Image: Susanne, church secretary, demonstrating how she cycles to church.
Some of our recent journey:
“How are you helping the environment?” is the question we posed to our congregation in the summer of 2025. In the photo above, our Church Secretary, Susanne, is demonstrating that she cycles to church! In an ‘Open Studios’ event, we displayed the twenty-nine photos received from church members and our local residents’ association. Each photo showed a different aspect of helping the environment, ranging from planting bee-friendly shrubs to installing an air source heat pump. It was fun, and it engaged more people directly than anything else ‘green’ that we have done.
This is just one part of our Eco Church action plan, ‘Exploring Gold’. We don’t know if we can get there but, having got Bronze and Silver Awards in January and December 2023, we are giving it our best shot. Our experience is that the Eco Church framework and resources are very helpful tools for identifying effective action to address the climate and biodiversity crises. Here are just a few of the ideas that we have picked up and acted on so far in 2025/26:
- Worship and Teaching – have regular prayers and prayer points in weekly notice sheet.
- Buildings and Energy – calculate our church’s carbon footprint for 2025.
- Land and Nature – encourage participation in litter picks and bird & butterfly counts.
- Community and Global Engagement – ask if our church investments support climate and nature.
- Lifestyle – publicise Transition Southampton’s Open Homes event to visit households who have implemented carbon-reducing changes.
Our Church Green Living Group takes a lead in helping our church to live as sustainably as possible. We enjoy sharing ideas and projects with the City Centre Parish (Roman Catholic), and with other churches and networks across the city. When the City Centre Parish Green Group wanted to organise a plant sale recently, we were able to offer our premises, and a very good day was had by all. Here is a sample of the plants sold:
In January 2026, we launched our first environmental lifestyle survey. Members of the congregation were invited to complete the survey and hand it in anonymously so that we could begin to see a more holistic picture. 22 forms were returned – roughly 63% of the average weekly congregation of about 35 people. 91% said that they see an environmentally friendly lifestyle as part of living out their faith, and 80% of those said it is a high priority in doing so. This is encouraging. How we carry that forward and help each other to be even more effective in this area of discipleship will be the next part of our story.
– With thanks to Avenue St Andrew’s United Reformed Church for sharing their story with us.
Avenue St Andrew’s United Reformed Church has a long history of caring for creation, achieving their first Eco-Congregation award (the scheme that pre-dates Eco Church. Eco Church began in England and Wales in 2016) in 2011! They share:
We have had an active concern about climate change for many years, encouraged by a few keen and knowledgeable individuals. There have been some particular milestones along the way:
in 2011, we became an Eco Congregation
in 2019, we installed solar panels
in 2020/21, we ran the Dorset Green Living Course online during lockdown, where we had time to study in-depth and grow in our understanding.
From this, we formed a Green Living Group, which has provided the impetus for our Eco Church journey.
in January 2023, we achieved a Bronze Eco Church award
in December 2023, we achieved a Silver Eco Church award