Eco Craftism – Our Green Hearts

Following on from COP26, held in Glasgow last year, it is more important than ever to find ways to share the important message of addressing the climate emergency with those around us. As Christians we want our local communities to know that we have these ‘green issues at our heart’ as we do our best to care for God’s creation.

We want our communities to see our commitment to put that care into action, to bring about a fairer, transformed world. Making green hearts and placing them in prominent positions around our church and local community gives a visible sign of that commitment.

What to do

1. Using your creativity create hearts from the crafting media you prefer to work in such as fabric, wool or wood. You may prefer to make them from woven paper, or simply paint a heart shape onto a stone. Where you intend to place the hearts may make a difference to the media you choose. This is a great activity for individuals or for groups of people of all ages. As you create the hearts, talk about creation and why how we treat it matters so much, especially to Christians.
2. Place your hearts as a sign of your church’s commitment to caring for the environment. You may choose to hang them from the church railings or put them on the noticeboard. Perhaps the painted stones could be added to your church garden. You might like to place a notice near the hearts to explain why they are there. You could give hearts to all the businesses locally to display in their windows and to your local MP, MSPs or Councillors, explaining why caring for the environment matters so much.
3. Don’t forget to take photographs of the hearts and post them to social media adding #ourgreenhearts – please mention @ecocongregationscotland on Facebook or @ecocongregation on Twitter and we will pick up and repost your pictures. Photographs could also be added to your church website.

Click on the links below for instructions on how to make:

1. A heart made from fabric
2. A knitted heart – with thanks to Julie and the Knits
3. A crochet heart – with thanks to Sarah Maker