“Gift of Great Wonder”

As you move into the church and turn to your left you find a celebration of creation. According to the great poem with which the Bible starts, God created the world in six days:

Day 1 A wind from God swept over the face of the waters

Day 2 God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it

Day 3 Let the earth put forth vegetation

Day 4 God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day

Day 5 Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures 

Day 6 Let the earth bring forth living creatures

Look for how these different days are represented within the display.

 “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good … Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all there multitude.”

Genesis 1:31 & 2:1

Posters

On the pew ends throughout the church you will find posters on the them, “Reduce, reuse, recycle” that hve been created by pupils from Pownall Green Primary, Nevill Road Infants and Moss Hey Primary Schools.

Two installations link to the next section of the festival introducing how humans have abused our world:

The Bridge to Extinction

A series of wild animals, knitted by members of the congregation, is walking across this bridge at the back of the church. Most of these animals are threatened by human activity and they’ve been arranged in order of their vulnerability. Those at the near end are currently under little threat, those at the far end are close to extinction. Which animals can you identify? (A worksheet is available to help you, or your children, to do this).

 “We are in the midst of the sixth mass extinction. The extinction rate is up to ten thousand times faster than what is considered normal – with up to 200 species becoming extinct every single day.”

Greta Thunberg

Our throw-away society

The vestibule area confronts us with the effects of the waste that humans produce on land (on your right) and discharge into the sea (on your left). Every year the average person in Britain generates about 468kg of waste every year.

The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth. In many parts of the planet, the elderly lament that once beautiful landscapes are now covered with rubbish.

Pope Francis

“We who endanger”

As you come back into the church there are six more arrangements which depict the effect that humans have had on the world. These relate to the same 6 days of creation represented opposite that you have already looked at. Can you see the relationships between the two installations? 

Earth is the Lord’s: it is ours to enjoy it,
ours, as God’s stewards, to farm and defend.
From its pollution, misuse and destruction,
good Lord, deliver us, world without end!

Fred Pratt Green

To hear the full version of this hymn on YouTube click here.

“Let there be greening”

This is the most complex area of the festival so we’ve got a signpost directing you to the different elements. It celebrates what we can do to protect the earth and restore it to its former health.

The Bamboo Labyrinth celebrates how we can grow different crops to make less impact on the environment. Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants on the planet, it needs very little pesticides, fertilisers or water to grow and doesn’t degrade the soil. More and more bamboo products are becoming available. As you move through the maze look out for a range of bamboo products and tick them off the list provided as you go

The Windmill symbolises the many sources of renewable energy that are now available. Our church already uses electricity from the solar panels that we installed some years ago. It is cheaper for us and better for the planet.

The Banners have been created especially for the festival. They reprentation both the devasataiton that deforestation wreaks and the hope that tree-planting can bring. Members of the congregation have written pledges to live in a more environmentally manner on the leaves that have been sewn onto the branches.

All the butterflies above the Butterfly Meadow are made out of recycled cereal boxes. They alert us to the potential to allow wild areas to grow where insects and other animals can flourish. They also remind us of how we can be creative in our recycling.

The Recycled Container Garden reinforces the recycling message. It also reminds us how much we can do in our gardens to help the planet. All the plants here have been grown in their containers by church members. Which do you think is the most interesting container?

Responsible Tourism is the Future of Travel juxtaposes the natural beauty of flowers against the metallic components of a decommissioned aircraft. It challenges our attitudes to air and other forms of travel that cause so much pollution

The Butterfly Kite is a stylised representation of a Large Blue Butterfly. Extinct in the UK by 1976, this species has been reintroduced and is now thriving in many locations with more individuals in this country now than any other. In some early Christian communities, the butterfly, which emerges from its cocoon transformed into a creature of beauty, has been regarded as a symbol of resurrection. This butterfly will be taken up to Glasgow in November by a group from Bramhall Methodist Church who will be joining the public demonstration of concern for the environment timed to coincide with the global leaders meeting.

I couldn’t do my job without Christian hope. Despite all the environmental devastation that I’ve witnessed, I believe that God loves his world, and that he will inspire great things in the short term and renew everything in the end.

Peter Harris, A Rocha International

As you move out of the church go across the Welcome area and through the double doors on the left. Tap on ther button below to see the next page.