THE KUKMIN DAILY

St. Andrea Anglican Church (Fr. Bang Hyo-jung) in Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and Gajang First Church (Rev. So Jong-yeong, second from left in photo) in Daejeon have been selected as “2016 Green Churches” by the Korea Christian Environmental Movement Solidarity for Integrity of Creation (Green Christ) and the Life and Ethics Committee of the National Council of Churches in Korea. The awards ceremony was held at Jungang Lutheran Church in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on May 17.

In March 2014, Gajang Church removed the wall surrounding the church’s front and back yards, and created small spaces here and there around the church for people to sit. That year the church also carried out an azalea planting campaign, and each member family planted nine bushes around the church. Rev. So said, “Every spring, the church grounds are filled with azaleas. They are easy to grow, and prolific, so we put new bushes in planting pots and share them with neighbors.”

When Rev. So was first employed at the church three years ago, he stopped the use of flower arrangements. Instead, he decided to use people’s offerings given in commemoration of birthdays, anniversaries and special days, for next-generation scholarships. His idea was received well by the church members, and the amount of their offerings increased.

In the refectory a new sign was put up, quoting the words of Jesus after he performed the miracle of five loaves of bread and two fish: “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost” (John 6:12). The result was a remarkable decrease in the amount of food waste.

Recently when the light on the cross outside the church building was broken, Rev. So took this as an opportunity to have the light turned off for good. He said, “Nowadays the bright lights of churches are viewed as a kind of pollution. I thought turning off the neon sign might bring good effects… We saved on electricity costs as well.”

St. Andrea Church is known for its small but effective practices to protect our earth. For environment-friendly Holy Communion, the church has a grapevine growing in one corner of the churchyard. The church members also grow various kinds of vegetables in the church yard, so church members can share meals made of their seasonal agricultural products.

Priest Cho Myeong-suk (third from left), assistant pastor at the church and wife of Fr. Bang, said modestly, “These days consumption is in fashion, so our efforts to save a sheet of paper, reuse envelopes, and collect rainwater, may look unseemly. But our church is poor, so all these practices came naturally to save our resources.” The size of the church is small, but it received an almost perfect score on the checklist to be selected as a “Green Church.”

Ahead of the awards service on this day, a talk show on the harm posed by genetically modified organisms (GMOs) was held to raise public awareness. Green Christ and the NCCK Life and Ethics Committee also announced an Environment Week common prayer.

Article and photo by reporter Narae Kim (narae@kmib.co.kr), with Yeara Ahn-Park (yap@kmib.co.kr)


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