Earlier this month, we had the exciting news that we – St Michael & All Angels Church – had achieved our Eco Church Bronze Award!

Many of you may not be aware of this initiative, or that we were working towards becoming an Eco Church, so here is more information.

Eco Church is a project run by leading global Christian charity A Rocha, who describe themselves as 'a global family of conservation organisations working together to live out God’s calling to care for creation ​and equip others to do likewise'. Eco Church began in 2016, offering an environmental award scheme for churches in England and Wales.

At the heart of Eco Church is a unique online survey about how churches are caring for God’s Earth in different areas of life and work. The answers a church provide earn points towards an Eco Church Award – the more the church does, the more points they get!

The survey covers five key areas of church life:

• Worship and Teaching
• Management of Church Buildings (if applicable)
• Management of Church Land (if applicable)
• Community and Global Engagement
• Lifestyle

Examples of ways to earn points include installing energy-saving lightbulbs, recycling waste, planting flowers or vegetables in the church grounds or teaching about creation care in Sunday school or sermons.

There are three levels of Eco Church Award – Bronze, Silver and Gold.

Ann Jessop, Churchwarden, has been leading on completing our Eco Church survey, gathering the information from different people within our church community to inform the application. We were delighted to hear that thanks to processes already in place, we immediately qualified for the Bronze Award!

Ann says, “The PCC and Churchwarden team have always acknowledged that caring for the planet was part of our Christian life and we signed up to be an Eco Church in 2021, but with other tasks and projects needing attention, plus coping with COVID and covering for staff vacancies, we were not able to take it much further till this year. We've been greatly encouraged by this news."

Tim says, "This is really exciting news for St Michael's and many thanks all those involved in the process for their efforts and dedication getting the application made and attending various trainings offered by the Central Diocesan team on Eco Church. Now on to gaining Silver!"

Read more about our story on the Diocese of Gloucester website: gloucester.anglican.org/bishops-cleeve-church-celebrates-eco-church-bronze-award

For more information about A Rocha, visit: https://arocha.org/en/theology-churches/eco-church/

If you'd like to be involved in our Eco Church work in any capacity, we'd love to hear from you. Please contact Kate in the Church Office in the first instance.