Welcome

In two weeks’ time, leaders from all over the world will gather in Glasgow to make major decisions about how we should respond to the climate emergency. In the lead up to this, Bramhall Methodist Church has been holding a Climate Year; a programme of activities designed to inform our congregation and encourage them to engage with the issues . Touching the Earth Lightly is our last event before the CoP 26 meeting.

It builds on a history of flower festivals going back many years at Bramhall Methodist Church, but we hope it will be more than just a feast for the eyes. There will be a variety of non-floral installations, activities for children, and information on how we can respond as individuals and as a community.

As you go around the installations, guided by the thoughts in this book, we hope you will wonder at the installations, reflect on how we are treating our planet and pledge to take some action in response to what you have learnt.

Our title is taken from a modern hymn:

Touch the earth lightly,
use the earth gently,
nourish the life of the world in our care:
gift of great wonder,
ours to surrender,
trust for the children tomorrow will bear.

The titles of the different sections of the festival are all taken from the same hymn which is printed in full at the end of this guide. To hear the full version of this hymn on YouTube click here.

Using this Guide

This Guide is designed to be used on a mobile phone or tablet as you go around the exhibition. We hope that it will cut down on the number of paper leaflet’s that people feel they need. It has been formatted to look best on a phone but can also be viewed on a computer.

Underlined hyperlinks within the text will take you to other web-content which might be of interest. You will need to use your back button to get back to the guide. Less confident users of this technology might found it simpler to avoid using the hyperlinks as you are walking round.

Outside

For many years now there has been a tradition of using flowers to decorate a cross at Easter. In our Climate Year we chose to make these out of recycled drinks bottles and hand-paint them (with help from our Brownies and children at Queensgate Primary School).

Since then the flowers have been spreading across the front of our building to publicise this festival. After the festival they will be given away. After the festival they will be going to brighten up the gardens of Abbeyfiel and Meadway Court care homes.

“God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars.”

Martin Luther

Porches

As you entered you will have seen the first two installations in the porches.

The one on the left has been created by the 12th Bramhall Brownies who meet in our church. It represents work they have been doing for their zero-waste badge including an owl made from household waste that the brownies haver brought in.

Members of the 1st Woodford Scout Group have created the work on the right. The Beavers have made the bottle-top scout emblem, the Cubs are responsible for the bird feeders and the Scouts for the oil drum seat.

“The World in our Care”

The welcome area reminds us of the precious planet that we live on and will continue to live on in the future. In the centre is the world depicting Northern and Southern Hemispheres and including flowers representative of different countries (official, unofficial or native).

Behind we see a representation of the Tropics and to the right one of the North and South Poles. (You might like to look for 8 penguins that are distributed about this room).

In the window you will find a stained-glass window representing the Oceans and particularly the hump-backed whales that have made a spectacular recovery in numbers since the ban on commercial whaling came into effect in 1985.

Together these installations represent the wide variety of ecosystems that our planet is home to and which we need to protect.

“Our planet, the Earth, is, as far as we know, unique in the universe. It contains life … and we are totally dependent on that world. It provides our food, water and air. It is the most precious thing we have, and we need to defend it.”

David Attenborough

Now move into the church itself and tap the button below for the next page of this guide.