At Christ Church we are committed to taking care of God’s creation, this beautiful planet on which we live. Over the past four years or so we have taken responsibility for our eco awareness and are registered as an Eco Church with A. Rocha (an international network of environmental organisations with a Christian ethos).
Christ Church currently has its silver award. In order to achieve this we had to review our practices in five specific categories:
1. Worship and teaching
2. Buildings (all owned by the church, ie not just the church)
3. Land (all owned by the church)
4. Community and global
5. Lifestyle.
These five areas cover all that we do.
To date we have changed the things that we could easily change. For example:
- We have a green energy supplier
- Our light bulbs are LED
- Our office paper and paper ware (toilet rolls, kitchen rolls, napkins etc) are recycled
paper where possible - Our cups are either compostable or preferably reusable (non plastic)
- We recycle as much as possible
- Our cleaning materials are Eco friendly where possible
- We use Fairtrade products
- Our Children’s Corner contains toys made from wood or other natural materials and books for all ages on caring for God’s creation
- Our garden has bee hives, bird boxes and bug hotels.
- We are aware of the variety of wildlife in our immediate vicinity
- We are not using any chemicals in the garden.
- We are composting
We conducted a lifestyle survey amongst our congregation. This asked questions about life and habits outside of church and gave us an idea of areas that we can explore further to encourage and facilitate change.
Our commitment to caring for creation is also regularly reflected in our liturgy. Prayers for the planet and the restoration of man’s broken humanity are included in every Eucharist. We ask for God’s grace to give us the courage, patience and persistence that is needed to make the changes in our daily lives that we hope will make a difference to the world for future generations.
It should be noted that we are a grade 2 listed building and as such there are some things that it is impossible to change.
We are now forming an Eco team to take our efforts to the next stage and consider our outreach and involvement in the local green/Eco arena. We aim to keep ourselves relevant, updated and informed in order to do our absolute best for this amazing, God given world.
