St Peter’s Church, Lodsworth
St Mary’s Church, Easebourne
‘in FAITH we FOLLOW + in HOPE we LIVE + in LOVE we SERVE’
Eco Church - Net Zero Carbon
January 2025
05-01-25
A New Year’s Resolution
Make ‘enjoying nature’ your priority. From bird watching to writing about or drawing something that inspires you in nature, growing your own fruit or vegetables, or exploring an area of outstanding natural beauty in the UK, be sure to fall in love with nature in a new way this coming year and allow it to lead your thoughts towards God our Creator.
Further ideas can be found on the A Rocha UK’s website: www.arocha.org.uk/ideas-to-enjoy-nature/
12-01-25
Net Zero Conference 2025, Saturday 18 January at Portsmouth Cathedral
Andy Atkins, CEO of A Rocha UK, will provide an overview of how Eco Church has evolved to become a popular tool enabling churches to progress in their local creation care journeys. His talk Hope in the Face of Climate Change will provide a chance for people to share their own Eco Church experiences (whatever stages of the journey) and ask pertinent questions in a Q&A session.
Please speak to Phil Stringer if you would like to attend.
For the Church of England, being net zero carbon means that the carbon emissions of our buildings and travel will be reduced to less than 10 per cent of our baseline levels. The remaining emissions will be offset in verified schemes that reduce carbon. That means overall, our buildings and travel will not contribute to rising carbon emissions: their contribution will be ‘net zero’. Responding to the climate crisis is an essential part of our responsibility to safeguard God’s creation and achieve a just world.
Climate change hits hardest on the poorest countries and poorest people of the world. Meanwhile, the widespread destruction of the natural world is a crisis for creation. Tackling climate change also supports our local mission. It witnesses to our communities that we are people who care about climate justice, now and for the future. Also, many of the steps needed to reduce energy use will make our buildings warmer and more welcoming, so they are suitable to be used more often by more people, and can save us money on our running costs.
Look out for more information about the Priory Churches journey towards Net Zero Carbon on this page.
Some useful links:
A Rocha UK’s Eco Church scheme has made significant progress in encouraging local churches to care for creation as a core tenet of faith and to integrate this across every aspect of church life. It has played a significant role in enabling congregations across all denominations to embrace the responsibility of creation care and to see it as an expression of love for God and others, including the natural world.
A Rocha UK’s approach to Eco Church is one of facilitating the movement, encouraging a learning community, and ensuring that the programme behind it is dynamic, continuously developing to keep up with the science and options for action.
Find out more from their website: https://arocha.org.uk