We were encouraged to hear this recent story of two churches supporting each other on their Eco Church journeys. Priory Church of St Mary’s Usk, who are working towards their Gold Eco Church award, paid a visit to St Peter’s Church in Henleaze, Bristol, who achieved Gold in 2024, to see what they could learn. They even travelled to another country to do so – travelling from south east Wales down to Bristol – okay, so not that far in reality!
We spoke to both churches to see how the visit went and what they discovered along the way. Carol from Priory Church of St Mary’s, Usk, shared:
“We spent a lovely morning at St Peter’s Church, Henleaze, where we received a warm welcome from Rev Mark Pilgrim and Clare Fussell, and also her fabulous two year old daughter!
We were very impressed with how they have used their limited amount of land, with a wildflower garden, the five-storey bug hotel and pond. Indoors, we gained many ideas about further recycling, especially candles, and will be contacting a local candle maker as a result. Since the visit, we have already instigated a wool swap, and it is proving very popular.
We were also hoping to gain further ideas for how we can continue to progress after we achieve our Eco Church awards, and we certainly found some – producing marmalade, jam and crab apple jelly from our crab apples growing in the churchyard; working with the local hub to implement recycling corks; the local optician for reusing specs and the local Young Farmers for recycling blister packs.
We have planned an Eco Fair for 2026 (the history group got in first with more open days planned for this year!) and, following our visit, have decided to add a clothes swap, an eco/FairTrade raffle and a possible eco gift-wrapping demonstration.
Thank you, Mark and Clare, for sharing some of your Eco Church journey with us.”
Meanwhile, Clare Fussell, the eco lead at St Peter’s, shared:
“It was a pleasure to meet with passionate and committed members of another church so we could share our joys and frustrations – as well as practical tips – along our Eco Church journeys. We discovered points of difference between a village church and a suburban one, not least in the different opportunities presented by a churchyard garden rather than a burial ground around the building, but also points of commonality as we shared ideas for engaging the wider church and community in helping to protect the environment.”
We were pleased to hear that a great day was had by all! We encourage all Eco Churches to reach out to neighbouring churches and beyond so that sharing, learning, encouragement, and inspiration can flourish amongst the Eco Church community. Take a look at the Eco Church map and see if there’s an Eco Church near you that you could get in touch with. We can go even further on our journeys of caring for the environment when we work together.