Visitors get growing in York Minster

Visitors to York Minster on Saturday got a taste of the green life as they enjoyed drama, competitions and a host of stalls and displays at the diocese’s Big Environment Celebration.  You can see our pictures here.

Shrinking the Footprint, the Church of England’s national environmental campaign, staged a ‘get growing’ seed giveaway along with a competition to win a year’s supply of local Yorkshire Tea, supporting the Yorkshire Tea Rainforest project.

The event, organised by York Minster and the Diocese of York as part of the Diocese's Year of the Environment, was supported by environment groups and organisations from across the county. Visitors also enjoyed an art competition themed on celebrating God's creation and drama sketches throughout the day, performed by the Riding Lights Theatre Company.

The Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu said, “The Big Environment Celebration is a great way to show that the Church of England cares about our environment. As Christians, we have a duty to care for our environment. We believe that we are only tenants on this Earth, and it ultimately does not belong to us. If we are tenants of the Earth, we have a duty to care for it – a duty to God, to the rest of the creation that we share the world with, and to future generations.”

David Shreeve the Church of England’s national enviornment adviser said: “The Big Environment Celebration is a great example of sharing our buildings to show our concern and best practice about the importance of caring for the environment. Not only are many people making the most of their land by growing their own produce but the large number of stalls showed how the Church is working with a whole range of groups and organisations.”





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