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. …
Registrations open for Churches Count on Nature 2025
Churches across all denominations in England and Wales can now register to participate in Churches Count on Nature, an annual scheme where people visit churchyards and record the plant and animal species they encounter. Read more, and find out how to register, in the full article on our A Rocha UK blog post here.
Inspiration for Churches Count on Nature 2025
Churches across all denominations in England and Wales can now register to participate in Churches Count on Nature 2025 – an annual scheme where people visit church and chapel yards and record the plant and animal species they encounter. Often, this land is home to precious biodiverse habitats and managing them for people and nature is important. The biodiversity survey, supported by environmental charities A Rocha UK and Caring for God’s Acre, as well as the Church of England and the Church in Wales, takes place from 7th – 15th June 2025. Churches Count on Nature is part of Love Your Burial Ground Week. If you don’t have a churchyard or graveyard, you can still participate by connecting with another local church that does. Or maybe you could get a local school or wildlife group involved? Find out more, including how to access resources, record your sightings, and register your event here. There is also a map showing events already registered – why not explore what is happening in your local area? Inspiration from churches who hosted a Churches Count on Nature event in previous years St Anne’s, Penparcau, Aberystwyth Eco Church does take you to some strange and interesting …
The new Eco Church survey launches
It’s here! We’re thrilled to introduce our brand-new Eco Church Survey! Now in its ninth year, Eco Church continues to support churches across England and Wales in taking meaningful action for climate and nature. At its core, Eco Church is about people and a practical survey that guides churches, step by step, on their journey towards change. Our newly launched survey offers greater flexibility, ensuring that every church, regardless of size, setting, or resources, can take action and make a real impact. What’s new in the survey? New Pathways A key highlight of the new survey is its inclusive pathways, designed to support a wider range of church settings. Whether you’re part of a cathedral, a church with little or no land, or one without a building, the updated survey ensures everyone can get involved. Refined Categories We’ve expanded our survey categories, strengthening Worship and Teaching. This category now includes vital topics such as eco-anxiety, lament, and pastoral care, equipping churches with resources to navigate these pressing issues within their communities. Built for Today’s Climate Challenges This updated survey reflects the urgency and complexity of the climate and biodiversity crises, and is designed to match the scale of action needed. It …
Eco Church highlights of 2024
As we look back over 2024, we are humbled and grateful to God for all He has done this year across the Eco Church community. We want to say a huge thank you to all the churches taking action through Eco Church to care for creation. Join us in reflecting on some of the highlights we are celebrating this year: There are now 8,000 churches registered with the Eco Church programme – that’s nearly 20% of churches across England and Wales! We have seen a huge growth in churches deepening their engagement with creation care this year. Over half of the churches registered with Eco Church have now achieved an award – that’s over 4,100 Eco Church awards, all markers of churches taking practical action to care for creation. We also hit some new milestones in 2024 with 1000 churches achieving a silver award, and 50 churches reaching gold in the summer. Half a year on, we’re now celebrating 65 churches achieving a gold award, 1,300 Silver Eco Churches, as well as over 2,750 Bronze Eco Churches! We are so encouraged by the progress of many more churches continuing through the award levels, because of all that the awards represent in practice: churches going deeper on their Eco Church journeys, having even …
Support the Climate and Nature Bill
It’s vital that we stand up for nature and act on its behalf. With the Climate and Nature Bill now in Parliament and heading for its Second Reading on 24 January 2025, we must do all we can to ensure that our MPs support the Bill when it returns to the House of Commons. For the Bill to succeed, 102+ MPs need to support it. This is a golden opportunity;the Bill is the only proposed legislation before the UK Parliament that ensures a comprehensive and joined-up approach to the climate emergency and nature crisis. In brief, the Bill seeks to ensure that the UK meets its international commitments on climate and nature by 2030 by: Making sure the UK cuts emissions fairly and fully to stay within our share of the 1.5C carbon budget Making sure the UK not only halts but also reverses the destruction of nature by 2030 Involving UK citizens in deciding the fairest way forward. Add your support by writing to your MP asking them to back the campaign, or congratulating them if they already have – and encourage your church, friends, and family to write to their MP too. Find your MP and Check out Zero Hour and their campaign …
Easy reading and listening on Eco Church this Christmas
“Churches come to environmental care for different reasons: saving money, a social-justice stance, a heart for biodiversity. There isn’t one way to become an Eco Church.” We’ve had some exciting opportunities to share about Eco Church recently! Our Eco Diocese Officer, Polly, spoke to the Church Times about her work, living overseas, and who she’d choose to be locked in a church with! Read Polly’s full interview here. Meanwhile, Helen, our Church Relations Manager, chatted with John on the One Voice podcast, in partnership with Northampton Methodist Church and Northampton Methodist Church District. Tune in to hear more about A Rocha UK’s work with churches, as well as what drew Helen to environmental work and what churches can be doing to care for creation. Listen here.
Key information for churches working on the previous version of the Eco Church survey
The new Eco Church survey is now live, and we are operating a transition phase until the end of January 2025 to allow churches to finish off their work on the previous version of the survey. Any new survey started now will be the new version*, and this is our final update on the previous version of the survey. If you are still working on the previous version of the survey, you have until the end of January 2025 to submit your award application using this version. If you are not ready to submit your award application by this time, please open a new survey to continue recording your Eco Church progress. Don’t forget – although the questions may not be exactly the same, everything you may have been doing is making a difference in caring for God’s earth. Also, please be aware that you will still be able to access any of your previous surveys under the ‘archive’ section on the Eco Church platform – so no information is lost. Whatever stage you are at with completing the Eco Church survey, or submitting an application for an award, we are confident that the updated survey will give you plenty of ideas to keep on caring for God’s …
A community biodiversity initiative in partnership with Eco Church, St John’s Harleston
St John’s Church in the Norfolk town of Harleston is at the heart of an initiative encouraging nature recovery throughout the local community and its spaces. St John’s Church in Harleston is a bronze-awarded Eco Church in the Diocese of Norwich, which also holds a Bronze Eco Diocese award! The vicar at St John’s, the Revd Nigel Tufnell, has spearheaded the project since 2022. A short film about the community biodiversity initiative showcases the inspiring story of how a grassroots environmental programme in a market town can bring together a parish church, local school and the wider community. The initiative has given rise to what is now known as the “Harleston Model” of nature recovery. This approach has been officially adopted by their district council, with Norfolk and Suffolk County Councils also in the process of integrating it into their frameworks. Read on via the Diocese of Norwich’s website, and learn more from The Revd Nigel Tufnell about working with the local council and school. He shared: “Although this initiative may seem to have changed little on the surface, it has significantly altered the local community’s attitude toward nature recovery. It is now widely accepted that it is a …
‘One stop shop’ for finding resources to support you with the new survey
Accessing the new Eco Church survey You can access the new survey by logging into your account on the Eco Church platform, and starting a new survey. See our help guide section if you need support starting a new survey (please note this currently shows screenshots of the old survey – we will update this in due course!) View the new survey questions and overviews See PDFs of the new survey questions in both English and Welsh (complete set coming soon) and overviews for all five categories on our Eco Church survey summary page. If you’d like to see all of the survey questions for all five categories on one page, you’ll need to start a new survey on the Eco Church platform. Once you have started a new survey, Click ‘printer friendly version’ to view all the survey questions for all five categories in one go. You will need to select the appropriate pathway for your church first to see the buildings and land questions. See our help guide section for how to find the ‘printer-friendly’ view. New overviews for the five categories of the Eco Church survey: Worship and teaching overview Buildings and Energy overview Land and nature overview …