“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.””
Our Bronze Award plaque
The A Rocha UK Eco Church Awards involve taking practical action on caring for God's earth within 5 key areas of church life. Details of these areas and our Christian motivation for taking action are listed below:
Worship and Teaching
We worship a God who loves the earth he created and calls us to care for it. Doing so is part of our worship and witness as we respond to a creation that is groaning
Buildings and Energy
We know that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions are leading to climate change and more extreme weather conditions. While carbon dioxide emissions can come from natural causes, many are from human activities such as burning fossil fuels and animal agriculture. The people who are most affected by climate change and more volatile weather are the world’s poorest countries. Climate change, pollution and emissions also affect nature and wildlife.
Land and Nature
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. We all have a part to play in how the land around our churches, or in our communities and nationally, can make a difference and help protect and restore nature all around us.
Community and Global Engagement
The climate and nature crises are profoundly unjust, with the most devastating impacts affecting the poor and vulnerable who have done the least to cause the crisis. We are called to love our neighbour, and so it is our responsibility to them and the places they live, wherever they are, to demonstrate love for people and nature by advocating for a more just world (Micah 6:8). While there is much that we can do as a church body, our impact will be even greater when we work with others to bring about local and global change.
Lifestyle
We worship a God who loves the Earth he created and calls us to care for it. While it’s important to take action together as a church, we also have an individual responsibility to take action in our daily lives so that we tread lightly on the Earth, and use our voices to speak up for nature.
The statements above are taken from the Eco Church website; to find out more, please click here.