Eco Church: an introduction
Eco Church is an interdenominational Christian environmental awards scheme for churches. It is run by A Rocha UK. St Sampson's was registered and began working towards the bronze Eco Chruch award in March 2023. (The award has three levels: bronze, silver, gold.)
Eco Church provides tools to help churches respond to environmental issues through their worship, buildings, land, community engagement and individual lifestyles. Our website includes resources published by A Rocha UK. Additional information is available at www.ecochurch.arocha.org.uk.
In a time of unprecedented environmental stresses, Eco Church enables churches, including ours, to respond to God's mandate to human beings to care for His creation, by integrating environmental care throughout our church's life and mission.
With support and encouragement from A Rocha UK and the Diocese, Revd Canon Debbie Dewes, Revd Shirley Danby, the PCC, church wardens and other key individuals will work with church members and visitors to raise awareness and develop more eco-friendly practice within our church community.
Eco Church update: September 2024
We are delighted to have been awarded the Silver Eco Church badge!
St Sampson’s church members often mention our Eco Church initiatives and it is great that individuals are thoughtful about the things we do. For example:
- It has been brought to my attention that the compost bin is well used by our flower arrangers. The last bits of candles are now collected for recycling. In addition, arrangements have been made for the recycling bins inside the church to be regularly emptied into a recycle bin for collection. These three actions show that we are getting better at dealing with our waste.
- We continue to do our best to use Fairtrade products including sugar, coffee and communion wine. Fairtrade Fortnight was highlighted at the beginning of September and many attendees
at the 10 a.m. service on 8th September enjoyed special Fairtrade chocolate treats along with their usual refreshments. It is heartening to know that some of those on the refreshment rota are keeping their eyes open for Fairtrade products as well as locally produced and home baked goods. - A church walk was organised for Sunday 22nd September. This was planned to coincide with one of our Season of Creation services and the route included footpaths and a bridleway alongside and across the River Thames. What a chance to enjoy our beautiful countryside! Whilst we do thank God for the rain, it was unfortunate that the weather forecast told us to expect a sustained downpour with the possibility of thunder and lightning. Consequently, only three people and two dogs completed the walk on this occasion. We will try again next year!
- We remain committed to supporting the work of Compassion UK in Togo and E3 in southern Africa where climate change has an impact on people’s lives. The projects are progressing and details will be sent out soon.
All of our on-going activities continue. The church wardens make sure we use energy wisely. Members of the congregation share cars when it is necessary to drive to a conference, meeting or service. We use eco friendly cleaning products and recycled paper where possible. These actions – along with many not listed – are important.
However, there is more we can do and there are plans for the future. Christmas is coming and we will be thinking about buying, writing and sending Christmas cards: I will soon circulate a document with reduce, reuse and recycle suggestions.
Laura Brierley
St Sampson's Fairtrade certificate
Our focus for 2024
It is good to see that efforts are being made by people at St Sampson's to be more eco friendly. As promised, the recycling bins are now available in the church; thank you for remember to use them. It is great that so many church members arranged lifts to recent services and events. Car sharing is an important way of reducing pollution and saving energy (and money!).
Having achieved the Eco Church bronze award, we will continue to consider ways in which we can become more eco-friendly. We are thankful for God’s creation and we know that we must take good care of our world. In the coming months we will revisit and remind ourselves of actions we have already taken such as reducing car journeys by walking/ cycling/ car sharing and recycling waste. We will raise awareness of new subjects including ethical investment and auditing our carbon footprint. But our main focus will involve global engagement. Information will be shared monthly via newsletters and in church services. Church members will be encouraged to learn about the WWF Earth Hour, to pray for specific overseas projects and to remember our commitment to Fairtrade
The Eco Church website has lots of information. During harvest, we will think about our food. Two booklets are particularly helpful: 'You and your food' and 'Fairtrade'. These can be found on the Eco Church website or by clicking on the links below. They are also on the St Sampson's Eco Church noticeboard.