38 CREATION HOPE
A Rocha UK launched Eco Church across England and Wales in January 2016 as a framework for churches to engage practically in caring for creation as an expression of Christian faith . Churches register for the scheme online at www . ecochurch . arocha . org . uk and then complete a survey covering five key aspects of church life :
Worship & Teaching
Buildings
Land
Community and Global Engagement
Lifestyle .
Summerbridge Methodist Church , Yorkshire
This small rural church in Nidderdale near Harrogate has long been committed to environmental issues but this ‘ didn ’ t add up to a coordinated strategic approach ’ until a member of the leadership team nudged them to use the Eco Church framework which was then adopted as a more holistic approach . This is one of the strengths of Eco Church ; as well as providing a practical framework , it is also about establishing a foundation for creation care in our worship and teaching , encouraging us first to love God ’ s creation and out of this , to drive a longing to protect it .
Following support from the Church Council , environmental champions were chosen , and an action plan put together . But it is never the responsibility of just a few . The church also set about raising awareness of creation care in services , through house groups – using Operation Noah ’ s Tenants of the King Bible study – and in their wider circuit newsletters . Although they reached Gold within a year of concerted action , they realise that this is work that is never finished and they have included ‘ creation care ’ as a key strategy area for 2020-2022 .
There are many highlights from Summerbridge Church ’ s progress . One is that having initially ignored land in the EC survey , thinking they didn ’ t have enough of it to make a difference , they subsequently ran a series on Creation Care linked with the ‘ re-creation ’ of the church ‘ garden ’ to incorporate recycled and donated materials , environmentally friendly features , bug hotels and so on . This progressed to a summer camp , a Climate Crew for primary school age children , with teaching on environmental issues and the use of lots of recycled materials !
The survey can be used as a planning tool , to identify what has already been done and provide ideas – along with resources – for what to tackle next .
Eco Church is an award scheme with churches able to progress from Bronze through to Silver and Gold . While awards help to measure and celebrate progress and maintain momentum , they are not the end goal ; rather , Eco Church is a toolbox to help mobilise churches and Christians to care for the earth as part of their everyday work and witness .
There are now over 3,100 registered churches across multiple denominations . Over 1,000 awards have been made since launch , including 15 Gold awards . The diversity of awarded churches is growing regionally and by denomination and also in terms of how churches are really grappling with the environmental issues of our time .