From Friday 22nd June at 4pm join the team with your tents and enjoy a summer camp with BBQ and songs.

On Saturday 23rd, join the team for a dawn chorus walk through the stunning Chiltern Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and after breakfast see what is going on at the Local Produce Fair in the Village centre. Come and make a major sized bug house for those creepy crawlies, our engaged Hedgehog and our special Chiltern Slow Worms on Saturday evening and come and listen to ‘Bat’s in the Belfry’ where you can go and explore for yourself the bats of Chinnor.

Sunday will conclude with a celebration at St Andrew’s Church.

The weekend will have lots to do for all the family.

For more information visit the Chiltern Gateway Project events page

To contact the team behind the weekend contact Ian Swaffield.

With your votes here and now, for Claire’s vision, we could be listening to a voice from Oxfordshire addressing the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio next month.

Claire has been part of the World Council of Churches Youth for Eco-Justice programme, and is an active member of the global Major Group of Children and Youth to the UNCSD, so she is well-informed and well-placed to speak for youth all over the world, and make sure that everyone’s priorities are included. She also travelled on the African Youth Climate Justice Caravan last November, so she has experienced Climate Change firsthand, and lived alongside impacted communities. Claire needs to be in the top 6 number of votes to get to the jury stage of the competition, so your vote counts.

The voting closes on Sunday May 6^th, so please vote now!

Claire is also continuing to support young people she met in Africa… and this week, launched an ambitious crowd-sourced fundraising campaign to fund travel expenses for Njideka from Nigeria, Alpha from Kenya and James from Malawi to travel to the World Youth Congress and the Earth Summit in Rio. The vision is to get 200 donations of $20 (£15) in 2 weeks, from people in developed countries all around the world, so it is not only young people from Europe and America who will have the opportunity to defend their future in Rio.

Make a donation and find out more at http://www.indiegogo.com/RioPlusAfrica.

Thursday June 21st 2012 – 10am for 10.30 to 3.30pm

With Jill Hopkinson, National Rural Officer; Society for Protection of Ancient Buildings and Revd Maggie Durran

The day’s topics include:

• Building relationships with village residents
• How to find out what local people want
• Maintaining your Church
• How to fundraise for repairs
• St Nicholas Church, Cuddington
• Managing a building project
• Developing facilities in the church
• Local fundraising

Price £30 per person – advance booking only

At St Nicholas Church, Upper Church Street, Cuddington, Aylesbury, Bucks HP18 0AU

Easy access from A418 Aylesbury/Thame and from Haddenham & Thame rail station, taxis may e booked in advance – ask us for info.

Disabled accessible.

For further details and booking forms, please contact: Revd Glyn Evans using glynevans@gmail.com or  Diocesan Rural Officer, Chellmscote Cottage, Brailes, Banbury OX15 5JJ

Subjects covered:

• Assessing problems & opportunities for carbon reduction in historic buildings

• Creating an energy model & testing options for carbon savings

• How to satisfy the conservation officer

• Techniques for surveying & analysing heat loss in historic structures

• The do’s and dont’s of improving energy efficiency

• What you can reasonably expect to achieve

• Lessons learned – A clients perspective

Speakers: Dr Sarah Beaver – All Souls College, Nick Worlledge – Oxford City Council, Philip Waddy – West Waddy ADP, Willem Postema – RSK Building Services and Sebastian Fielding – Vector Design Consultancy Limited

Date: Thursday 17 May 2012

Timing: 4:00 – 4:30pm Registration, tea and coffee (Saskatchewan Room); 4:30 – 6:30pm Seminar (Saskatchewan Room); 6:30 – 7:00pm Drinks, canapes and networking (Rector’s Drawing Room)

Venue: Exeter College, Oxford

Charge: £25 per person inc VAT to cover costs

Click here to download the registration form (PDF)

Website: http://westwaddy-adp.co.uk/news/

In 1992 the world’s biggest ever political gathering – the Rio Earth Summit – marked one of the first times that world leaders met to discuss the environment. Twenty years later, they’re meeting again for Rio+20 to see how well they’ve done – and how much more they need to do.

Organised by A Rocha, Tearfund, New Frontiers and Jubilee+ the Whose Earth? events will examine Christian responses to environmental issues, including:

• the Bible basis
• the science behind the issues
• how we can all play a part in responding, including calling on decision-makers to act to eradicate poverty in a way that protects the environment

Speakers include Dave Bookless (A Rocha International), Ruth Valerio and Andy Lester (A Rocha UK), Elaine Storkey and Matthew Frost (Tearfund).

For full details see the flyer – Rio+20 A5 flyer

Events nearest to those in the Diocese of Oxford include:

Oxford – Wednesday 13th June at St Aldate’s Church, Oxford 13 June 40 Pembroke Street, OX1 1BP

Rogationtide is primarily a festival of prayer lasting for the four days before the feast of the Ascension. The word Rogation comes from the word Rogo meaning to ask (rogo, rogare, rogavi, rogatus) “Ask and it shall be given”(Matthew 7 verse 7). The connection of Rogation with agriculture probably links back to the ancient Roman festival of Robigalia when the goddess Robigo, who had the power to bring rust or mildew to crops, was petitioned for mercy to allow the goddess Ceres to do her work and bring forth a good harvest (from “Certes” we get the word “cereals”!) Both Ovid and Cato refer to the sacrificing of dogs as part of the festival and Ovid’s priest prays: “Scaly Robigo, god of rust, spare Ceres’ grain; let silky blades quiver on the soil’s skin. Let growing crops be nourished by a friendly sky and stars, until they ripen for the scythe… Spare us, I pray keep scabrous hands from the harvest. Harm no crops. The power to harm is enough” (Fasti, IV.911ff).

Rust, or mildew, is something which farmers still hope to keep away from their growing crops. If you are an avid fan of the Archers like me, you may occasionally hear farmhouse kitchen talk about spraying crops against rust. But farmers no longer sacrifice dogs as part of the process and where churches hold prayer walks around farms the only dogs are those ones which are well behaved and on a lead accompanying members of the congregation on the walk. At Christian rogation services the crops are “sprayed “with blessing prayers and the God of creation is prayed to for the success of the growing season

Rogation services are also an opportunity to thank farmers for their work in bring in the harvest and playing their – essential –part in providing for our food. So Rogation today reminds us afresh about the importance of farming alongside three other agricultural fesitivals, Plough Sunday, Lammas and Harvest.

Someone has said if you eat you are concerned about farming. Hands up all those who eat! That is why Rogation still captures the imagination of many people who turn out for prayer walks on farms. It also helps people to make a renewed connection with the land. Genesis 2 vs 5 – 8 suggests that the primary purpose of creating humankind was to till and work the soil. A rogation prayer walk might also visit allotments or even someone’s kitchen garden as part of the procession.

As we make those connections with our food we pray for those whose work it is to provide that food. Farming is an occupation – a way of life – with mixed fortunes, dependent on the vagaries of the market and the weather. The Farm Crisis Network, (www.fcn.org.uk) a Christian voluntary organisation which works in support of those in the farming community whose family or business life has met with adversity, can tell stories of financial and personal problems which belies the public perception that everything down on the farm is rosy.

Farmers are also custodians and guardians of the countryside. Much of what people see and enjoy in the countryside has been shaped by farming practices. Many farmers are changing their practices as they come to understand more about climate change. And there are a number of campaigns and organisations working with farmers to help them further protect and enhance the environment whilst at the same time continuing to provide food for us: see for example Campaign for the Farmed Environment (http://www.cfeonline.org.uk/ ) and LEAF http://www.leafuk.org/leaf/home.eb

Many Rogation services take place actually on a farm, sometimes starting or ending in Church and the prayer walk can take in parts of the village to celebrate village life on the way. Resources for celebrating Rogation can be found in “Common Worship: Times and Seasons: Services for the Agricultural Year”, the 2003 SPCK book by The Staffordshire Seven “Seasonal Worship from the Countryside” and from the Arthur Rank Centre website at: http://www.arthurrankcentre.org.uk/component/k2/itemlist/tag/Rogation

Eternal God, creator and sustainer of life, we praise you for the beauty and fertility of the earth. We praise you also for its complexity and mystery, before which we bow in wonder and awe.   Bless all farmers everywhere upon whom we depend for the production and provision of our food, bless the management of the countryside and the husbanding of its resources.  Amen.   (adapted)

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Glyn Evans is the Diocesan Rural Officer for the Diocese of Oxford. He blogs at http://ruralofficerdiooxford.blogspot.co.uk/. He can also be found on Twitter at: @dioruralofficer

Each show will be hosted by a local church or organisation that would like to enjoy and benefit from the outreach and fund-raising opportunities that the tour provides.

“It is part of The Church of England’s environmental strategy to explore how the arts can reach hearts and minds to inspire people to make more climate friendly choices. Jess Gold’s Animated Earth Tour is an exciting opportunity that will help communities focus on green issues whilst enjoying an evening of musical entertainment.” Brian Cuthbertson, Head of Environmental Challenge, London Diocesan Fund

To hear some songs from the album go to:  http://www.myspace.com/projectearthrock1

If you would like to receive the tour promotion brochure and learn more about the possibility of hosting a show then contact Jess on Jess@projectearthrock.com or on 07946 568866.

This project is hosting two further workshops:

• VALUES AND HERITAGE – Thursday 19th April 2012: including Oliver Caroe on an integrated approach to conservation and sustainability; Diana Evans, English Heritage on renewable energy installations in historic churches; Sarah Royse, InBuilt on Multiple interventions for sustainable low carbon performance and Alex Coppock, Communion Design on reordering and retrofitting a Norman church for sustainable multiple community uses.

• RESOURCES AND PEOPLE – Thursday 31st May 2012: including Bob Wilson, Wilson Stephen Partnership on the St John Wembley Vicarage and Passivhaus; Simon Harvey, St Mary Islington on a case study in energy saving & micro-generation; and Magdalini Makrodimitri, Queens’ College Cambridge on research into the heating of churches and the care of fabric and contents

All workshops are at London Diocesan House, 36 Causton Street, London SW1P 4AU from 1:30pm – 6:00 pm

Further details are at: http://www.london.anglican.org/Shrinking-the-Footprint-Generic-Building-Solutions#workshops

Any queries to brian.cuthbertson@london.anglican.org

The cost is £40 per person for each workshop.

Recently he found the media and governments lack of engagement with the information in the 2011 World Energy Outlook was an example of this, and here he shares why he is concerned with this recent report:

‘Potential breaking of the 2 degrees C. internationally agreed limit to average world temperature’

The International Energy Agency (IEA) published its 2011 World Energy Outlook last November ( www.iea.org/weo/ ). This well-respected publication has particular credibility because the IEA was set up by the 28 richest Western countries which form the Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation. It is, so to speak, from the horse’s mouth.

The Executive Summary contains two statements which are likely to be of deep concern to most adults.

• The first refers to the current policies in place by world governments with regard to limiting average global temperatures to 2 degrees Centigrade – i.e. the average temperature increase which governments agreed at Kyoto to stay below. The report states that with these current policies ‘we are … on …. track for a temperature increase of 6 degrees Centigrade or more.’ And that with policies already agreed but still to be implemented by governments, ‘the world is on a trajectory that results in a level of emissions consistent with a long-term average temperature increase of more than 3.5 degrees Centigrade.’

• The second is the reference that ‘Four-fifths of the total energy-related CO2 emissions permissible by 2035’ (i.e. the emissions which may keep the temperature increase to 2 degrees Centigrade), ‘are already ‘locked-in’ by our existing capital stock (power plants, buildings, factories etc. ‘. (The term ‘locked-in’ means that the plant, once built, continues to emit CO2 throughout its lifetime). The report goes on to state that if stringent action is not taken before 2017, the new plant then in place will be such that its ‘locked-in’ CO2 emissions will have the world on a trajectory to surpass the 2 degrees C. increase.

If you would like to write to your local paper and to the relevant Government Ministries, below are draft letters you could use:

• WEO 2011 draft letter to local papers
• 1To the Secretary of State for Department for Energy and Climate Change
• 1To the Secretary of State for Business
• 1To Secretary of State for Defra

Phil Kingston

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Paul Kingston is a retired Lecturer in Social Work at Bristol University, and writes here in a personal capacity.

WWF’s Earth Hour is a simple idea that’s quickly turned into a global phenomenon. Hundreds of millions of people turning off their lights for one hour, on the same night, all across the planet. It’s about appreciating the brilliant world we all share – and how we need to protect it. Not just for an hour a year, but every day.

Find out more and join in