The Alnwick Deanery hosted a service ‘Celebrating God in Creation’ at St Bartholomew’s Church in Whittingham on Sunday 2 June.
Before the service, a group of worshippers enjoyed a three-mile walk around the beautiful Aln Valley countryside before a picnic in the church grounds.
The service was organised by the Revd Gilly Maude with members of the Alnwick Deanery Environment Group. There were also various related activities, which included the planting of sunflowers.
The day attracted 50 people from across the deanery with at least 12 parishes represented.
The Revd Rich Townend, parish priest, gave a message in the service regarding St John the Baptist Church at Edlingham, which suffered flash flooding last winter due to excessive rainfall, and how climate change could make this type of incident a more regular occurrence.
He challenged church leadership to be bold in prioritising Net Zero, not just to protect our historic church buildings, but to protect those in developing countries whose homes and livelihoods are devastated by the impact of the climate emergency. The congregation was also challenged to join the Great Big Green Week’s call - 'Let’s Swap Together for Good’, taking action one step at a time.