Caring for God’s Creation

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

We believe that Jesus has redeemed the whole of creation and has called us to take care of all that He has made.  Part of our strategy as a church is to care for creation by addressing issues including environmental damage and climate change.

Aim

As a local church, we aim to take the practical steps necessary to realise the Anglican Church’s Fifth Mark of Mission, which is ‘to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and to sustain the life of the earth’.

Objective

We will take environmental concerns into account in all aspects of our church life, including our worship, teaching, mission, pastoral, youth and children’s work, training, adminsitration, charitable giving, and our Church Development Plan.

Actions:

1. Worship, Teaching and Mission, Youth and Children’s Work – we will include the importance of care of creation in our worship, teaching and mission, and our work with people of all ages.  In response to our care for the vulnerable, and those facing injustice and poverty, we will support our global neighbours through prayer, giving, and reducing our contribution to climate change.
2. Parish Environmental Group – there will be a Parish Environmental Group to be a point of contact for environmental news issues, and bring concerns forward to the PCC and congregation on a regular basis.
3. Eco Church – we have registered our church in the A Rocha Eco-Church programme. A Rocha is an international Christian environmental organisation, aimed at helping churches become more environmentally responsible and sustainable.  In 2024 we completed Bronze Award.  Currently we are working towards Silver Eco-Church Award.
4. Energy Footprint Tool – we will ensure that our church submits a return for the CofE Energy Footprint Tool each year in order to monitor our church energy usage and gain an estimate of the current carbon footprint for our church buildings.  We will support congregation members to measure and reduce their carbon footprint.
5. Energy Audit – we aim to undertake an environmental and energy audit of the church premises and property, identify the most significant issues and impacts which should be addressed and make and implement plans and programmes to tackle them, recognising that some additional costs may be incurred to minimise environmental impacts.
6. Tackling our Energy Use and Carbon Footprint – we aim to monitor and reduce our energy use and our greenhouse gas emissions of the electricity and gas used in church premises by:
   • Switching to ‘green’ energy suppliers
   • Using thermostats for temperature control
   • Fitting LED light bulbs
   • Turning off lights, appliances and computers when not in use
   • Improving insulation wherever practicable
   • Replacing old, inefficient boilers where practicable and investigating renewable heating alternatives
   • If applicable, training will be given to building users
7. Transport – we will encourage our ministry team and congregation wherever possible to use forms of of transport when going to work, meetings, etc.,which have minimum or reduced environmental impact – e.g., walk, cycle, public transport, car sharing, electric/hydrogen vehicles.  WE will also consider attending meetings online instead of travelling.
8. Food – we will work towards following the LOAF (locally-sourced, organically grown) principles in all catering and hospitality.  We will continue to use Fair Trade and Rainforest Alliance produce where possible.  We will maintain our Fair Trade accreditation.
9. Recycling and Unnecessary Waste – we will seek ways to reduce material consumption and the impact of our activities on the environment by wherever possible:
   • Using email rather than sending hard copies
   • Using recycled paper (when possible)
   • Reusing/repairing items
   • Using low environmental impact cleaning materials
10. Water Use – we will avoid using water unnecessarily, install water meters where appropriate, check for leakages, fit water minimising systems to taps and cisterns wherever practicable.
11. Churchyard – we will assess our land for wildlife and manage it to conservr biodiversity.  We will aim to do this while preserving the current well-loved character of the churchyard and managing the expectations of those visiting it.
12. Sustainable Lifestyle – we will encourage individual members of our congregations to take actions in their personal lives to complement and supplement these actions of the church community.
13. Community Outreach – we will work with others in our local community to identify environmental issues which should be addressed in our area and help develop actions to tackle them.
14. Charitable Giving – we will consider directing some of our charitable giving to charities which are working to care for the environment or to support those who are adversely affected by climate change.

National Environmental Groups

A Rocha

Caring for God’s Acre

Local Environment Links

WFEG – Whittington and Fisherwick Environment Group