The 25th meeting of the NI Creation Care Network took place in Regent Street Presbyterian Church on Saturday 13th September 2025.
Bertie Stirling welcomed everyone. Then Helen Moffett opened with a short reflection where she reminded us of the increasing threats posed by global warming and climate change, citing examples from the recent summer. With reference to God the Creator and the Great Commission she reminded us of our God given responsibility in caring for creation. Reference was made to Chris Wright’s argument that Creation Care is an integral part of God’s mission. She ended with words of encouragement to continue our efforts no matter how small they may seem.
Discussion around the group followed.
The wild flower areas at Drumalis were thriving and there was an increasing number of species present. Swift boxes had been erected but as yet no swifts were in residence. He mentioned 2 events-
- Corrymeela is holding a “Celebration of Peace” in the Farset Hotel on 21st September.
- A Rocha UK is holding a retreat in November.
Drumalis continues to make the connection between spirituality and Creation Care. She mentioned the joyful closing words of Laudate Si “Let us sing as we go” in relation to their creation of a community garden. Here they grow fruit and vegetables and flowers. Some of these folks are going through difficult times. The work has involved them building raised beds and shelter which has been therapeutic for them.
Newtownbreda PC’s Eco committee has now been in existence for 10 years. They have just completed a written policy document and are awaiting the approval of their Session. It consists of a mission statement and then a set of policy procedures.
Knockbreda Community Garden continues to do well especially this year in relation to fruit. They are holding an “Apple Day” on 4th October where people can bring apples to be pressed into juice.
There are various resources which are generally available online.
- Nature’s Towns and Cities in conjunction with the National Trust have produced a set of presentations on how people can be involved on the ground. An example is Redburn Country Park by Holywood Shared Town. This is the construction of a walled garden with a number of men’s sheds and raised beds for community gardening. Ther is a need for people to volunteer for the “boring” administrative tasks which are necessarily involved.
- My Earth is a website of local resources
- Greenspace NI have produced a map of green spaces which are accessible to the public. We were encouraged to study the map and if we were aware of areas not represented on the map to inform Greenspace NI.
We were also reminded that for the modern generation communication was largely done through the internet and if we wanted to reach them then we must have a presence there.
There has been a large increase in National Trust membership in 18-25 year olds indicating an increased environmental awareness and interest in this age bracket.
There are a number of events being held by the Join the Dots Together organization. The upcoming ones are:-
(a)Wednesday 17th September 7.30 pm – Hillsborough Presbyterian Church. “Economics for Peace and Planet” This event will feature John Barry from Queen’s and a representative of the Bahai faith.
(b) Wednesday 24th September 7.00 pm -the Windsor Hub- “Many Voices. One Peace :Faith in Action in a Divided World”
Further information on these evenings can be found at www.jointhedotstogether.org
There has been some positive development at the Jubilee farm. There had recently been a visit from all the children at Glynn Primary School. There had also been visits from some asylum seekers. There had been an increase in the number of volunteers, many of whom were asylum seekers.
The Nature Friendly Farmers group which aimed to use regenerative farming rather than relying on chemicals. They hoped to produce better food with less pollution of the waterways.
2nd Donegore church has been doing some work with Christian Aid. They were due to hold a flower arranging event in November. Also they were going to collect some warm clothing to be donated to the International Meeting Point on the Lisburn Road.
The Drumlins Wind Energy Co-operative have had two of their six turbines have been replaced by more modern and efficient ones. £60,000 is to be invested in education programmes to an additional number of schools . There are to be further wind energy projects in Dolmen (Castlewellan), Lisnaskea, Inner Belfast and Ballymacash. These will all help to alleviate fuel poverty. An initiative is being launched called Community Energy N.I. aimed at building interest.
A Citizens’ Assembly is being planned to work toward improving Lough Neagh. The closing date for application to be on this is 22nd September and forms can be obtained from Karin Ebyen.
There is increasing interest in solar panels in Newtownbreda PC and there is continued good use of the polytunnel in their community garden.
At Regent Street PC a number of events are planned.
- We have limited green space around the church, but we have purchased planters which have been filled with flowers. Bird boxes are also planned.
- We aim to involve young people in planting spring bulbs and to hold an eco service in February or March to coincide with their flowering
- Regular eco-tips are to be included in the order of service.
- A Mission Statement is to be considered.
The group was informed that free water butts are available for community groups, schools etc on application to www.getwaterfit.co.uk
We had a showing of the promotional video on the forthcoming Presbyterian Conference, “God’s World: Our Responsibility?”, on the environment to take place on 27th September.
The Wycliffe project called “Faith and Farming” is being promoted in Nigeria and other African countries ,also in Asia and Latin America. Sponsors are needed.
Knock Presbyterian church are renovating their church halls and are considering how to use the space in an eco friendly way. They are planning a “coat harvest” for those in need of coats. Our attention was drawn to Fields Good, which is an annual event for farmers’ trying to farm in a more natural and less damaging way.
A representative from Regent Street Methodist was attending for the first time and was very interested in the projects mentioned. They did not as yet have a Creation Care group although they had done some litter picks and some wild flower planting and she commented that there may be some cooperation possible between them and Regent St Presbyterian in view of our close proximity.
Kilbride PC mentioned are considering the installation of solar panels and also continue to support the Food Bank. A presentation of Kilbride PC’s Eco journey at the Presbyterian Conference on 27th September.
Lowe Memorial have finally managed to provide a bike rack to encourage cycling to church. They were continuing education on good bin recycling and were planning a Fun Day to include a litter pick, a Repair Café and an Apple press. They have made raised beds but have had difficulty maintaining these. For the Christmas Fair they have asked for unwanted handbags to be donated.
We were reminded that it was 60 years ago that the NI government had first produced proposals on the environment and we should be encouraged to look back on what had been achieved. The Redburn project has been a good example of cooperation between state and community.
Abbey Presbyterian church as a congregation are just starting their journey by planting 3 trees. They were symbolic- a rowan tree, a weeping cherry and an apple tree. Also 12 heathers were planted in the shape of the cross again trying to emphasize the relationship between spirituality and care for the environment. They are also involved in the Monkstown Village Initiative. One of its projects was to create a community garden and an opportunity for people to volunteer to work in it. It has won the NI pollinator award and the whole project has received the King’s award for Community Service.
It was also brought to the attention of the group that a recent study which suggested that within a few years a large belt of land roughly following the Tropic of Capricorn will become uninhabitable due to climate change . As a consequence perhaps 3.5 billion people will need to migrate!
The next meeting will be around March 2026, possibly in Lowe Memorial Presbyterian church.
The meeting closed at 12.30pm.