Beacons of hope: Eco Church approves 1000th award as church wakes up to environmental responsibility

A Rocha UK is pleased to announce that Hereford Cathedral is the recipient of its Eco Church scheme’s 1,000th award for creation care.

The news comes at the start of a critical year for the climate, ahead of the UN COP26 climate negotiations scheduled to take place in Glasgow in November later this year.

The scheme, which was launched in 2016, presented its first award – a Bronze level award to St Paul’s Cathedral in January 2016. Since then and even throughout the Covid pandemic, Eco Church has continued to receive award applications for Bronze, Silver and Gold award levels and offer practical guidance to an increasing number of churches opting to care for God’s earth. Sixteen churches have achieved a Gold level Eco Church award including Quaker, Methodist, Baptist, United Reformed and Anglican churches. To become a Gold-awarded church, churches must prove high environmental standards in each of the areas covered by the Eco Church Survey.

These areas are:
Worship and teaching, management of church buildings, management of church land, community and global engagement and lifestyle.

Please read more here on the A Rocha UK website.

Image by: Gordon Taylor