A MOTION from Worcester diocesan synod on sustainable church flowers was carried by the General Synod on the Thursday, despite earlier attempts by some members to need to faraway from the agenda.
The motion originated from the PCC of St Bartholomew’s, Harpley, in Worcester, which was “determined to make a tangible difference locally, by glorifying God sustainably”. Several PCC members were present at the talk, and others watched online.
The motion was moved by the Bishop of Dudley, the Rt Revd Martin Gorick (Southern Suffragans). The Business Committee had earlier defended its scheduling, after some members had said that debating it could be “wasting costly time”, provided that issues equivalent to Palestine weren’t on the agenda.
An early attempt by John Wilson (Lichfield) to maneuver to next business was defeated. “This originates from a PCC, to a deanery, to a diocese. If you squash this now without a chance to listen to more, what does that say to each diocese within the country?” Bishop Gorick asked, to loud applause.
The background paper said that floral foam, which had been created as a plastic by-product within the Nineteen Fifties, containing microplastics that were damaging to the environment and marine life. The Royal Horticultural Society had banned it in 2020.
The paper offered alternatives for flower-arranging and practical suggestions for churches. These included selecting seasonal and native flowers, working with local growers or farmers’ markets, and repurposing floral arrangements.
“Not all churches will have the option to implement all of the principles . It will take time to search out places to source locally grown flowers, and never every church has a churchyard where flowers, foliage, or twigs will be found,” the paper acknowledged
The debate went beyond flowers to the guts of worship and parish life. “The motion doesn’t ban anything or force churches to stop doing things,” Bishop Gorick said. “It rejoices in foliage in church; it rejoices in what is of course around you — easy, natural beauty.”
A video from Harpley also celebrated the enjoyment of using local flowers “that tell the story of this time of yr”. It was, the Bishop said, “about faithfulness. It is deeply theological, to honour the God who made the earth.”
“This is about way over flower-arrangers,” Judith Osborne (Leeds) said in a maiden speech. “It gives confidence to those that need to see environmental responsibility embedded into the lifetime of their church. . . It’s not about criticising past practice, but encouraging a sustainable approach for the long run.”
The Revd William Harwood (Truro) was apprehensive about unintended consequences at parish level. These included resorting to plastic flowers, how the motion is perhaps viewed as “a diktat from the national Church”, and its basis of “outdated” scientific information: floral foam was now completely biodegradable, he said.
The Revd Jody Stowell (London) said that her flower team had long stopped using floral foam. They had encountered views of church flower-arranging as “women’s work, sadly demeaned and dismissed,” she said. “In my parish, flowers honour the God who made us. Worship is way more than the cerebral intake of data.”
The Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham Usher, who’s the lead bishop for the environment, spoke concerning the seasons, the Christian meaning of flowers, and their place in folklore. “We have long on this nation brought flowers and foliage into the architecture of our churches. . . The things we will look on as ephemeral are sometimes beautiful in God’s eyes . . . filled with fun, playfulness, beauty, and kindness.”
Nigel Lea-Wilson (Liverpool) said that his wife, a florist, led the church floral team. Her view was that floral foam might be used just once before going mouldy, and that fresh cut flowers in non-foam support were preferable. The serious health impact of microplastics necessitated a rethink, he said.
The Revd Rachel Webbley (Canterbury) understood the “click-bait headlines” and why the skin world is perhaps baffled that this item was on the agenda, however it was an expression of Christian discipleship, she said. A debate on the “urgent, time-critical situation in Palestine” couldn’t have happened on this slot. This was “not a zero-sum game. . . Such delicate, precious matters merit a smart series of suggestions,” she said
Jane Evans (Leeds), a flower-arranger, supported “a superb motion on a vital issue”, but she was concerned concerning the potential impact of a boycott of imported flowers on growers in countries equivalent to Kenya: “We do have to be conscious of what other steps we take to make sure livelihoods within the poorest parts of the world.”
Robin Lunn (Worcester) was in support. He said that the motion showed “much concerning the power of the parish”. It was not proscribing anything, “not asking others to do things, but putting emphasis on the local.”
“It’s a vital spiritual matter for us. I’m glad we’re taking it seriously,” the Revd Dr Abigail Walsh (Lichfield) said. “Care for creation is about small things: small changes have great power. It encourages us to see beauty within the natural world.”
The Revd James Menzies (Salisbury) was a convert: he confessed to initial annoyance on the inclusion of this topic on the agenda. “But what the talk has done is to assist to vary our minds. I’ve modified mine after this. I support it as a grass-roots initiative to honour God and to rejoice the glory of God within the land we’re living in, and to honour flower teams for labor often unacknowledged and brought with no consideration.”
Carolyn Graham (Guildford) said that not everybody had gardens. Nicholas Land (York) had been contacted by many in his parish. “This is something where tens of hundreds of lay individuals are involved, a big aspect of ministry.” Was flower-arranging a spiritual gift? But care needed to be taken about implementation of the motion, she said, in order that it was not seen as a “top-down diktat”, but, reasonably, “an invite to the flower-arranging team, to thank them for his or her ministry, and reflect on how best to do it for the glory of God”.
Jane Rosam (Rochester), a farmer, said: “As farmers, we care deeply for or beautiful world. This is a matter of witness. What we place on our altars says much about what we value. It’s about making our worship truthful, aligning our practice with our prayers.”
The Revd Kathryn Campion-Spall (Bristol) recalled the witness of two members of the flower team — one elderly, one a more moderen member — in her church’s “Faith in Action” slot. Their work was “deeply connected to their faith, an expression of their faithful, loving service,” she said. “We should rejoice and honour those that bring the great thing about God’s creation into our worship.”
The motion read:
That this Synod
(a) embrace the principles of the Sustainable Church Flowers movement which inspires a living into the Fifth Mark of Mission by promoting using local, seasonal and fully biodegradable compostable flowers and foliage;
(b) encourage cathedrals, churches and churchyards — wherever possible — to source flowers and foliage locally and seasonally to be used in worship and church life;
(c) call on cathedrals, churches and churchyards to eliminate using floral foam (oasis) and all similar non-biodegradable and non-reusable products and techniques, while rediscovering traditional and environmentally friendly methods of presentation and display.
Read more reports from the General Synod Digest here
