The Eco Church survey provides a framework to support your church and its leadership to take practical action on caring for God’s earth. The survey covers five key areas of church life:

Worship and Teaching
Buildings and Energy,
Land and Nature,
Community and Global Engagement
Lifestyle.

The Eco Church survey is accessed via the Eco Church online platform. To find out how to register, join your church, start a survey or apply for an award visit the platform help guide and watch our sign-up tutorial video. 

For further details about the survey including an overview of the survey categories and a PDF of the survey questions, please visit the Survey page of our website.

Bronze, silver and gold Eco Church awards can be gained by churches, chapels and cathedrals in England and Wales. A church can gain an award by completing the free online survey and earn points based on how you care for God’s earth. When you earn enough points you will receive a bronze, silver or gold level and be able to apply for an Eco Church award.

Visit our awards page to find out everything you need to know. 

How do I apply?

You can apply for an Eco Church Award by completing a survey on the Eco Church online platform. For more information about registering your account, registering your church, and using the platform please refer to the help guide.

When starting out it can be helpful to form a small group to take things forward with your church.  You may like to get in touch with a church near you to find out what they are doing. To find Eco Churches near you, use our Eco Church map.

Many church denominations have a denominational lead or more locally based eco champion or ambassador who may be able to offer support and advice. Look on your denominational website, or ask your church leader. 

Get started by creating your own account and registering your church with Eco Church (or joining your church team if somebody else has already registered the church) on the Eco Church platform.

For support in creating your account, logging in, registering your church, joining your church, starting a survey or applying for an award visit the platform help guide, which provides step-by-step instructions and screenshots to help you. 

Find posters, leaflets, logos and more to help you share about being an Eco Church on our Promoting Eco Church page.

Take a look at our Eco Church Survey Resources page for resources to support, guide, and inspire you in the five key areas of church life that the Eco Church survey addresses, as well as resources for kids, youth, and in Welsh:

• Worship and Teaching
• Buildings and Energy
• Land and Nature
• Community and Global Engagement
• Lifestyle
• Welsh language 
• Resources for children
• Resources for young people

Explore and promote the wider work of A Rocha UK, including a video introducing our projects, here. 

A Rocha UK is a Christian charity working to protect and restore the natural world and is committed to equipping Christians and churches in the UK to care for the environment – for God, nature and all people. We aim to inspire individuals and families, equip churches and church leaders, build partnerships and manage land for nature and people. In the face of accelerating climate change and species loss, we need more than ever to take action to protect and care for nature today. 

A Rocha UK is part of the worldwide family of A Rocha organisations committed to conservation action as an expression of the Christian mission.

As well as the Eco Church programme A Rocha UK encompasses Wild Christian, supporting people to enjoy, nurture and defend nature in their own homes and communities, and our Partners in Action network for Christian land managers. Read more about all the A Rocha UK programmes on our website.

Explore and promote the wider work of A Rocha UK, including a video introducing our projects, here. 

Applying for a gold award involves some extra steps, beyond the Eco Church survey. 

The reason for the additional information and following visit (in person or online) is: 

• We want to be sure that the ethos of Eco Church is embedded in your worshipping community
• We need to see some key documentation and processes are established within your church
• We want to hear your story so we can share it to encourage others

Therefore, in addition to your online application, we ask that you complete this pro forma. The pro forma contains further information about what we need, why we ask for this and the process of the gold assessment.  (Please note the pro forma will download as a zip file, you will need to go into the file to locate the pro forma document, we are in the process of revising this pro-forma so you will be sent a new version to complete in due course).

We also ask you to create a practical plan for nature/land management plan for managing any outside space you have influence over. You can find guidance on creating that here, including example plans from Mortimer Methodist Church and St Mary's Church, Eaton Socon. 

Please also provide a copy of your latest carbon footprint report (our preference is your 360 Carbon report).

Read more about going for gold on our awards page.

Denominational awards are available for regional groups of churches to recognise their progress toward caring for God’s creation. The denominational awards provide a structure, like Eco Church, to bring together communities across the diocese, circuit, district or synod to work collectively. Denominational Awards are part of the Eco Church project of A Rocha UK, a Christian charity working to protect and restore the natural world and committed to equipping Christians and churches in the UK to care for the environment. The Methodist Church, URC and Church of England have worked with A Rocha UK to tailor their awards for their regional groupings. To find out the details of the denominational awards please visit the relevant pages.

 An overview of the process and resources applicable to all denominations which have an award scheme can be found here.

Hopefully, you can find answers to your questions on this page or elsewhere on our website or Eco Church platform help guide.

If you need to contact us the best way to do so is via our contact form. We are a small team so hope to get back to you within three weeks, although it may take longer if your enquiry is complex. We are very grateful for your understanding and patience. 

If you’d like to keep in touch and hear more about our work, as well as all that is going on in the Eco Church community and beyond, sign up to receive our email communications.

We are so inspired by the many churches across England and Wales that have already achieved Eco Church Awards in recognition of their efforts to care for creation. Explore some of their stories here for encouragement and ideas to implement in your own church! 

To tell us all about what your church is doing to care for creation, complete our share your story form or tag us on social media at:

Instagram: @arocha_uk

Twitter: @ARochaUK

Facebook: @Arochaorguk

and use the hashtag #ecochurch. We look forward to seeing some of your Eco Church journey!