We’ve done it! We’ve received Eco-Congregation Scotland’s Silver Award!!
At our weekly Service for Creation on Wednesday 29th July we celebrated our achievement with Members on Iona for Community Week. The plaque will be put in the Welcome Centre and copies of the certificate in the Abbey so we can spread the good news!
Another step in demonstrating the Community’s Strategic Goal to Care for the Earth.
Of course it’s not the end of the journey and our Abbey Eco Group will continue to meet regularly to discuss and act on further ways we can keep on keeping on. In the midst of all the horrific wildfires, drought and the shocking loss of biodiversity, the Climate Emergency cannot be ignored. The Season of Creation beckons. We are all in this together, including with the EcoCCN, and there is wisdom and suggestions still to be shared; we are hoping to write more in a future e-Coracle.
Another highlight of July was welcoming back Jo Clifford and her performance in the Abbey Church of The Gospel According to Jesus Queen of Heaven – a one-woman theatrical piece that Jo wrote, in which Jesus has returned to earth as a trans woman. It is deeply moving and prophetic – the Word truly brought alive – and palpably underpins our commitment to and passion for human diversity.
Jo also told me that the whole week staying as a guest was very profound for her. That same week, I found this message in our donations box beside the table with the ribbons: “Thank you so much for this wonderful display of inclusivity and acceptance – we took 3 transgender pins. As the mother of a young trans child, I’m immensely grateful”.
As Community Week draws to a close, we are looking forward to Youth Fest with two groups from New York and two groups from London! The theme is peacemaking – a week when we will be marking the 81st anniversary of the catastrophic nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima, and now our new UK prime minister saying investing in nuclear submarines will protect the UK. Two years ago, the YouthFesters wrote ‘Today we rise’, a song of hope, courage and determination, needed now as much as ever. Keep rising …
Caro Penney, warden of Iona Abbey, July 2026
USA North East