Eco Church
God’s world is beautiful and full of wonder. We are tasked with caring for it: the Church of England’s fifth Mark of Mission calls us ‘to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth.’ Pope Francis, in Laudato si’, brought a wide lens to the scope of this: ‘I will point to … the conviction that everything in the world is connected …[and]… the human meaning of ecology…’
Scientists are now clear about the harm our lifestyles are causing to the environment. We see the changes around us ourselves. At St Martin’s we are responding by thinking more deeply about our role as stewards of God’s creation.
We continue to take our steps as an Eco Church. Eco Church is an initiative by A Rocha (https://arocha.org.uk/) and is an award scheme for churches in England and Wales who want to demonstrate that the gospel is good news for God’s earth. The scheme challenges us to make change in five areas:
- The efficiency of our buildings – how do we heat them? Are they properly insulated?
- The use we make of our graveyard to encourage wildlife
- Our teaching and preaching so that we can become better informed about environmental issues
- Our engagement with others in our community to share with and learn from others
- Our personal carbon footprint and way of living – what changes can we make to the way we live?
St Martin has achieved the Silver level.
We’d love you to join us as we journey towards Gold!
If you’re thinking about what to do next, have a look at:
https://greenchristian.org.uk/ – you will find plenty of useful resources and specific ideas here of how you can make helpful changes to your life, and encourage those around you.
https://www.operationnoah.org/ – a Christian charity working with the Church to inspire action on the climate crisis
See what the Diocese of Guildford is doing here – https://www.cofeguildford.org.uk/mission/environmentandnetzerocarbon/
https://www.coatofhopes.uk/ – a pilgrim coat and an act of witness, travelling around the country and holding our hopes and fears, comforting and emboldening us. St Martin’s stitched a panel, in the centre back of the coat (the person with arms stretched out, taken from an image by Chris Hyde).
Members of the congregation are encouraged to see how they are doing in their active care of creation by completing audits around lifestyle – https://creationcare.org.uk/ – and carbon use – https://www.climatestewards.org/
Contact the Church Office to ask about becoming more involved.
