewellery, toys, homeware and gifts as well as groceries and household items so it is possible to make a large percentage of our shopping ethical.

During Fairtrade Fortnight you will see promotions for Fairtrade product in some of our local stores.

There are links for certain products from the Fairtrade website, but the largest range is available from Traidcraft plc, which is a trading company entirely dedicated to fair trade in that it applies fair trade principles across its full range of products. You can shop online: http://www.traidcraftshop.co.uk and also access their website from the Fairtrade website.

 For more information on the range of products, see the Fairtrade website. http://www.fairtrade.org.uk (the range now includes fairly traded gold: say ‘I do’ with an ethically mined gold ring!)

 If your local shop doesn’t offer Fairtrade products you can order leaflets explaining Fairtrade and giving them to the manager, while politely asking them to stock Fairtrade. And when they do, support them by telling others and buying the Fairtrade products!