Getting started as an Eco Church
Eco Church is an interdenominational Christian environmental awards scheme run by the charity A Rocha UK.
It encourages and supports churches in their care for God’s creation across five areas of church life:
A self-assessed online survey covering each of these areas leads to a Bronze, Silver or Gold Eco Church Award.
How to get started;
- Get your PCC to decide that it will Care for Creation by becoming an Eco Church
- Appoint an Eco Champion. This person certainly won’t be doing everything themselves but will ensure that environmental issues are championed. Please let the Diocesan Environment Officer, Robert Cleave, at deo@southwell.anglican.org know who your Eco Champion is, so that they can be informed, updated and supported.
- Create a small team of people with different skills and experiences covering the different areas of church life.
- Register as an Eco Church on the A Rocha website here.
- Carry out your first self- assessed online survey. You will be surprised at how much you are already doing Caring for Creation!
- Analyse your survey results to identify what improvements you can make to be able to apply for a Bronze award.
- There is a recording of Introduction to Eco Church on the Learning Hub. Led by Rich Bull of Nottingham Trent University and St Pauls’ Daybrook. Rich has a professional interest in energy and sustainability in the built environment. It includes case studies of how local churches have approached Caring for Creation and become Eco Churches.
(If you do not already have a sign on to the Southwell and Nottingham Learning Hub you will need to register. This is quick and free and will also provide you with a wealth of training materials and courses) For any help and advice please contact the Diocesan Environment Officer, Robert Cleave, at deo@southwell.anglican.org.