New church demonstrates Kirk�s commitment to the environmentBy Bruce Whitehead
For John Swinney, it was a moment of epiphany: the minister for sustainable development, visibly impressed on his visit to a new church in Perthshire, declared that some day, all public buildings would be made this way.
Bankfoot, about eight miles north of prosperous Perth, lost its church in 2004, when a builder's bonfire destroyed the building. But the clouds of smoke had a silver lining in the shape of the new church and community centre, which opens in a fortnight.
Not only does the new structure provide a worthy successor to the charred ruin which still broods above the village, it does so with cutting-edge eco-friendly technology, delivering probably the lowest carbon footprint of any similar building in Britain, and demonstrates the Church of Scotland's commitment to tackling climate change.
Scottish churches are often found in remote areas without access to power grids or gas supplies. This has obliged some to adapt to local conditions, with some installing ground-source heat pump systems and others opting for solar or wind power to light and heat the Kirk's property. While the motivation may once have been purely cost, the church now celebrates the happy coincidence that solar, wind and ground heat fit in nicely with the idea of preserving the Creator's handiwork.
Reverend Iain McFadzean is the man who made it happen for Bankfoot. In other circumstances, the replacement church might well have been a simple refurbishment of the old one. But a combination of needs - disabled access, greater capacity - required a new site. When that was found, other options opened up.
"We wanted to showcase a pragmatic outlook on green living on a budget, and to demonstrate Christian care for creation," said McFadzean, an ex-RAF chaplain. Pragmatism meant a ground-source heat pump, which generates enough energy to heat the entire church and community centre. "Generally, you only need about three metres of pipe to heat one square metre of floor," he added. "The heating system cost £100,000 - which is amazing for this size of building - and we don't have to pay bills."
Eventually, McFadzean found he was preaching to the converted, although there was initial concern at the scale of the plans. Helped by a grant from the green industry forum Scottish Renewables, a favourable planning climate for sustainable buildings helped ensure approval for the prairie-style development, reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright's bungalows.
Locals were won over by being given what they wanted; the new scheme includes a sports hall big enough for two badminton courts, plus a daycentre for older citizens, a health centre, a café for teens and recreation rooms.
The Church of Scotland will continue to discuss climate change and what can be done to implement greener practices at a climate change conference in Edinburgh next Saturday. Last year the Church appointed its first climate change officer to advise it best how to implement greener practices.
Dr Elaine Storkey, president of Tearfund, said sharing responsibility for the planet means seeing ourselves as part of creation, not masters of it. "So putting ourselves right at the centre is another misreading of the Bible when it says go and dominate the earth; it's really about care and stewardship."
That's all very well, but how can Saturday's conference tackle climate change? The organiser, Andrew Mott, puts his faith in the power of prayer - and politics.
He said: "If there are half a million people in Edinburgh and 5% are Christian, then if under half of them, say 10,000, are prepared to give up flying, then that would be a noticeable number." But why would politicians, who didn't listen to Christian opponents of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, be interested now?
"A lot of politicians want to do things about climate change but they need to feel that the people are behind them. We've got an MP, Labour's Mark Lazarowicz, an MSP, Labour's Sarah Boyack, an MEP, SNP's Alyn Smith, and a councillor, Labour's Ewan Aitken all coming to hear their views."
To help them, a more rationalist view will come from the principal scientific speaker, Professor Chris Rapley, director of London's Science Museum.
"I'm not religious myself but I intend to explain clearly the evidence for climate change and suggest where the solutions lie," he said.
"I think it's important that whatever the spiritual beliefs of those attending, they are part of society and it will be society that has to tackle climate change."
