Pilgrim Uniting Church wins SA’s first Environmental Awards

Posted Oct 10, 2018 in News

Pilgrim Uniting Church became South Australia’s first faith community to be recognised for their environmental achievements. They were awarded two prestigious Five Leaf Eco-Awards in a presentation held on Sunday 7 October.

“It’s wonderful to be encouraged in the work we are doing for God’s Creation and to be connected into a national network of churches working to care for the earth. There’s a lot happening, and it’s exciting to be part of,” said Rev Dr Greg Elsdon.

Pilgrim Uniting Church received the Five Leaf Eco-Awards Basic Certificate and Eco-Worship Awards in recognition of their extensive work for the environment. This included their energy efficient lighting, energy audit and efficiency measures, paper use reduction, timers on their hot water urns, their environmental group and environmental guest speakers, environment themed worship and participation in the Season of Creation, providing eco resources for their congregation and their community garden.

Director of the Five Leaf Eco-Awards, Jessica Morthorpe, travelled to Adelaide for the presentation. She was welcomed by Jeff Telfer from the congregation’s Green Team, who said this was a “landmark moment” for the church.

“It’s a pleasure and a privilege to be here to present these awards,” Jessica said. “It’s particularly exciting that this is the first church in South Australia to receive an award. Hopefully this will encourage lots of other churches in the area to pursue an award and be recognised for their environmental efforts.”

She continued: “Many churches have already done enough to earn Five Leaf Eco-Awards, they just don’t realize it. If your community is doing something to be proud of, even if you think you have only done a little, please let us know. We can’t give you an award if we don’t know what you’ve done!”

The Five Leaf Eco-Awards are an ecumenical environmental change initiative for churches and religious organisations. It exists to assist, inspire and reward churches for environmental action. The Five Leaf Eco-Awards are non-competitive, with churches completing tasks from a list of flexible criteria to earn each certificate. There are currently six awards of varying difficulty available. The Five Leaf Eco-Awards operate nationally and across denominations. More information on the Five Leaf Eco-Awards is available at www.fiveleafecoawards.org

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